The word bless is one we don’t use very much in our culture or in the church anymore. One of the reasons is we no longer have a clear understanding of its purpose. The idea of blessing is often attributed to what happens before a meal or after someone sneezes. But this is a radical diminishing of the purpose of the blessing. When the Bible … Continue reading Lent 2022 | Day 9: Bless
What is the purpose of remembering? It is to give you a chance to relive and rehearse what you’ve been through without necessarily having to live through it again. One of the obstacles we have to overcome when engaging in a time of remembering is dealing with emotions that haven’t been addressed or have gone unresolved. These memories are important even when we do not … Continue reading Lent 2022 | Day 4: Remember
When others use our emotions either against us or for their own goals, they are not trustworthy sources of counsel. Continue reading Who’s Driving Your Emotions?
Here’s the longer quote from Thomas á Kempis: “No one feels in his heart what Christ felt in his Passion, except the person who suffers as he did. So, the cross is always ready and waits for you everywhere. You cannot escape it no matter where you run, for wherever you go, you are burdened with yourself, and wherever you go, there you are. Look … Continue reading “and wherever you go, there you are.”
What do you do when you rant? Most people just let it rip. But, that is not my style…usually. Continue reading The Power of Wise Counsel
The great difficulty about obedience is that it is runs counter to our instincts to do what we think is best. Continue reading Lent 2019 | Day 11: The Difficulty of Obedience
It was one of the most pronounced encounters with the Holy Spirit of my life because I knew that I had crossed a line in my relationship with God. Continue reading The Pastor’s Greatest Enemy
Sometimes we assume too much about how far we have traveled down the road of spiritual maturity. We assume that we have gone farther than we actually have. We talk with too much confidence about what we know; pretend at having more insight than we actually possess; greater wisdom than we have actually attained. I know that has been a part of my story. I have learned a few lessons along the way, but I try and remind myself that if I am not careful I can slip back into bad patterns of living.
Continue reading “Confessions of a Functional Deist”
