Being a Disciple in How We Talk Online
Our Christianity doesn’t have boundaries on where or when we act as followers of Jesus. If Paul had known of social media he would have said to be like Jesus there too. This can be quite difficult. It is difficult because we are humans and make mistakes on a platform with other humans who make […]
How to have a Christian Conversation on Social Media – Barriers
When we get into conflict our body has visceral fight or flight reactions that keep us from having a productive conversation. This video helps us identify the physiological signals that warn you it is time to discipline your thoughts and words if you are to move forward in a productive and disciplined way. Online conversation […]
Fasting and Discipleship
Fasting is a key part of discipleship. It is something that I haven’t practiced enough but am learning more about and also correcting some of my past misunderstandings. I thought of fasting through the lens of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6 but never put it together with Acts 13 and 14. In Matthew 6 Jesus […]
Social Media as a Spiritual Discipline – Practical Guide to a Healthier Conversation
The last few posts on social media as a spiritual discipline all lead up to this post. What can you actually do to have a healthier online conversation? 1 – The Pause Instead of jumping in quickly to respond to comment after comment you stop. Take a moment to gather your thoughts. It may be […]
Social Media as a Spiritual Discipline – Physiology
There is one more thing I want to discuss before I get into what one can do to have a more productive and loving online conversation. One of the biggest things that is working against our success in our innate physiology. Have you ever been insulted online? If so how did you feel when it […]
Social Media as a Spiritual Discipline – Entropy
I have never seen a political or religious argument ascend into pics of the grandkids or even what someone had for dinner last night but I have seen pics of the grands or your latest, greatest dinner devolve into a verbal assault. Entropy – the idea that things fall apart, that organization more easily turns […]
Social Media as a Spiritual Discipline – Resistance
Spiritual disciplines require training. Training requires resistance. I believe spiritual disciplines take discipline because they don’t come naturally to us. If they did it wouldn’t take discipline to do them. This is why I believe using social media as a Christian can be a spiritual discipline. It comes with natural barriers to productive and effective […]
Learning to Talk With God
Raising kids makes for some fun and challenging times. One of the things that we feel is essential to their growth and maturity is how to talk with adults. There are basic rules of civility that we want our kids to know and do when it comes to talking with adults, for example – look […]
Resist
The more you learn to resist what ought to be resisted the stronger you get. The converse is also true, the less you resist what ought to be resisted the weaker and more mentally and spiritually feeble you become. Resistance is key to personal, physical and spiritual growth. Lifting weights is called “resistance” training for […]
Dealing with Fear Requires Discipline
“Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and everything around you. You think you know the difference between a hero and a coward, Mike? […]