Inside Out 2 – The Great Rewiring
In the original popular movie, “Inside Out,” we meet Riley, a pre-teen girl struggling with the sadness of leaving her hometown and friends behind as she moves to San Francisco. We see the interplay of Joy with more negative emotions, including Sadness and Anger, and learn the centrality of joy in handling negative emotions. “Inside […]
Is Your Community Doing Discipleship? Pt . 2
In last week’s blog we talked about how community relates to discipleship. This week I want to look more closely at exactly how Jessie Cruickshank explains the process of growth-oriented discipleship in her book Ordinary Discipleship. Jessie uses the process of the hero’s journey as an outline for discipleship. The hero’s journey is a 7-step […]
Your Best Self Asks for Help
If you have been around the Life Model for a while, you have probably come across the maturity charts. One aspect of child level maturity is learning to ask for what you need. Just that idea alone brings up all types of different reactions in each of us. Everyone has different thoughts, questions, arguments, fears […]
Escaping Enemy Mode Together
It will be exciting to see many of you in Denver this month. We are going to experience joy and learn to stay connected to Jesus and to our people, even when we are in enemy mode. We are going to share stories from the field and hear how it is going. How is escaping […]
Resources for Creating Transformational Small Groups
(Part 10 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Having explained the practices, pitfalls, and perils of talking things through to find “peace,” let’s turn our attention to resources that can help. These materials encourage the development […]
Finding Identity and Transformation by Seeking Things Above
(Part 9 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Followers of Jesus are in the process of being transformed into the image of Jesus. We are born into an entirely new identity from the moment we receive […]
Grace as a Foundation for Peace in Your Small Group
(Part 8 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri The word grace was around for hundreds of years before Paul used it in his epistles. Grace is a relational term that implies an ongoing, mutual connection between […]
Breaking Through the Fog
(Part 7 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Looking back over the previous blogs, it is clear we have been misapplying what the Bible says. In a sense, we have been creating fog around the topic. […]
The Shortcomings of Denying Wounds to Fake Peace and Building Community According to the Flesh
(Part 6 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Hurt and wounding is destructive. Such experiences fester within us. That is why it is blatant stupidity to deny or try to toss away wounds by claiming they […]
Shortcomings of Enveloping Our Identities in Sticky Sin to Build Spiritual Community
(Part 5 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Our perception of reality is skewed by all the wounds and hurts we experience — whether they result from our sin or someone else’s. Throughout every life, Satan […]
Sharing Wounds and Pain to Develop Attachment and Intimacy
(Part 4 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri Getting to know each other by talking things through is often used in Christian circles to form spiritual community. We get to know each other by discussing as […]
The Shortcomings of Trying to Talk our Way Back to Peace
By Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri (Part 3 of 10 from the article, “Through the Eyes of Heaven: Does ‘Talking It Through to Find Peace’ bring Shalom?”) God sees through heaven’s eyes — an infallibly gracious perspective. Until you and I are with Him, our objective is to cultivate peace in our lives by sowing […]
How We Are Escaping Enemy Mode In Our Marriage
By Ray and Deborah Woolridge When have you had an enemy mode conversation with someone you love? How does it feel to you? How does it make them feel? As a couple married 36+ years, enemy mode feels like falling down a cliff. Falling into enemy mode is much easier than climbing out of it. […]
Enhancing Our Faces
By Michael Sullivant “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17 NKJV. Practicing the Life Model has much to do with the importance of faces … God’s face, the face of Immanuel, other’s faces, and our own face as well. God has given us, even in infancy, the […]