Spiritually, revival is not something one can do. I can restore a house, rebuild a car, or renew an old orchard. However, when it comes to congregational life, revival is God’s work alone.
All tagged prayer
Our Presence With God
God deeply desires our presence. God never makes it difficult to experience His presence, but we can make it hard through our “spiritual A.D.D.”
Moral Injury and the Power of Lament
Moral injury can cause us to turn inwards due to guilt, grief, or shame. Lament exposes dark deeds to the light and brings God’s mercy and grace to bear.
The Approach of the Spirit
I’m not sufficient unto myself. Without God, I am nothing! We will never be content in ourselves. We only find ourselves when we lose ourselves.
Noticing Beauty
If your biggest news is about an interesting insect whose path you crossed on your walk, then you’re onto something.
Play the Cards You Hold
If we began our congregational ministry by assessing what we have to offer, we’d likely find it’s a lot.
Spiritual Friendship
The truth of God’s saving grace through faith becomes realer than real when experienced in life, interacting with those who wear skin. We need to have, to be, a friend.
A Season of Rest and Prayer
If what the Breastplate of St. Patrick claims is true, then both a physical body and a congregational body can rest in its truth.
The Attitude of the Heart
I want to share with you how to become more available and aware of God’s presence in your life through his Spirit. It’s like connecting to a network where you need to know the password.
Five Spiritual Resources for When You Need Help
As leaders in our communities of faith, we need to make sure that our people know the resources available to them when they are in spiritual need.
Family Prayers
I don’t want the message of this post to be only that we pray, but also about what it means to genuinely connect with God as a family.
Reflection Roundup: Behold, the Light
As the light of Christ streams in the window, lighting the room of our lives, let us notice what the light illuminates, yet not spend glorious, God-given energy attempting perfection in what is the Lord’s to complete.
Reflection Roundup: Unfriendly Homeostasis
Beware of the lure of calm waters. Not every minister must be a “whitewater adrenaline junkie,” but paths toward missional goals often contain obstacles ministries must leverage.
Reflection Roundup: Generational Trust
Generational differences are a given; intergenerational trust is a must. It’s essential we listen to and honor the priorities of those going before us and those coming behind.
Praying Without Ceasing
Where does prayer fit in? Is it simply the customary thing we do at the beginning or end of a meeting? Or is prayer something more?
Prayerful Brush Strokes
This prayer of examen represented a shift from brushing the day with the paint strokes of heavy drudgery, to realizing that there was room for gratitude.
A Story of Lifting Hands to Heaven
I often hear discussions about raising hands to the Lord, most often in the context of worship. Some are enthusiastic hand raisers; others are not.
Reflection Roundup: Cultural Reflections
In order to imagine ourselves in difference-making positions, we all need models in place, models who look like we do and who don’t all look like each other.
Did God Give Me COVID?
For the great dis-ease among us and in us may not be the pestilence itself, but the way we react to, ignore, and weaponize the suffering of others.
Reflection Roundup: Prolegomena
Does a reluctance to ask for help translate to a theology of prayer? It may. This week, 10 other “first things” take the place of the pride that binds.