Bananas get those brown gooshy spots. Apples, wrinkly skin. Lettuce wilts. If your relationship with Christ doesn’t feel fresh, it probably isn’t. Your wilted leaves confirm it: you haven’t shared the gospel with a friend, or anyone, recently; your journal pages are full of blank; apathy covers your bible like dust. For me, two necessities had wrinkled up and dropped from my daily routine.

One. Like one of Bob Barker’s Plinko pucks, ricocheting from peg to peg falling to the bottom of the board, face to face time with Christ had fallen to zero. Important pegs of planning, support raising, emails, meetings, immediate urgent necessities, had bounced intimate time with Christ from my to-do list. He and I caught up sporadically through the day with text like prayers. My awareness of His patient presence was comforting but not intimate and fresh.

Two. I couldn’t name a few men that I was daily pouring my life into. With whom was I intentionally reproducing Christ-like patterns? Was there anybody out there who had never prayed or read the bible, never oriented their lives around Jesus, who was doing so now, because God had used me in their lives?

Jesus captured daily routine with Him this way: “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt4.19). To follow Him we need to know Him, intimately. Knowing Jesus is the goal of our lives (Phil3.10-11). Short conversations and fleeting glances on the way to this or that can’t take the place of deep, slow, face to face intimate time with the Redeemer. Nothing on our to-do list can replace reading, praying, and listening to Christ.

Following Him leads to fishing with Him. As Jesus was sent to the fishing hole of the world, so He sends us into our work places, social spheres, the world (Jn17.18). Paul “very gladly expended himself for others” (2Cor12.15) calling those he daily poured his life into to pour their lives into others (2Tim2.2). Experiencing real life with Jesus means leading others to Jesus, expending your life that others would follow Him. Selfless love.

Reproduction. Discipleship. Knowing Jesus intimately, and investment in others leads to fresh life in Christ. Please pray for…

1. Courtney and I to continue to grow in our intimacy with Christ, and lean more deeply into the gospel together. We are reading and loving, “The Gospel Centered Life” together.
2. Pray for me to finish well here at Northwest Bible. Pray especially for my relationships with a few men that I have more intentionally begun to pour into as they take the reins of leadership.
3. Pray for our house to sell, and full support to be raised (our two most tangible hurdles for getting to MD in July).

May God use this journey in our lives, and yours. We are glad to be following Christ towards the world with you all. Thank you for your prayers and support.