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Category Archives: Spirituality

Something to Think About…

19 Apr

Just something to think about….

Those who have a heart for morality, believe God’s heart centers on morality.

Those who have a heart for orphans, believer that God’s heart centers on orphans.

Those who have a heart for America, believe that God’s heart centers on America.

Those who have a heart for prayer, believer that God’s heart centers on prayer.

Those who have a heart for the church, believe that God’s heart centers on the church.

Those who have a heart for missions, believe that God’s heart centers is for missions.

Those who have a heart for individuals, believe that God’s heart centers on the individual.

Those who have a heart for families, believe that God’s heart centers on families.

Those who have a heart for the Bible, believe that God’s heart centers on the Bible.

And on it goes…

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2012 in Baggage, Belief, Bible, Christianity, Church, Religion, Scripture, Sin, Spirituality, Theology, Words, Worldview

 

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Worship in Grief

05 Jan

Why do we dare to “take it all in” when our hearts are ready to epode with grief? Why do we sing when we mourn? Why do we adorn graves with flowers? Because we know that death can only be recognized by the living, sorrow can only be shared by those who grieve, and there is no shame in dying. Death may look like failure to those who worship life. The grave may appear as a dark reminder for those who seek repose in the busyness of daily demands. But, for those of us who have died with Christ Jesus, if his death teaches us anything it’s this: what looks like failure is really victory; what appears to be loss is actually gain; what seems to be shameful is the place where honor is found; and what sounds like the mourning is true worship. Believers call it a “sacrifice of praise,” for only those who are crucified with Christ can thank God for each, a fragrant aroma.

Spirituality According to Paul by Rodney Reeves

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2012 in Belief, Death, Faith, Pain, Paul, Quote, Saddness, Spirituality

 

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Grain of Understanding

17 Oct

I was talking to a homeless man at a laundry mat recently, and he said that when we reduce Christian spirituality to math we defile the Holy. I thought that was very beautiful and comforting because I have never been good at math. Many of our attempts to understand Christian faith have only cheapened it. I can no more understand the totality of God than the pancake I made for breakfast understands the complexity of me. The little we do understand, that grain of sand our minds are capable of grasping, those ideas such as God is good, God feels, God loves, God knows all, are enough to keep our hearts dwelling on His majesty and otherness forever.

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

 
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Posted by on October 17, 2011 in Belief, Faith, God, Miller, Spirituality, Thoughts, Worldview

 

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This Sacred Moment

24 May

A telephone call came into the rectory. It was the father of a twenty-year-old man named Doug. Doug had contracted this strange disease [AIDS]and was asking for a visit by a priest. Monsignor Henry, the pastor in his seventies, asked all three full-time priests to go; each refused, using the severity and unknown cause of the disease as an excuse. Monsignor Henry then approached me. I was hesitant and was going to use my studies as an excuse. However, when he agreed to accompany me, I decided to go.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we were told to put on protective “moon suits” before going in to Doug’s room. He looked much older and sicker than I had expected. We talked softly for about fifteen minutes; then Doug began to cry.

“What’s wrong, Doug?” I asked.

He looked at me and with incredible sadness replied, “It dawns on me that no one has even touched me in over three months.”

I let those words sink in and wondered how I would have handled life without a handshake or hug for three months. As I thought about that, I suddenly became aware of Monsignor Henry slowly removing the helmet and garb of the protective “moon suit.” And then I witnessed the parable of the judgement of the nations played out as elderly Monsignor Henry bent over and hugged dying Doug.

A holy silence descended upon the room. I wondered how Monsignor Henry could be willing to rick his own life by responding to Doug that way.

We drove home in virtual silence. As we approached the church in the Bronx, I turned to Monsignor Henry, but before I could say a word he simply said with tears in his eyes, “Years ago, I told Jesus that I would give him everything – and I mean everything. Today, I was able to give to Jesus what he has given to me.” Monsignor Henry subconsciously knew that selfless openness could lead to an encounter with the God who empties himself in the ordinary yet sacred moment before him.

This Sacred Moment by Albet Haase O.F.M.

 
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Posted by on May 24, 2011 in Belief, Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Growth, Humanity, Incarnational, Love, Spirituality

 

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Response to Love Wins by Rob Bell

23 May

I finished reading Rob Bell’s Love Wins last night. I enjoy reading Bell. He writes in what can best be called a “blog” style which for some reason I seem to connect with easily. I am not going to write a chapter by chapter review (Darrell Bock does a great job of that here) but I do want to share my positive and negative responses to Bell’s book.

The strongest positive impression I am left with from Love Wins is that heaven should not just be some ethereal idea but a concrete reality that those who know Christ are laying the foundation in our world today. Bell challenges the “heaven as an everlasting church service” image that many churched and un-churched people carry with them today. He does a good job of raising the need for Christians to be about alleviating the “hell” on earth by living out heaven (or kingdom) principles today. I am, as is Bell, also repulsed by the pride of those who claim to have a relationship with Christ and then clearly choose to not participate in helping to impact the world but instead continue to exploit and take advantage of others for their own comfort or gain.

I also appreciate how Bell pushes back on the “pray the prayer” approach to heaven. A prayer is a great way to demonstrate that you are placing your trust in Christ. But if your trust in Christ never results in tangible change in the way you live, the prayer and belief is pointless. The book of James makes the same point.  Jesus often did challenge the heart issues of those He encountered to help highlight what trusting in Him would cost.  The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-30 being one such case.

