I must say that I had not intended to begin a blog. However, after reading article after article of my wife's blog I was inspired and even compelled to begin to write. Unfortunately, I had nothing to write about that I believed would be interesting to others or captivate my attention enough to continue to write day after day.

But now I do. This morning as I was praying I asked God to be excused from praying to write down what I believed was a great idea for a blog - "the 1 year disciple."

Seeing as 2010 is suddenly here it causes me to reflect on 2009. You may notice some news channels doing similar reflections of major events of the past year. As I think about the highlights of my 2009, few events stand out. Some good, some not so good. However, one in particular stands out the most, and that is who I had impacted or helped bring to Christ through the gospel.

I don't feel like a derelict disciple as I believed my efforts in leading several Bible discussion groups led to some baptisms. However, a focused, direct, intentional impact was lacking for me in 2009.

So as I begin this year-long effort (with some trepidation I might add) I encourage you to join in this journey with me. Of course, if you are one of those people who has baptized several people in 2009 and can't get to sleep unless someone has heard something about the Bible, then this blog isn't for you. However, if you've been like me and have found yourself this past year or years without any concerted effort to reach someone for Christ, then please read on...

Jesus didn't go after crowds.  He used the crowds as an opportunity to teach his disciples.  He spoke to the crowds as much as they could understand and explained deeper things to his disciples.

Jesus' primary focus in his ministry was to preach the word.  In fact, his miracles were more of a hindrance than a focus - it distracted him from preaching.