Having grown up in Minnesota, I came to appreciate the uniqueness, and beauty, of each of the 4 seasons, though I probably would suggest that winter there is a bit too long. Each season has many enjoyable qualities, but summer is my favorite time of year. Summer represents a time to slow down, relax, rest and be restored. Yet, as much as I enjoy summer, I am thankful that it is not summer all the time. Rest and ...
The clear declaration of Scripture is God loves us. He loves us unconditionally, completely and eternally. The storyline of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation details God’s salvation history of humankind, the ultimate expression of His love. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross locked into the course of human history the ultimate expression of God’s love for us, the agape love of God. And it is ...
Human beings are complicated creatures. The truthfulness of this statement is part of what makes life so interesting. It is also what makes life so challenging at times. We are created in God’s image and represent in a limited way His divine nature and character. Yet at times, our behavior is anything but God-like. We are comprised of a physical body, a soul (consisting of mind, will, and emotions) and our ...
The Bible has much to say about the discipline of meditation. It is in fact one of the key ingredients in the process we refer to as spiritual transformation. In the paragraphs that follow I have listed some Scriptures, definitions, explanations and personal life practices that enabled me to incorporate mediation as a part of my daily walk with God. I would encourage you to reflect on the various Scriptures and then pick a ...
Have your ever noticed how difficult it is to attain and then hold on to God’s view of things? We are often so lost in our own thoughts and point of view that we are oblivious to the inconsistencies and biases of our own world view. We can even start in the right place but without intentionality on our part, we are subject to the pressure of the world which seeks to press us into its mold. In the end, we most often ...
Proverbs 3:5-6 In one of my morning times with the Lord recently, I was asking Him for direction on a number of concerns in my life, some personal, some vocational. Some of them were newer questions but others were things that I had been praying about and reflecting on for some time. As I considered one in particular I began to sense my frustration rising. The situation was/is beyond my human capability to ...
Luke 9:23-24; Matthew 10:24; Ephesians 5:21; Philippians 2:3-7; James 4:6-10 The discipline of submission is another of the disciplines that seems to be so out of touch with the world in which we live. The cry of our culture is that we “deserve” to have our every need met, we should never be in pain, of any kind, and that we should never have to wait. Instant gratification and exaltation of the individual’s ...
Several weeks ago as I was packing up to go out to the St Benedict Center for our spring silent retreat weekend, I was busy filling my briefcase with all the things that I thought I might need. A fresh notebook for journaling, a couple of books on prayer, pens and highlighters, a few reference type books, my iPad (which holds many e-books), a few files from previous retreats and some other miscellaneous items were all packed neatly ...
2 Timothy 2:15; 2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 Many within the church today are Biblically illiterate and have based their understanding of God upon a variety of sources that may or may not be correct. “Although most Americans believe they already know the fundamental truths of the Scriptures, the Barna Research Group has discovered that fewer than 10 percent of American Christians ...
Prayer is one of those paradoxical items in the spiritual life, in that it is amazingly simple yet mysteriously complex. From the time we are little children we are taught how to pray and we often pray for those things that concern us. But to pray God’s thoughts after Him, to persevere when we cannot see His answer, to know how to pray in any given situation and to pray expectantly, with faith, believing we have already ...