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Over the past 35 years I have used lots of great books and curriculum in leading small groups and discipleship groups—some of them written by me. Thinking of all of the good material I have used, my favorite small group curriculum now is The Good & Beautiful God, by James Bryan Smith. My friend small group author …

For 21 hours Friday and Sturday Jan 25 & 26 the line between what a conference is and what a retreat is were blurred.  Attendees checked in thinking that like most conferences this was going to be a time for high concentration learning.  And yes we learned.  But it was much more.  The format of …

Apprentice Conference – Hope Church – Richmond, VA from Aprentis on Vimeo.   An apprentice learns from a master, and there is no greater master than Jesus Christ. While many of us may know what it means to put our faith in Jesus, we may have never experienced what it means to live as his …

Florida sun, stories about alligators and a wonderful group of people learning to fall in love with the God that Jesus knows. The Aprentis team had the privilege of spending the weekend worshiping, thinking, and exploring what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. After three months of redesigning our Apprentice series conferences we …

Dr. James Bryan Smith Talks about being Hidden with Hope, Who am I, Where am I, and Where am I Going. Colossians 3:1-3 Click Here to Listen to Jim’s Talk

What is Truth? Dallas Willard explores the answer.

James Bryan Smith and IVP is coming out with a new resource in the summer of 2013 called Hidden in Christ. It will be a great resource for both individuals and groups. The section below about the new book comes directly from the IVP website. Words are powerful. They contain ideas and shape the way …

Question asking comes naturally to many people, especially children, but asking the right questions is a skill that spiritual directors have to learn. We cannot let our curiosity get the better of us. We cannot be like children and always ask the never ending, “but why?” Our questions must be ones that, as Margaret says, …

I am sure that many of you are familiar with the saying, “What Would Jesus Do?” It is a great reminder to stop and think before we respond to situations in an un-holy way. But when taken literally—as I often interpret things—it can lead to frustration. When I am in a hard situation and I …

The two most frequent questions I get asked as a student majoring in Religion & Philosophy with an emphasis in Christian Spiritual Formation are, “What is spiritual formation?” and “what can you do with it?” I never know how to answer such questions. Whether it is because of my own lack of knowledge or my …