Call The Marines!

Perhaps a whole new book is needed to address all of the lessons that have been learned from various mentors and teachers in my life.  There are significant lessons that I have learned from my mother that originally seemed appropriate to include in Lessons from my Father because mom and dad always worked together as a team and therefore the lessons are from the Team.  However, I think a separate category is in order for things that are uniquely ‘my mom’!

I worked my way through college – odd jobs, newspaper loading docks, selling plasma (only once – it was too vampire-like for my taste).  One of my jobs was at an architects office.  Oh, it sounds plush, I know.  A budding architect?  An apprentice in the architectural world?  NO!  A lacky!  I ran errands, filled water coolers and made “blue-prints” – but it paid the school bill!

Back in the day‘, blueprints were made by taking specially treated paper and running it through an ultraviolet light chamber and then through ammonia vapor bath to turn the chemical treated paper “blue”.  Each page would have to be run through the ammonia vapor and Continue reading

6 Marks of Discipleship – #2 Suffer

If you missed the first post in this series, be sure to read it.  It will provide more context around this series.

Jesus gives 6 very clear statements about being one of His followers or disciples.  These are not requirements for salvation or forgiveness; rather they are conditions or evidences of being His disciple.  The 1st Mark of Discipleship is Hate. Here is the second:

“And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:27

Are you kidding me?  First I have to Hate and then I have to carry a cross – Suffer? This ‘following Jesus’ thing sounds more like torture! Before we jump to conclusions about what we presume Jesus is requiring of us, we need to go back in time.

When Jesus said these words, it was BEFORE His own crucifixion.  This was not understood by His audience as a foreshadow of His own death (even though it was).  It was understood to be a reference to the Continue reading

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