It's very clear that Jesus and His Gospel is the central theme and firm foundation of the Bible, our shared Christian faith, and our discipleship program, Jesus In Real Life. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20: "Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself." In a normal building, we'd always start with the foundation (and we'll certainly get there eventually!), but for JesusIRL, we start with the Gospel (represented by the roof). The Gospel is the good news that Jesus preached, demonstrated, and lived In Real Life. In daily, real-life interactions with his disciples, He showed us not only how to live our lives in relationship with Him, but also how to teach others to do the same- no manuals, strategies, or even exquisitely crafted models required- just a Bible and an open heart to receive God's truth as revealed through His word.

We choose to start with the roof (representing "The Gospel") because, if we don't have a right relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we'll never know our true identity lead a complete life of true discipleship. Understanding our Foundation as being built on the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone (aka "The Five-Fold Ministry") does little to teach us how to live our faith effectively, nor demonstrate it compellingly, so we won't start there.

Likewise, knowing The Commands of Christ (represented by the "icons" or "symbols", serving as "building blocks"), while certainly an admirable goal, will only leave us frustrated and "religious", with a performance/merit based view of what it is to be a follower of Christ. Frankly, that's been the difficulty (if not the failure) of other "discipleship" models- they give a head knowledge, and lead people to an intellectual assent to various facts, but never empower us to truly live as Servant Ambassadors, or what we call "Jesus In Real Life", because they never grasp the centrality of the Gospel in the simple yet profound way that being baptized into our true identity, in the Name of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit (the Godhead), represents it.

Similarly, the Boundaries of Priorities (represented by the windows and doors of our "Spiritual House") are important- knowing that our Personal, Intimate, Eternal Relationship With God (Priority 1), and our Personal, Intimate, Until Death Do Us Part Relationship With Our spouse (Priority 2), our Personal, Intimate, Until They Leave Home Relationship With Our children (Priority 3), plus our Personal, Intimate, Until The Return Of Christ Relationship With Our Church (Priority 4), and our Personal, Intimate, Until We Retire Relationship With Our Work (Priority 5) is a great way to live life with balance and boundaries, but those Priorities alone do not make disciples- only the Truth of the Gospel can set people free!

Do you want to be truly free? Please join us on our quest to build up a Spiritual Household of Faith, beginning with The Roof.