What do the strongest, healthiest, and even happiest disciples of Jesus have in common with each other?

Go ahead, take your best guess.

Seriously, think about it. Write your answer down. If you just keep reading to get the answer, you'll miss out.

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Did you write your answer down yet?

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Ok, what did you say?

They regularly read their Bibles?

Or maybe you chose "an active prayer life"?

Another good guess would be "goes to church every week."

Hopefully you said, "They're an active member in Uncommon Pursuit"! :-)

I'm guessing no one wrote down, "habitually fasts and takes silent retreats" (but that wouldn't be a bad idea).

Those are all good answers.

But the #1 factor is....

They are following Jesus with extremely close friends.

Just like the original disciples of Jesus, they have a small, tight-knit group of 3-4 people who they rely on throughout the week. They pray for each other, send Bible verses around from their daily devotions, hear each other's struggles, and show up to practically care for one another.

I'm convinced this is the secret to a thriving Christian life.

So I'm excited to share that we are launching new Growth Groups this fall!

While we can't recreate the in-person experience (yet), we can connect in meaningful ways via Zoom and messages. If you live in a place where it is hard or even impossible to find a local church, this is better than nothing.

Or, if you already have some tight friends who are following Jesus with you, that's awesome. Let this email encourage you: you are on the right track! And, if you're looking for some Bible studies to do together, the Academy is the perfect fit. In less than a minute, you can register and start taking a course. Nearly all of our lessons have reflections and discussion questions that make it easy to start conversations with your friends when you meet up to study the Bible and talk about how God is at work in your life.

If you want to join a Growth Group that starts this fall, let me know right away, because we are going to start new groups once we have 4-5 people who can all meet at the same time each week.

Registration is open for a limited time: https://uncommonpursuit.net/growth-group.

If you aren't already part of a small group that helps you be like Jesus, I encourage you, based on all my research into spiritual growth, sign up today.

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gratefully,

Carson

P.S. Thank you for your prayers as I've worked on the Major Project for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. After two months of research and writing, it's a 160 page paper. I'm in the final stages of editing it and sending it to my professors. The next stage is an oral defense of my thesis, so please keep praying!