Category Archives: Spiritual Formation

April 16, 2020 · 2:37 pm

Producing the fruit of Perseverance

We discussed the topic of “perseverance” in a weekly Zoom Bible study yesterday, and it’s a topic I keep thinking about. Specifically, I’m pondering the extent to which perseverance is a human effort or a spiritual gift. What do you think?

While I do not find the word listed in any of the typical spiritual gift passages (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4), Paul does write about perseverance in Romans 5. There perseverance seems to have a quality of a spiritual fruit, if not gift. Paul writes, “we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope.” v.4

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Filed under Christian Faith, COVID-19, Hope, Leadership, Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation

March 26, 2020 · 3:04 pm

Minding Your Mind

I took some time over my lunch hour today to mind my mind. That is, I engaged in some mental health behavior. For me that equated to going for a bicycle ride. I didn’t go far, but it was good to be outdoors, take part in one of my favorite forms of physical exercise, and improve my mental outlook as well. There’s nothing quite like the solitude of a wind in your face bike ride to provide time for prayer and unwinding of the mental pretzels you’ve created in your thinking. Perhaps you have a different means of minding your mind. Whatever it is, now is an important time to practice it.

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Filed under Christian Faith, COVID-19, Cycling, Leadership, Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation

February 26, 2020 · 11:27 am

It’s all about Dust!

“. . . you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

As a Protestant, and Baptist at that, I have only participated in an Ash Wednesday service where I received the imposition of ashes one time. It was a sobering event. The minister shared the words of Genesis 3:19 as she put the ashes on my flesh, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.

Could any verse more fully capture the morbidity of our condition? And that’s the point, isn’t it? To be reminded, as we begin the Lenten journey, of our humanity and it’s limited length of days. We are to be reminded of our complete and total dependence upon a Savior who provides us with both a newness and wholeness of life, even as he prepared to lay down his life for we dusty disciples.

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Filed under Christian Faith, Holy Days, Ministry, Pastors, Spiritual Formation, Uncategorized

February 21, 2020 · 11:18 am

One Thing Leads to the Next

Do you know the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, written by Laura Numeroff? It was one of my favorites to read to our kids when they were little. The premise of the book is that giving a mouse a cookie will set off a chain of events. First he will want a glass of milk. Then a straw. Then a mirror to look in, to make certain he doesn’t have a milk mustache. Then a pair of scissors to give himself a trim . . . . . . And on and on it goes in domino fashion, one thing very much leading to the next.

The humor of the book, beautifully illustrated by Felicia Bond, is found in the pictures and rather unpredictable twists and turns those dominoes take. The truth of the book is found in an adult reader’s real life experience that often has seen one thing lead to the next.

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January 24, 2020 · 2:16 pm

Keeping Jesus’ Commandment: “Love God”

Often the clearest messages from God come to me while I’m doing something mundane or routine. Such was the case at the close of last year as I was helping paint our newest grandson’s room. I was simultaneously listening to the Christianity Today podcast, Quick To Listen and moving my hands and arms in rhythmic motion from paint bucket to wall. I cannot tell you what the topic of the podcast was because I tuned out of the interview early on to focus on one comment made early on by the interviewee. Mark Galli, recently retired editor for CT, commenting on his forth coming book , shared the following:

After years of working in this world, (I) believe that evangelical Christians’ strong suit today is the love of neighbor, be it prayer gatherings to evangelism to social justice to acts of mercy. We talk about God a lot and worship him and pray to him regularly. But on the other hand, relatively few Christians take with equal seriousness the command to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. If we do talk about the love of God, it is said that we love God by loving our neighbor. (From the introduction to the Jan 2, 2020 Quick to Listen podcast)

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