Practice – Jerry Lout ⚬ Writer ⚬ Speaker ⚬ Mobilizer

January 29, 2026January 28, 2026

Fuel For The Road

The self-confessed Bible History and Language Nerd Tim Mackie sees Jesus of Nazareth as “utterly amazing and worth following with everything that you have.”* Mackie is one of millions of believers who have found Jesus to be the “supreme treasure”, the “priceless pearl” referenced in Christ’s own parables. For such disciples, there is nothing that brings more satisfaction and joy than living out their Christ-centric lives in the power of grace.

Grace-fueled.

It is said that grace is God acting in our life, to do what we cannot do on our own. Consider a mighty rocket, launching astronauts up and away from planet earth – out and beyond her powerful pull of gravity. Now think of the amount of rocket fuel needed to bring about such a feat.

Christians are persons who depend upon the “fuel” of grace – not just to gain forgiveness of their wrongs – which is amazing. The disciple of Jesus routinely “burns” more grace than a lunar-bound rocket burns fuel at lift-off.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”**

Still, while grace is essential in walking out the Christian faith, the believer’s participation is vital.

Learning to ride a horse well (in that confident, pleasurable style witnessed in a good Western movie) calls for observing and engaging some practical things. The result then (resting easily in the saddle, rolling with the horses cadence when she’s walking, trotting, galloping, or turning) comes easily. Surprisingly so. All that is typically needed is (a) desire to master the art of horseback riding, (b) paying attention to detail and (b) engaging in repeated practice.

Two of my granddaughters grew up overseas. In a matter of weeks after Claire and Grace started showing up at South Africa’s Ladybrand Village for riding lessons, they had taken on the look of seasoned cowgirls. How? They aspired. They paid attention. They trained.

A growing number of Christ-followers, regardless their “place” in the journey, have sensed a stir. A robust appetite after him has taken hold, and they are pivoting toward the preferred way, the more satisfying way. Some of these precious souls are (for the present) occupying spaces outside formalized church structures. Whatever the case, increasing numbers of hungry believers are shifting toward a vibrant with-God life of flourishing in Christ. In some cases, whole communities of the faithful have chosen to re-center afresh upon God. Moved, empowered by his extravagant grace.

November 6, 2025November 5, 2025

For Good Measure

Apprenticing through Practice.

“Measure twice, cut once.”

Carpenter-trainees know the phrase well. When setting out to cut a piece of lumber, the worker employs his time wisely, even when extra seconds of time are called for. By taking care to measure and mark the piece – not once but twice – the craftsman guards against mistakes (some can be costly!) and avoids senseless waste.

The “measure-twice” phrase loops in the head repeatedly during an apprentice’s early tutoring under the guidance of their craftsman-teacher. The mantra, being revisited again and again over time – in both mind and bodily action – transforms an important quality inside the carpenter-wannabe. They are never the same, and happy for the change.

The carpenter apprentice might at first regard the “measure-twice” action as a pointless waste of time. But not for long.

Any successful tradesman in any field has applied himself to (firstly) pay attention to instruction and (secondly) to practice – practice – practice.

We don’t have to look far within Scripture to spot a seasoned follower aligning himself to the way of Jesus Christ.

What does Paul coach the believer in, once they are challenged to reframe their thought life toward things of “excellence”? As a spiritual journeyman, so to speak, Paul invites the following:

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

October 16, 2025October 15, 2025

The Chase

“Practice makes perfect”, so goes the saying.

Aiming for Christlikeness, in the sense of fully mirroring Jesus’ faultless nature, is likely a reach too far. Still. Every believer can go, and is welcomed to go, a meaningful distance in narrowing that gap.

The late Brennan Manning stated with refreshing candor: “When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. . .”

A Franciscan priest, and author of *The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning noted that God’s gift of grace brings to us: “Power to believe where others deny, to hope where others despair, to love where others hurt. This and so much more is sheer gift”.

The priest further lays his heart bare in characteristic self-disclosure, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”

In A.W. Tozer’s list of qualities he found reliably present in the nature of God, noted that one of them is God’s Immutability. God’s nature is reliable. He doesn’t change. God loves, and he loves without deviation. His love is immutable, always in “on” mode. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22)

So, we ask the question. Do I wish to grow to be more like Jesus. . . that is, to love as he loved and called us to love? Or, short of this, could I bring myself to sincerely whisper, “I want to want to love in this way”?

