https://open.spotify.com/episode/6r58pAQBITN3wcWIigxywN?si=Bp94gmk4T7GkBAp5-4JFvA It’s a little intimidating to talk about prayer. I mean, for 2,000 years, theologians, pastors and priests and monks have written a bazillion volumes on the topic of prayer: where to pray, when to pray, what to pray, how to pray, and what to pray for. What can I possibly say that hasn’t been … Continue reading TJS Podcast – Growing in Intimacy with God: Prayer as Dialogue (Episode 12)
Attentiveness
TJS Podcast – Growing in Intimacy with God: Does God Talk to Us? (Episode 11)
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0xrOG4F66PVG1dACKx8bdQ?si=UXPW-m8gTCCNvzm8cm49IA If we’re going to be the people God wants us to be in the Kingdom of God and to function as agents of hope and blessing in the world, we’ve got to be different people. God needs to transform us. And we've talked a bit about the role of the Spirit in transformation, and … Continue reading TJS Podcast – Growing in Intimacy with God: Does God Talk to Us? (Episode 11)
Post-Holiday Pruning
For the past few years, I’ve taken a voluntary break from social media over the Christmas holidays as a way to reflect, recharge, and refocus. I’ve found it to be a very beneficial practice. So much so that this year I decided to raise the bar a bit. First, I started at Thanksgiving this year. … Continue reading Post-Holiday Pruning
The Work of Ministry
I think some of the problem with understanding the “work” of ministry comes from our American mindset that says that when you have a job, you must produce; you must have something at the end of the day to show for your labors. Unfortunately, applying that mentality to ministry is almost surely going to result … Continue reading The Work of Ministry
Ministry Values
I've been thinking lately about what it would take to get me back into some kind of full-time ministry. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm considering it. But what would it take? There are parts of full-time ministry that I absolutely love. As I think back through my last ministry appointment, and some of … Continue reading Ministry Values
Deep Healing
The key to life is not living for Jesus. Rather, it is found in Jesus living through us. - Terry Wardle In John chapter four, Jesus has a remarkable encounter with an unnamed woman from Samaria who is in need of deep healing. I was reading this passage recently, and it occurred to me that … Continue reading Deep Healing
God in Everyday Life
I've been thinking more over the last week about the idea that God seeks to transform us within the context of our own lives. I think this is an important point and deserves a bit more discussion. God speaks to you and seeks to transform you from within your own context; in other words, through … Continue reading God in Everyday Life
Examining Examen
"Discernment in its fullest takes a practiced heart, fine-tuned to hear the Word of God and the single-mindedness to follow that word in love. It is truly a gift from God, but not one dropped from the skies fully formed. It is a gift cultivated by a prayerful life and the search for self-knowledge." - … Continue reading Examining Examen
A Sanctuary of the Soul
Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. - Thomas R. Kelly These words by Thomas Kelly point us toward our own hearts as the place to meet God. "But our hearts are broken," we … Continue reading A Sanctuary of the Soul
A Dynamic Relationship
All relationships are dynamic. They change and evolve, grow or die, ebb and flow. A healthy relationship requires the participation and engagement of both parties, and the relationship flows as each friend responds to the other. It's fluid, not static. The very best relationships are made of two people who are paying very close attention … Continue reading A Dynamic Relationship
The Jesus Society 