A Doctor and the Jesus Creed

"The true indicator of spiritual well-being is growth in the ability to love God and people. If we can do this without the practice of any particular spiritual disciplines, then we should by all means skip them." -- John Ortberg

A while back, I came across a link to a blog called The Jesus Creed. The link started with Dr. Paul Baggaley, a family doctor who resides in Western Australia, and his site Baggas' Blog. He took part- along with a good number of others and me, in an online book study earlier this year. (The study was organized by Messy Christian. If you're interested, a new study will start in the next month or so. It looks like it will be Bonhoeffer's "Life Together". Drop me a note or get word to Messy. You are welcomed to join in.) I enjoy reading his comments and appreciate Baggas’ voracious reading habit and faithfulness to post in the midst of his everyday life and service as a fellow Christ-Follower .

The tip towards Scott McKnight and his blog is a good find. Likewise, I was intrigued by the idea of “The Jesus Creed”. Could there be an ancient creed that Christ acknowledged? ...a catechism or confession that pre-dates the creeds of the church and the New Testament? Searching to find and overview of the subject, I came across the following article. It is clearly worth the read. So, here’s an excerpt to get you started. The outcome may be more simple than you thought :)

Jesus creed: what is the focus of spiritual life?

Christian Century, Sept 7, 2004 by Scott McKnight

DISCIPLESHIP AND disciplines: during the past 50 years these two words have expressed for many of us the quintessence of following Christ. We have come especially to associate "discipleship" with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose prophetic voice showed us what it was like to be a Christian under Hitler's regime. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," we read in Reginald Fuller's translation--words that challenge us to take up the cross daily, even at the cost of persecution and death. (Continue)