A Bondservant's Musings

On a recent vacation to the Big Island of Hawai'i, I noticed an abundance of "Slippery When Wet" signs to apparently help stop vacationers from slipping or falling. As I saw more of these in the first few days of our vacation on the island, it got me thinking two things: Do we need all these signs? After all, aren't most things slippery when wet? And do items that don't get slippery when wet -- and I am having trouble thinking of any such items right now -- pose a problem for us? Couldn't we just assume surfaces are slippery when wet? Since there are so many of these warning signs, does anyone pay attention to them? That last question plus the presence of cairns ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn ) my wife and I followed to stay on the Kilauea Iki Crater Trail in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on a hike later in our trip got me thinking about the spiritual equivalents of those "Slippery When Wet" signs that I think most of us are ignoring and ...

That seems like a crazy title. It doesn't sit well with my math-leaning mind. How can a small group not be a small group? Let's focus on purpose. Small groups are about sanctification (i.e., the process of Jesus' disciples being conformed into His image as Paul wrote about in Romans 8:29, the often left-off completion to the often quoted Romans 8:28). In the Harvest Bible Chapel ( http://harvestbiblechapel.org/ ) paradigm, small groups are about walking in Christ in community. With the purpose defined, I contend there are groups meeting in your church carrying the small group label that aren't really small groups. So when is a small group not a small group? When it is a Bible study Wait a minute. I cannot possibly be dissing Bible studies, can I? Clearly Jesus' disciples should study His word. But small groups are to be more than a "What do you think?" discussion of our favorite book of the Bible. Small group has to be a vehicle to push to application of G...

If you attended Small Group Leadership 101 at HBC years ago, you heard us say we are looking for FAT people in our small groups. FAT = Faithful, Available, Teachable. While that comment made people giggle or gasp, it was easy to remember. So why are we looking for FAT people in our small groups? What does FAT look like? FAT people are faithful to the group, in the spiritual disciplines (regular quiet time in God's word, prayer, scripture memorization) and most importantly to the Lord. In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy to entrust what Paul has taught him to "faithful men." FAT people are available. They show up for group, for prayer nights and work for Christ opportunities. They are available for the Lord, for His work and for their next assignment. Finally FAT people are teachable. This might be the hardest one. Who of us in our flesh is teachable? But in the Spirit, we are to be humble and most certainly teachable. Being teachable, open to and even hungering for godly...