Apologies, Band Names, Babies, and Discipleship

First off, sorry I haven't posted in a few days. It's been kinda busy. It probably sounds stupid, but whenever I go a day or two without posting, I seriously start stressing about it. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy the fact that there are a handful of people out there reading it and I feel like I'm not doing my job or something. I know that's retarded, but such is the mind of Jeff.

Secondly, my friend, Andy Rains (youth pastor in Thayer, MO) asked me to post a request. He and some friends in Thayer have formed a band and can't decide on a name. So if any of you have creative ideas for a band name, leave them here in the "comments" section. They are a Christian band that does mostly praise music. I don't normally "rent out space" on my blog for other people, but Andy has information about me that could be damaging to my career, so I felt compelled. Anyway, let's hear your ideas!

Thirdly, Jamie is now 5 days past her due date and still no baby. They'll probably induce labor tomorrow. She has an appointment today to find out for sure.

Finally, this week was the MO FWB State Meeting. The powers-that-be asked me to speak at the youth service last night. My message was about discipleship. I've posted about this before I think, but I want to hit it again. Christ calls us to be and make disciples. Last night I opened by asking over 200 people to raise their hands if they were Christians. Almost everyone had their hand up. Then I asked for a show of hands of true sold-out disciples - maybe one or two people raised their hands. We have created this whole new category of believer that isn't Biblical. Most of our people think they can be Christian (sins forgiven, going to heaven) without being a disciple (life totally committed to following Jesus). This teaching is NO WHERE in scripture. You cannot be one without the other. I believe it's largely the fault of pastors and preachers. We treat discipleship like an optional program to enroll in after "salvation". This is wrong and we have to get away from it. We give invitations for people to have their sins forgiven, but that call is not strong enough. We need to be inviting people into a totally committed, life-changing, life-sacrificing relationship with Jesus. Don't call me a Christian, I'm a disciple of Jesus.