Bell seems to fluctuate between wanting judgment with consequences and then wanting judgment without consequences. He speaks clearly, and rightfully so, against the sin of this world and how that distorts many people’s understanding of God and the Gospel. But he also communicates that those who do not respond to God before death will be able to still be in process after death. I understand the concept but just don’t find Bell’s arguments successful. I see that he reads as much of his own view into the text of the Bible as he claims others have done.

I also struggled with the concept of God’s will that Bell talks about in Chapter 4 entitled, “Does God get what God wants?” I don’t see the concept of God’s love as a hindrance to consequences of the choices we make in our lives. Not to over simplify the concept, but I am a parent and my love for my children allows room for their disobedience and the resulting consequences of their actions. I don’t see God’s power or rule being comprised by man’s rebellion. I do believe that love will win in the end but that does not mean that all will experience it because they have chosen to not respond.

Because Bell is not writing a systemic approach to the issues of heaven and hell, there are many issues that are left either unsupported or unanswered. I appreciate the style for creating dialog and inviting others to investigate the issues. I would love for Bell to have written a more disciplined book that frames his understanding of the issues and how it would impact the way we should live. I feel like Love Wins is a good read even though it leaves one with more questions than answers.

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2011 in Belief, Bell, Bible, Books, Christianity, Faith, God, Heaven, Hell, Love, Spirituality, Theology, Thoughts, Worldview

 

All that is Left

19 May

In judged Jerusalem [during the time of Jeremiah] it was impossible to confuse material prosperity with God’s blessing. It was impossible to confuse social status with God’s favor. It was impossible to confuse national pride with God’s glory. It was impossible to confuse rituals of religion with God’s presence. The clutter of possessions was gone; the trappings of status were gone. And God was present. All the cultural and political and religious and social assumptions and presuppositions that interfere with the clear hearing of God’s word in Jeremiah’s preaching were taken away. Conditions had never been better for developing a mature community of faith.

 
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Posted by on May 19, 2011 in Baggage, Belief, Bible, Discipleship, Faith, Formation, God, Growth, Jeremiah, Peterson, Santification, Spirituality, Suffering

 

A Quick Spiritual Transaction

05 May

I think we often treat God like we do a vending machine. When you walk up to a vending machine, you expect to insert the appropriate amount of money, press the correct number or code, and out will pop whatever you were hungry for. The whole process takes about forty-five seconds.

We expect the same thing with God. Maybe not consciously. Maybe we’d never say it. But we still assume that if we do all the right things, say all the right things, and have the right attitude, we can simply press a magic spiritual button and get whatever it is we desire in the moment. We are looking for a quick spiritual transaction that doesn’t necessarily lead to a deeper lever of intimacy but gives us what we want. And like children, we want it now!

Plan B by Pete Wilson

 
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Posted by on May 5, 2011 in Belief, Discipleship, Faith, God, Idols, Life, Perspective, Relationship, Spirituality, Wilson

 

Purpose of Christian Community

04 May

The people of God must have a visible, tangible, experiential shape. This is not, however, simply a sociological or organizational necessity. It is essential to the mission Dei. The witness to God’s loving and saving work in history is through the people God calls and sets apart for this mission. Every mission community is a historical witness to the work of God being carried out; it is concrete evidence of God’s purposeful action. This is what the Holy Spirit does: it forms mission communities so that the gospel may be incarnated in particular places, to be the witness to Jesus Christ.

The Continuing Conversion of the Church by Darrell Guder

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2011 in Church, Congregation, Culture, Design, Discipleship, Formation, Growth, Guder, Leadership, Membership, Religion, Spirituality, Worldview

 

The Personal and Physical Life of Faith

02 May

All truth must be experienced personally before it is complete, before it is authentic. This truth, that God shapes us, that we are shaped by God, was Jeremiah’s from the beginning. He had lived it in detail. He had been on that potter’s wheel from before his birth. No word would mean more to Jeremiah than this one, formed by God. Jeremiah experienced his life as the created work of God. He was not a random accumulation of cells; he was formed by loving, skilled hands….

The life of faith is very physical. Being a Christian is very much a matter of the flesh – of space and time and things. It means being thrown on the potter’s wheel and shaped, our entire selves, into something useful and beautiful. And when we are not useful or beautiful we are reshaped. Painful, but worth it.

Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson

 
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Posted by on May 2, 2011 in Belief, Christ, Christianity, Design, Discipleship, Faith, God, Incarnation, Peterson, Spirituality

 

Freedom from Guilt

21 Mar

Bonhoeffer knew that to live in fear of incurring ” guilt” was itself sinful. God wanted his beloved children to operate out of freedom and joy to do what was right and good, not out of fear of making a mistake. To live in fear and guilt was to be “religious” in the pejorative sense that Bonhoeffer so often talked and preached about.He know that to act freely could mean inadvertently doing wrong and incurring guilt. In fact, he felt that living this way meant that it was impossible to avoid incurring guilt, but if one wished to live responsibly and fully, one would be willing to do so.

About Bonhoeffer from Mataxas biography on Bonhoeffer

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2011 in Belief, Bible, Biography, Bonhoeffer, Books, Christianity, Church, Freedom, Santification, Spirituality

 
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