This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. (Colossians 1:6)

I’m always excited about upcoming speaking gigs. I enjoy meeting people who are genuinely motivated to move forward in their journey as Followers of The Way of Jesus; I value the new friendships that always emerge from such events; I become energized by the interactive quality of standing in front of people and sharing my story; I learn just as much from the other participants as they do from me.

Then I also love the preparation work. Getting ready to share with others means extra reading, research, meditation, prayer, Bible-study, and writing. Getting ready means time sitting in my favorite brown leather chair and simply thinking.

HOW, WHEN & WHY? This morning’s thinking is a kind of reflection on, “How did all this came about?” The answer fits in with the content of the discussion we had in “Daily Walk” (the class I co-teach with Marv Baker) this past Sunday.

Our class was considering things that bother us; situations that grieve our souls; social problems that get under our skin; injustices that make us angry. What, the question asked, do we NOT want to think about? What causes us to close our eyes, change the channel, cross to the other side of the street, look away? What in the world do we wish was different? What do we want “someone” to do something about?

Those ideas, those issues, those problems, may well be your calling. Rather than close our eyes, God may be calling us to walk toward what bothers us. And then to do something about it.

BURDEN: On reflection, that’s exactly what has happened to me. You see, Rebekah and I have always advocated light and life as the foundation of ministry, period. Our emphasis has always been the fact that new life in Christ is both liberating and transformational, and that all disciples can embrace the opportunity to live into our salvation, as active partners in ministry with God. Salvation means to be active participants in what God is up to.

Over time, however, even in the middle of growth, renewal, encouragement, and “successful” ministry, it became increasingly obvious to me that the average Christian man was/is still more inclined to be a church member than a disciple of Jesus, to sit on the premises rather than stand on the promises, and to live with a huge disconnect between the label “Christian” and the moment by moment reality of everyday life.

That observation became a grief; that grief became a burden; that burden became my passion, that passion became my first book – GET REAL: a spiritual journey for men – and that passion became my ministry.

So that – essentially – is why I do what I do. I want every single man who reads these words or hears me speak to become a sold-out, passionate, “covered with the dust of my rabbi,” disciple of Jesus Christ.

Even if I only have the opportunity to influence a handful of men in any given faith community, then I believe we will still see radical, love-saturated, change make its way through families, work environments, churches, and communities.

The shift from membership to discipleship is that important, and it is that effective.

In love, and because of love – DEREK