Dave Buehring's Reflections on the Ways of God http://davebuehring.com Over the last several weeks I've been reflecting on the biblical truth of repentance. It's the process of turning away from sin towards the Lord, exchanging our sin for what Jesus wants to give us instead, and a supernatural restoration job by God on the disfiguring consequences of sin in our lives. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100602.html The topic of repentance is not always the most popular, even amongst followers of Jesus. However, it is key to true heart change and living in real freedom from the inside out! I have found it something to be embraced over the last three decades versus something to be avoided. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100524.html "Repentance is the starting point for all spiritual growth." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100517.html Over the last number of weeks we have been addressing the matter of our places of service within culture and how each has a 'touch of God' on it that we have the privilege of representing and reflecting. This week I want to provide a few thoughts on the domain of arts/entertainment/sports. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100510.html Over the last month I have been addressing what I refer to as the 'Dozen Domains' of culture, twelve broad umbrellas that make up the various arenas of culture where people serve. We've looked at a number already (see Archives), and today I want to briefly touch on the need for godly leaders within the Media. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100503.html I have been blogging the last month about the 'Dozen Domains' - what they are, how they relate to God's character and what's in His heart to express through us who serve within them. We have identified them as the domains of family, church/missions, government, education/students, media, arts/entertainment/sports, business, science/technology, health/medicine/wholeness, environment/agriculture, military/nation-security and the non-profit/service organization worlds. As with each of these domains, God desires to be glorified within them and wants to see people honored and served through them. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100425.html I have spent the last several weeks addressing something I refer to as the 'Dozen Domains'. These domains of culture represent the various broad 'umbrellas' that make up our careers, callings and places of service. Each of these arenas are meant to reflect God's character and glorify Him while at the same time seeing people treated with honor and well served through them. We have already taken a look at Family and Church/Missions (see Archives) and this week I would like to share some thoughts on the domain of Government/Law/Politics. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100411.html If you are dropping by for the first time I have been writing about something I have dubbed the 'Dozen Domains' - twelve arenas of culture by which we can glorify God and serve others. They include family, church and missions, government/law/politics, education/students, business, media, arts/entertainment/sports, science/technology, health/medicine/wholeness, environment/agriculture, military/nation-security and the non-profit world. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100404.html I mentioned a few weeks back about the focus that the organization I have the privilege of leading, the Lionshare Leadership Group, is embarking upon - a decade-long approach to recapturing deliberate disciple-making and mentoring. Our aim is to raise up godly leaders and multipliable models within the 'dozen domains' of culture, believing that when someone lives and leads out of the ways of God that He is glorified and people are truly honored and served. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100329.html "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100322.html When I was a young missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), one of the things that we learned about was how God had a desire to impact and be expressed through the various spheres of society. As Winkie Pratney has been recently sharing - each of the 'domains of culture' are actually expressions of God Himself. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100315.html I had the privilege of hosting our NetDMC Summit in Dallas/Fort Worth last week. NetDMC is simply our shortened way of referring to our growing national 'network of disciple-makers, mentors and coaches'. We had godly men and women representing 17 states, Washington D.C., 31 ministries, 15 companies and organizations and 9 denominations present. We gathered for a second time to address a crucial issue in our land and throughout the Body of Christ - the lack of the deliberate passing on of the ways of God via the vehicles of disciple-making, mentoring and coaching. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100308.html As followers of Jesus - meaning those who have yielded to His Lordship and are wholeheartedly pursing His path - we are to lay down our lives for others. A reading of the Scriptures does not portray this as necessarily being easy, but rather often laden with great challenge and sacrifice. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100228.html When one becomes a follower of Jesus they are 'enlisted' as a warrior for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. As a citizen of the Kingdom our battle is always in opposition to the enemy of our souls - the devil - and is never against people, but always for people. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100221.html Looking at the lives of many friends it seems as if most of them are in races of endurance. For some the race revolves around personal matters - dealing with current financial drains, the loss of the love of their life or keeping their spiritual or emotional'head above water'. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100215.html Have you ever noticed as a follower of Jesus that sometimes you are 'at odds' with the world around you? Might be as a young adult you committed to do something a little different by deciding you weren't going to kiss someone until you were engaged - or married. Or, instead of going out of town to party with everyone else for the weekend you choose to stash cash and go out of the country for a week to serve the needy. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100207.html Today I got off the phone with a buddy of 30 years who had experienced his wife entering heaven just moments before. It was not unlike another dear friend of nearly two decades who experienced the same only two weeks prior. Both expressed the 'bitter-sweetness' of it all, the sadness of the loss of their best friend yet rejoicing that they were no longer riddled with disease but enjoying the fullness of the presence of the Lord. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100131.html Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100124.html Last Sunday a man approached me after our morning gathering with "I heard you were a Vikings fan". After acknowledging that I was indeed a nearly four-decade fan of the purple from Minnesota, he proceeded to share with me how a friend of his who plays for the team is a growing disciple of Jesus. He also said the reason this man had resisted following Jesus over the years was that he 'stumbled' over the fact that those who professed to be godly had no difference in standards in the way they lived than those captured by the ways of the world. http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100117.html Not since the 1970's, when I was a teenager committed to following Jesus, have I heard so many speaking so broadly about the biblical mandate of 'making disciples'. Leaders throughout the Body of Christ and entire denominations are talking about it (I have the honor of addressing two of them within the next few weeks). http://davebuehring.com/blog/20100109.html