The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

One of the greatest theologians that ever lived, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though he thought that Dr. Barth would like to be open for questions, he shouldn’t be expected to handle the strain. Then...

I have had the opportunity to visit New York City a few times. If you are ever in the city and you venture close to Chinatown, you will soon be confronted with a number of people trying to get your attention. They will try to attract you by showing off items they have for sale - watches, purses, jewelry, sunglasses, perfume - all sorts of items. What will surprise you, though, is their pricing - o...

I read a story from the life of Alexander the Great, whom many believe was one of the greatest generals who ever lived, conquering almost the entire known world with his vast army. One night during a campaign, Alexander couldn’t sleep and left his tent to walk around the camp. He came across a soldier asleep on guard duty-a very serious offense. In fact, the penalty for falling asleep on guard dut...

A man asked three of his friends to tell him the meaning of truth. One of his friends was a psychologist; he said truth is what one feels it to be. Another one was an accountant; he said truth is what one needs it to be. Another one was a lawyer; he said truth is what one can make it to be. People today talk about the concept of “my truth” and the opinion that truth is relative and completely dete...

Prior to the shut down of indoor dining due to Covid restrictions, I was sitting in Starbucks on day enjoying a vanilla latte and going over my sermon notes. A man sat down at the table next to me and said hello. He seemed interested in talking so I turned to listen to the guy. It didn’t take him long to get to the real reason he wanted to talk. He asked me if I was interested in making some extra...

When I was 5 years old, my parents placed their trust in Jesus Christ and were born again. We began attending a church in Fort Worth, Texas. At the church I met another boy who was also 5 years old, and we became fast friends. His name was Bryan. Bryan and I grew up together as best friends and were even roommates in college. Today, 45 years later, while Bryan and I live in different parts of the...

When I was growing up, I was always a tall, skinny kid. But in 8th grade I started playing football on the middle school team. Over the summer, our coach was trying to get the team in shape. I remember him telling me, “Loren, you need to gain some weight and put on some muscle.” During the summer I was mowing lawns for extra money. I remember begging my mom to take me to K-Mart so I could by some...

I read the story of a mother and her four-year-old daughter were preparing to retire for the night. The child was afraid of the dark, and the mother, on this occasion alone with the child, felt fearful also. When the light was out, the child caught a glimpse of the moon outside the window. “Mother,” she asked, “is the moon God’s light?” “Yes,” said the mother. The next question was, “Will God put...

In 1193, the English King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, was returning from leading a Crusade to the Holy Land. As he returned through Europe, Leopold V captured him in Austria. The Roman Emperor demanded a ransom for Richard's release. The price was to be 150,000 marks, equal to three tons of silver. This was an enormous ransom demand. But the people of England so loved thei...

Think for a moment about the value of time. Someone once said, "To realize the value of one month ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of one hour, ask the sweethearts who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed their plane. To realize the value of one second, ask the person who barely avoided the car accident. ...

One of the most quoted verses in scripture is a small verse tucked into the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 119:105 - “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Often times the simple things are the most profound and impactful things. Listen again to what the verse says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The picture is a person walking at night. It’s dark, but...

In the town hall in Copenhagen, Denmark stands the world’s most complicated clock. It took forty years to build at a cost of more than a million dollars. The clock has ten faces, fifteen thousand parts, and is accurate to 2/5 of a second, every three hundred years. The clock computes the time of the day, the days of the week, the months and years, and the movements of the planets for 2,500 years....

Quite frequently, as I invite people to church, I hear people say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.”  I’ve never really heard anyone give a good definition for what it means to be spiritual.  But what I think these people are trying to express is that they are on a search for spiritual things.  There is a spiritual hunger they are trying to fill. For 2,000 years people have been expressing their...

There is a story of man who was clearing the trees off of several acres of land. He was working hard chopping down trees with an axe. Despite his hard work, he could only remove a few trees each day. But one day he found out about power chain saws. A salesman told him with a power chainsaw he could cut down 50 more trees than he could with an axe. The man was sold. He purchased the chainsaw and we...

Do you ever stop and think about how blessed you really are. If you are like me you realize you are blessed way beyond what you deserve. God is so good to us. As a good Father, he loves to bless his children.  When I count my blessings I usually thank God for life, health, breath, strength, family, friends, a home, food, ministry and so much more. But this week as I was praying, I was reminded tha...

Last summer, my family and I traveled to Utah and spent a few days at the beautiful Zion National Park. We hiked many of the trails and enjoyed the famous Narrows. The terrain is beautiful but very rugged. A few months after our trip, I noticed in the news that searchers were looking for a woman who had become lost in the National Park. The 38 year old woman from California’s was named Holly Court...

A father and his 10 year old daughter, both good swimmers, entered the waters of the Atlantic at a New Jersey seashore resort a few summers ago. When some distance from shore they became separated, and the father realized they were being carried out to sea by the tide. He called out to his daughter: "I am going to shore for help. If you get tired, turn on your back; you can float all day on y...

When I was growing up in Texas as child, I remember there were some times where finances were short and our family was in need. My parents didn’t let anyone know, but they did bring their needs to God in prayer. They trusted God’s promise to supply all of their needs according to His riches in glory. On more than one occasion, we came out of the church after a Sunday service to find the back seat...

A few years ago, my wife Linda and I were blessed to go to Israel. One of the most impactful places we visited was the Sea of Galilee. As we walked the shore, story after story from the Gospels came to my mind. It was here that Jesus spent so much time with his disciples. It was here that he called many of them to follow him and to be his disciples.  Bible scholars believe these 12 men were very y...

I love hearing stories of how people came to faith in Jesus. Everyone has their own journey and their own stories. A number of years ago, I was getting to know a man who had attended a few services at our church. As I often do, I asked him how he became a Christian. His response surprised me. He said, “You know, Pastor…I decided to study all the major world religions. I took a couple of years and...

One of the most powerful, yet practical verses in all of the Bible is found in James 1:5 - “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” I think of James as he shares God’s promise for wisdom. James knew that it’s relatively easy to live as a Christian when things are calm. But it’s much more difficult when the sto...

Years ago I read the story about identical twin brothers who never married but worked in the family retail store with their Dad.  When their father died, they took over his store and ran it together in a joyful collaboration. But one day a man came in to make a small purchase and paid for it with a dollar. The brother who made the sale placed the dollar on top of the cash register...and walked the...

In the mid 1900’s Fritz Kreisler, an Austrian born violinist was regarded as on o f the world’s greatest musicians. One day he had a ticket to board a ship in Hamburg, Germany. He was going to sail to London for a concert.  Kreisler had an hour before his boat sailed. He wandered into a music shop, where the proprietor asked if he could look at the violin Kreisler was carrying. He then vanished an...

Today as I record this episode, the wind is howling here in my city. My weather app says it’s blowing 25 miles per hour.  As I drove to the store this afternoon, I came up beside a man riding his bicycle directly into the blowing wind. The man seemed to be straining with all the power he had to pedal his bicycle into the strong wind.  As hard as it is to ride into the oncoming wind, if you simply...