Outdoor Leadership

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)

"REGULAR RETREAT TO SOLITARY PLACES DEEPENS OUR ROOTS IN CHRIST

Jesus seemed to have a habit of regularly withdrawing with his disciples to solitary places in the outdoors. This rhythm of retreat served to give his disciples needed rest for their bodies and minds. It also provided a platform for spiritual formation. He used these regular retreats into the wilderness to keep his disciples anchored into reality as he saw it. And one obvious characteristic of the way he did this, was to use object lessons or teachable moments from Creation to illustrate reality...."

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"The Soul Famine of our Day...

I'm convinced that people today are really yearning to be freed from the chaotic pace of modern life. Busyness has only deepened our starvation for experiences that cause true transformation.

One of the best things that we can do to overcome this propensity toward shallowness that comes from constant activity, is to look back at the life of the Master, Jesus Christ. As he looked into the culture of His day He settled on a surprising strategy to change the world: He chose a group of young Disciples, He used the wilderness as His primary classroom, and He employed adventure to produce radical commitment toward His mission.

He knew that people needed time in the outdoors for soul rest and mind renewal. God has always used wilderness experiences to draw out the best in people by confronting their fears and exposing traps of entitlement. Jesus used the wilderness with His Disciples to sever worldly entanglements that choked their faith.

The Aim of My Blog and Newsletter..

It is critical in our increasingly urban world for people to have opportunities to encounter Jesus through regular retreat and recurring wilderness experiences. My blog and recent book on Christian Outdoor Leadership is aimed at helping others re-discover the ancient discipleship method, which produced leaders such as Abraham, Sarah, David, and Paul. Each of them were profoundly called and shaped by God in the wilderness.

Thanks again for joining this growing community of like-minded folks. I look forward to hearing from you as well.

As our way of saying thanks for signing up, here is a link to a free tutorial on "How Jesus Used the Outdoors to Make His Teaching Stick?"

Sincerely,



Ashley Denton, D.Min."