Either position can be a perfect place to begin and to proceed forward from.

August 7, 2025August 6, 2025

Leaning In

Thelma had lugged her suitcase onto a cross-country bus. Clyde had leapt aboard the moving box car of a west-bound train. Their vision for a new life together was matched by Intention. Without purposeful action any vision – noble as it may be – will plateau, then die.

Mom and dad’s dream of a more hopeful future was matched by their “on-purpose” action. The only remaining element had been the means. Enter Greyhound Lines and the Santa Fe railways. Any vision that is brought to a place of fruition calls for actionable intention and for “vehicles” (useful, practical means) to see the vision through.

My wife’s high school clarinet served as her means, on which she practiced long hours (intention) to achieve her aspiration. Her vision of performing as a top-level musician in Billings, Montana’s West High band.

The V.I.M. (Vision – Intention – Means) principle holds just as true for the disciple of Jesus Christ in their spiritual-life formation. A disciple, in other words, is a Jesus-follower who has set out on a lifelong journey, daily incorporating all three of those needed elements.

Practice Makes Complete

Most of us are acquainted with the well-worn “practice makes perfect” adage. While walking with God for sure calls us to an ongoing progress in our growing-up-lives in the faith, we are urged to aim for something different than perfection. At least in the way we often think of that word.

When the New Testament writer states, “whoever says he abides in him (Jesus) ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”*, he is not suggesting that a Christ-follower lives a life of flawless perfection. That measure of excellence would be – as the saying goes – “above our pay grade.”

What the disciple is called to leaves the devotee amazed. Inside the heart of the Christ-follower a vision is birthed. But the “visionary” is not left to muddle through on his own steam. A living, all-present person, with shoulder-aplenty to lean into, has come alongside. **The Holy Spirit of God inspires and enables as the apprentice proceeds forward, haltingly at times for sure, still employing the indispensable components – intention and means. Being called to,

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. . “***

December 8, 2022December 7, 2022

Proactive

The thing about transformation into Christlikeness is that the process is impossible. It is, frankly, unproductive.

Apart from him.

Becoming like Jesus in disposition, in love and in happy obedience. These are aims which can be realized. But only by his very close-at-hand presence working with his disciples.

Many have learned that no better life exists than a life wholly yielded to God. It is he who empowers, he who changes us to Jesus-likeness!

We hear the saying, “Practice makes perfect”. The principle applies in the area of spiritual transformation as surely as in any other. Our practicing is done not alone, but with God’s continued aid. His nearness grows evident as we grow in prayer.

Three men – all friends, employees at the same local university – have seen something play out year after year. The men are followers of Jesus. Each one takes a proactive approach to being with Jesus in the place and profession where he’s placed them.

Years ago one member of this trio, a science professor, invited the other two to walk the campus every week prior to office hours. The idea was simple. Walk and pray. Pray and walk. The practice goes on year after year. One-half hour each Friday the three move steadily along, eyes wide open (when praying one wants to avoid colliding with lamp posts and the like).

Two outcomes have arisen from this year-after-year practice by common gentlemen whose informal praying carries the ‘scent’ of the love of God.

Each fellow – Jerry, Pete, John – sees growth quietly happening in his personal and family life. Positive changes from down within their own souls.

Also, the three look back occasionally and note various things (good things) happening here at their place of employment. They see God at work in lives of students, faculty members, grounds keepers, administrators. Noting such things lifts their spirits. They carry forward in their Friday practice the next week, and the next. Praying without fanfare or fuss. Praying.

Individual and community prayer gives rise to caring more deeply for one’s fellow human. An increased lightheartedness settles in throughout the work day. Tensions, while not vanishing altogether, diminish. A marked tranquility is sensed.

The Bible identifies such qualities in precise terms – love, joy, and peace. Each one an expression of the Holy Spirit’s fruit highlighted in a New Testament book*. These qualities were routinely demonstrated in one particular life. The life of Jesus.

Faith-grounded praying works things into people and conditions over time. The discipline of prayer transforms individuals and groups, from the inside out.