You may ask, "Why does Lifelines focus on personal growth and the outdoors together"?
Thirty years ago, after noticing key leaders' failure to apply the gospel to all areas of personal growth, Cru leadership came up with this as their growth model, see Brenda's post-it note below. Grace plus Truth (in Community) over Time, is a formula for personal growth.
Certainly, this is not the gospel -the important truths of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection that by faith gives us a newly reconciled and eternal life with our God. I like to think of the growth model with its corresponding elements of Boundaries, Bonding, Adulthood, and Good-Bad split, as the pot that the seed of the gospel is planted for growth.
We have all seen the gospel seed planted in soil that consists of rules or manipulation, maybe guilt and shame that results in behavior modification. This pot produces temporary change that looks good on the outside but doesn’t last nor does it produce true heart change.
John 1 says that Jesus is the Word, he came full of Grace and Truth and that was very different soil than the law of Abraham.
Only the pot filled with grace and truth, and a community committed to growth and loving feedback, just as Jesus gave his disciples, can help that gospel seed grow and produce true heart change. What kind of soil are you growing in? What kind of soil are you sharing with others for their growth? I have pasted a link to a 20 minute teaching time Brenda and I did together a few days ago in Tahoe in front of 25 staff that we thought might be helpful. We expand a bit on these growth issues. Please message me with any questions or thoughts you may have.
Seeking the good soil,
Mark
You will have to hit the download option to listen but it is safe.
