Finding God in Mentoring; How to Disciple

September 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

By Karen O’Connor:

 Do you find God as you think about mentors who have blessed  and helped you?  Do you wonder how to disciple others?

As you think about those who have mentored you, consider how to disciple–or mentor–others, to nurture their faith in Jesus and help them through struggles in daily life.
[Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

I look back on my life I see a host of people who have helped me find God as they have mentored me. From my kindergarten teacher to my counselor in college and beyond, women and men have spoken into my life in a way that has helped me grow, thrive, and then give back to others what was given to me.

One woman I spoke with regularly on the phone when I was new in my faith-walk. Day after day she would listen to my worries and problems and then point me to a Bible verse  that would help me aspire to a higher level of living—one where I would lean on God instead of on myself. Sometimes just her example was enough. She ‘preached’ without saying a word!

“. . . Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,

not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled and pure . . .” (Titus 2: 3-5 in the Bible)

After many years of growing in my faith, I met a young woman who reminded me of myself. She had been divorced, struggled with finances, and felt challenged by her role as a mom to two young men. I could see that it was my turn to give back some of the good that my mentor had given me so long ago.

Today she and I meet for lunch or coffee once a month and we talk about life, about God’s promises found in the Bible and about some of the steps each of us can take to live a more satisfying and spiritually mature life. It feels good to share with her my experience, hope, and faith in God and then watch her make progress on her own path.

Finding God in my own mentors has helped me become the kind of mentor that will draw others to God, just as mine did for me. If you feel a call to encourage, the following video and website provides tips on how to disciple effectively and be good mentor.

Enjoy this informative YouTube video from Roy Comstock at the Christian Mentors Network:

©Karen O’Connor. Karen is an author, writing mentor, and frequent contributor to the Finding God Daily blog. Visit Karen on the web at www.karenoconnor.com, on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/karen.p.oconnor or Twitter @karenoconnor

 

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Filed Under: At Church, In Difficulties, In Life, Jesus Tagged With: , , , ,

Finding God When Disappointed by Christians: Hypocrites?

April 27, 2012 by 2 Comments

By Dianne E. Butts:

3 Things to Remember when Christians Disappoint Us

Image by Ambro: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have you been wounded by a Christian, or read in the media about the failings of  professing Christians and decided they must be  hypocrites?

Have you then used that as an excuse to not believe in Christ yourself?

Well, do bear in mind:

1. Inevitably, professing Christians will disappoint us, because we all fail at times. Christians are supposed to live their lives striving to do what is right. But sometimes the failings of Christians are huge, which not only makes other Christians look bad but can also desperately wound others.

Know this, though: the Bible is filled with stories of God’s people failing: Moses killed a man and buried him in the sand, not knowing someone was watching. King David had an adulterous relationship and committed murder in an attempt to cover it up. Of course Christians shouldn’t do the terrible things Moses and David  did. The Bible is full of stories about terrible mistakes people made: not to endorse those mistakes, but to chronicle actual historical events and reveal repentance, forgiveness and redemption.

It is the grace of God and His forgiveness that saves us, not our bad (or good) behavior. (See the video embedded below!)

2. Still, God can use people who do bad things. Moses still led the people of Israel out of Egypt and built the tabernacle, one of the greatest object lessons that explains God. King David still fathered the bloodline that led to Messiah, as God promised would happen. David drew the plans and financed the Temple (the permanent version of Moses’ object-lesson Tabernacle) that his son, Solomon would build.

Have you ever done a bad thing? God can still use you for good, if you will begin now to cooperate with Him.

3. To not follow Jesus, because of  bad things some Jesus-followers do, will deprive YOU. When we stand before Jesus on Judgement Day (and there will be a Judgement Day!), telling God you rejected Him because you heard about a professing Christian who groped women, or was accused of not being honest in financial dealings, or made other even more terrible choices won’t fly. God will judge you on what you do. You won’t be able to use any other failing people you justify as hypocrites as your excuse.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13 (Bible, New International Version)

Are you confused about the relationship between works (good deeds we do) and faith, and how that affects your salvation? Here is an excellent short film from Igniter Media that explains it well, and creatively too!

You Do The Math, from Igniter Media.

Downloads and DVDs are available at http://www.ignitermedia.com.

 ©Dianne E. Butts. Dianne has over 275 articles and short fiction in more than fifty publications. She is a regular contributor to Finding God Daily. You can find Dianne’s blog HERE.

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Filed Under: At Church, In Difficulties, In Life, In the News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Finding God in Shrove Tuesday

February 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

By Dianne E. Butts:

Some people are finding God in Shrove Tuesday. Do you know what Shrove Tuesday is? Don’t worry. There was a time I didn’t know what it was either.

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. This year in 2012, Shrove Tuesday is Feb. 21. Shrove Tuesday is the day that women in some locations clean out their kitchen pantries to get rid of all the foods that are not allowed for Lent, including pre-lenten meat as well as fats and oils. For some it’s a tradition to use up these tasty morsels by feasting—cooking up the meats and making the fats and oils into pancakes.

I first heard of Shrove Tuesday when I moved to a small town in Colorado and started attending a Presbyterian Church. I remember the strange telephone call I got:

“Hello, Dianne, I’m calling for the church to let you know you’ll be waitressing for our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.”

“Waitressing?” I asked. “For the what? There must be some mistake. I’m not a waitress.” I then learned everyone in the church was assigned a duty for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper that was served to the community annually. We were fairly new in town and those people didn’t know me very well. If they had, they never would have assigned me to be a waitress.

“What’s a Shrove?” I asked.

She hesitated. “It’s a supper, “she said. “We serve pancakes and sausage.”

“Oh, “I said. “Is shrove some kind of sausage?”

“No, “she said.

“Oh. Okay,” I said, confused. In January I had received another confusing invitation to the women’s group.

“We’d like you to come to Circle,” a woman told me.

“Oh,” I said smiling.

“We’re having our Sacrificial Meal,” she added.

“Oh,” I said and tried to continue smiling. Reminded me of that story about the cannibal who wanted to have the missionary for dinner. I knew I was the new kid on the block. But what had happened to the last new kid on the block? I declined the invitation.

Now it was February and I was trying desperately to talk my way out of being a waitress.

“No, we all have our assigned jobs”, she explained kindly, “and you’re assigned to be a waitress.”

I thought of the passage in Ephesians 4:11: “He…gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelist, and some to be…” Waitresses? Alas. It seemed my assignment had been set in stone.

“Fine, I’ll waitress,” I said. “But I’d rather be in the kitchen sizzling those shroves.”

Whether or not you observe the Lenten season that leads to Easter, as you prepare for Easter and the celebration of God’s gift to us in Jesus, you might consider what extra items are in your heart that you may want to clean out. If you do that, you might be finding God in Shrove Tuesday.

What is Shrove Tuesday? video:

©Dianne E. Butts. Dianne is a regular contributor to Finding God Daily and is a prolific story and article writer. You can find out more about her at www.dianneebutts.com.

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