Four Steps to Creative Discipleship

If the church is to be a creative force for God in our world today, it must engender preparation, incubation, illumination and verification.

Remember when? Remember how much fun it used to be to pass notes in class behind the teacher's back? Or -- even more daring and delinquent -- remember when you kept your eyes ahead and your face towards the teacher all the while deftly sneaking a note by/under her/his very nose?

But do you remember the content of any of those stealth messages, those earth-shaking, principle's office-risking missives you and your classmates used to missile back and forth? What did they contain that was so important, so "hot" that it couldn't possibly wait for recess or lunch time?

Mine usually followed sports ("Lakers stink, Yeah Celtics!" -- you'd pass this one to your friend, the big Lakers' fan), current events ("Mark likes Cindy, but Cindy likes Scott" -- you'd pass this one to Scott's current girlfriend), and politics ("If you tell anyone the reason I didn't go to Todd's swim party is because I can't swim, I will pound you at recess, understand!" -- you got that one from that really big kid)....