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In America, we often consider ourselves “blessed,” but maybe we need to re-think the concept of “blessing.” When things are going well for us physically or materially, the words “God sure has blessed us” roll quickly off of our tongues without a second thought. But what about when circumstances are difficult? What about when things do not go as planned? What about when we suffer a staggering loss? Do we consider such times a “blessing” from God? Our African brothers and sisters serving with ALARM do just that. This type of thinking sounds backwards and upside-down to most American ears, but Scripture backs it up.

I love driving into Nashville. A pretty incredible city with so much to do, see, explore and experience. Live music on Broadway, movies and plays in the summer at Centennial Park, the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, great restaurants in The Gulch… and our boys LOVE spending hours at the Adventure Science Center. But the reality is, in almost 17 years living here, I’ve rarely taken side roads to get into the city. I almost always take the interstate. 15 min from Brentwood and I’m in the city. And this might sound like stating the obvious – but I’ve never figured out how to get on the interstate without using an on-ramp!

When we become a believer in Christ, we are given a new identity – as a disciple, a follower of Jesus. Not based in what we do – but in who we are. It’s truly a “new way of being.” And as my fisherman friend does with fishing, Jesus has called each of us to reorient our entire lives around our identity as followers of Him. Not long ago, Mark Irving wrote a great post on the DNA of Discipleship – the intersection or overlap of three essential elements: Gospel, Family and Mission. I’d really encourage you to read this post. As we find ourselves where these three circles intersect, our new identity as a disciple on mission becomes more clear.

I can only imagine what it’s like to go watch a movie as a family if you have boys. It probably involves action, adventure, swords and super heroes. But God has given me three lovely little ladies (pictured here), which means that when we go to the theater as a family, my experience is … well … different. It contains less action and more drama; fewer swords and more pixie dust. The “action” in the “live action” version of Cinderella that we watched last week simply meant that the movie contained real actors & actresses, rather than the original animation.

“I’ve begun to view the gospel as a verb, not just a noun (“gospeling” each other), and have become more fluent with it. It also helped me think through my own personal story and how it relates to God’s Greater story (Creation – Fall – Redemption – Re-Creation). The tangible experience of gathering to eat weekly and applying Gospel principles with each other was most compelling because I sometimes regard weekly bible studies or meetings as another thing to take me from ‘the stuff of life’. After going through the Gospel Primer with this group, I have the perspective that our family has to eat any way, so why don’t I invite others to join us?”

I have a love of woodworking and one of my recently developed hobbies is making rustic wooden clocks out of reclaimed pallet wood. I’ve discovered great satisfaction in taking something old, broken, stained and discarded and turning it into something beautiful, unique and useful. I have a love of woodworking and one of my recently developed hobbies is making rustic wooden clocks out of reclaimed pallet wood. I’ve discovered great satisfaction in taking something old, broken, stained and discarded and turning it into something beautiful, unique and useful. It wasn’t long ago when my twelve-year-old daughter asked me, “Daddy, can I help you make a clock?”

I’m convinced that disciples are made in the overlap of three essential elements: gospel, relationship and mission. These elements are what I like to call “discipleship DNA.” They are the building blocks of transformational spiritual growth. It’s helpful to picture these three elements (gospel, family and mission) as three legs of a stool. Take out one of these essential elements and any approach to discipleship is likely to be unbalanced.

A few weeks ago, Wade wrote a post on “Groups”. In that post, he mentioned three types of groups that are being offered as we step into a new season of change at Fellowship:

Did you know… coming up in just a couple weeks is one of the best opportunities we have to live on mission in our neighborhoods?

Living on mission isn’t very complicated – it really just means living intentionally, with the heart of a missionary – and with the Gospel at the center of all that we do. A common fear and misconception is that missional means “additional”… Additional activities, appointments, responsibilities, serving opportunities…