The rule of Sabbath and its practice has been a long and continuing study for many years for me. Recently, it has been a near obsession as I have helped with presenting a study to my local church and our network of small groups. The past few days found me reading a gospel narrative from…
Prayer is an education; prayer is the study of God. Prayer is the purest form of theology. Prayer is the classroom of the soul. I desire to be a student of God, a student of Jesus, a student of the Holy Spirit. “I give myself as a holy sacrifice…” –Jesus (John 17:19) I desire to…
I’m giving some thought today to spiritual formation; specifically, the practices that are part of the process of formation. It is important for me to remind myself that formation, especially spiritual formation (in the image of Christ) is multi-faceted. There is no one device that God uses in the process of his creation being restored…
A note I wrote to myself a year ago today. Every atom of my being is continually being changed, transformed, and conformed to Him and by Him who has created me. There IS power in the Name, in the teaching, in the life, in the way of the man-God who is Jesus. The more I…
Talmidim (Hebrew) & Mathetes (Greek) “Believing in Jesus and discipleship to Jesus are part of the same action.” –Richard Foster “A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing iin their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do… Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising…
Terraforming and Transforming “Whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked.” (1 John 2:6 NSRV) In a previous post, I shared some details regarding my Christian journey over the past (2019) year. I wrote that part of my discipline was the practice of being fully present with others, as well…
Epiphany: The Revealing of Christ Jesus “Christ is revealed; The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. Honor the Lord for…
11Jan2020 “O Lord, deliver me from all ignorance and heedlessness, from pettiness of the soul and hardness of heart.” Today, I lean in; Today, I begin again. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can…
03Jan2020 I have come to the completion (more or less) of my annual year-end reflection, a lengthy examen in the Ignatian style of meditation and prayer. I believe I have a fairly good understanding of what the Lord has accomplished in me the past year in my spiritual growth and my self-awareness. I have had…
Back in Pecos One of the many delights in my life is the annual retreat I make to the Pecos Benedictine Monastery (Pecos, New Mexico). I started coming here in the summer of 2011 when I enrolled in the two-year School of Spiritual Direction. Much has changed here over the near-decade of visits I’ve made,…
