Discipleship Thought began as a weekly email from First Baptist Church at the Mall's Discipleship Pastor, Mark Bedwell, to his Sunday Morning Connect Group Leadership Team. These Thoughts were meant as a weekly encouragement, point to ponder, break from the day and sometimes even meant to make you stop and say "hmmm?"

We hope you find encouragement. Feel free to pass this along to someone who might need a little encouragement today!

Monday, November 22, 2010

SONG

If your life was a song, what kind of song would you be?
What words would fill the chorus line..what rhythms would we hear?
Would you be a country ballad full of sad tales and hard times…
Full of Drunken words mixed with  painful tears?

Would you be a gangsta rap and raise your hand up to ‘the man?’
Would you blame and would you rant for the  place that you are in?
Shaming what is right, and mocking what is true,
Bringing glory to what is dark and what is sin.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

CHEATER

It had been two years since Antonio Margarito had been in the boxing ring.  Accused of cheating, he has been serving a suspension and had basically disappeared off of the boxing horizon…being shunned by fans and being the target of main stream media cheap shots and headlines.  It seemed that he only had his fellow countrymen behind him…the faithful few in Mexico who still believed and still chanted the name of Margarito…the Tiajuana Tornado.  After two years of silence, Margarito emerged this past Saturday night in Dallas.  He would headline a boxing pay per view and fight against the Phillipine Congressman, Manny Pacquiao. 

Friday, November 5, 2010

QUIZ

I was traveling down South Florida listening to Christian Radio….(I can’t lie)…listening to NFL Satellite Radio….and I received a call from Kim.  I asked her if she needed anything and her response was “no, not really.”  Now, men….you know what this means…this means that our wives are calling simply to talk and it is time to buck up and it is time to turn down our radio and put on our listening ears. She talked of school lunches  and of funny conversations.  She updated me on Google news…how her parents were…and the local weather conditions in Las Cruces, New Mexico (where her parents live). She was in the process of grade updates for both of our kids….class by class…when she stated that Shelby “had a quiz, not a test.”  That is when I did it.  I inserted a question. 

Monday, November 1, 2010

BLACK DOG


This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house.’”

Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
Haggai 1:2-7

It was October 31st and I was sitting in the front yard with my family roasting hotdogs over a fire pit and watching children as they scavenged through the neighborhood going door to door looking for candy.  Neighbors stopped by just to say hi.  Typical conversations were held about the weather, the football game, the economy……and the housing market.  As one of our neighbors approached, I noticed that at the end of her leash, she had the most beautiful black dog.  His hair was soft and curly.  His eyes set close together and they seemed to be chocolate brown.  He had an under bite,  a slight wheeze…and within seconds I had fallen in love.  (Please don’t tell my dog, Max.)  As I was rubbing his belly, I commented...