One of the many benefits of being active in a spiritual community, in my case an Evangelical church, is the rhythm of spiritual practices that are enjoyed, if not endured, together. I am not talking so much about formalistic and repeated rituals, but regular 30...
In his 2011 book God On Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer, Peter Greig gives us a short outline of why God has legitimate reasons for not answering every prayer, or not immediately or affirmatively. I have a few (helpful) comments to make on...
In Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (1991), Don Whitney provides a thorough and thoughtful catalog of the many possible and prescribed disciplines of the Christian path. He provides not only the scriptural parameters and warrants for the various disciplines, but also clarifications and instructions,...
One of the weaknesses of modern Christianity is a lack of disciplines for self-observation, knowledge and mastery. This is partly due to Christianity’s outward focus on a God who saves and heals rather than on self-care, an aversion to even its own mystical tradition, a...
Learning to hear the voice of God in our hearts and minds is a practice that we get better at as we mature. We can not always be sure if we are merely talking to our higher selves or some other part of ourselves, or...
This post is part of a series. The keynote speaker at this year’s 2018 National Disciple Making Forum in Nashville was Shodankeh Johnson, a charismatic pastor from Sierra Leone, Africa. He was quite challenging and inspiring, to say the least (you can hear an interview with...
Have you ever been so stressed or sad that you felt like you were losing years off of your life? That real life was so hard you wanted to just let all of your responsibilities slide so you could hide until the storm passed? You...
O God Forgive me for this busy prayer Atop my business like a layer Of dust upon my uncleaned shelves Abandoned by my cleaning elves. Hear my superficial cant Atop my awkward stumbling gait Half-witted like my untied shoe Have mercy as I wretch towards...
