Renewing Faith │ Restoring Hope
Standing in the place of stillness, was it only a figment of my mind?
Stillness is like a two-edged sword. Sometimes it has a way of nurturing our faith and sensitizing us to the presence of God. While at others, it feels painfully uncomfortable and we want nothing to do with it. How can this be? Continue reading “Stillness: Use It or Lose It”
In the place of stillness, I am learning how to live.
“Don’t just stand there, do something!” This well intended advice is often driven by the unspoken assumption that stillness is laziness and, therefore, ineffective at best or dangerous at worst. The problem isn’t so much with this counsel (sometimes, activity is needed!) but with the attempt to import it into our relationship with God. If we desire a stronger faith, we must learn to think differently about stillness. Continue reading “Less Is More”
There I’m safe and tucked away; I close my eyes and begin to pray.
Be careful what you pray for because you just might get it! There’s always a cost for every dream. The bigger the dream, the greater the cost. Don’t stop dreaming, just be sure you’ve honestly counted the cost. Continue reading “Dream Killer”
This special place is now my life, absence long results in strife.
Sometimes stillness can affect us in profound ways. We’ve all experienced it in one form or another—a brilliant star-lit night stops our heart, an awesome mountain vista demands our attention, or the fiery hues of an ocean sunset leave us speechless. Somehow these moments add to us and we leave with more than we came. Creation clearly has a way of unveiling the majesty of God (Psalm 19:1). Yet there’s something even more breathtaking than the wonder of creation before us—the glory of God within us. Continue reading “Where Hearts Come Alive”
The next several weeks of blogs will be based on our most recent animated poem, Chapel of My Heart. To see the full text or watch the video, click here.
To my room I would go; I’d talk to God and share my woes.
We live in an age when notions of “spirit” or “spirituality” are often presumed irreconcilable with a scientific (otherwise, true, real, accurate) understanding of the world. Such ideas reflect a “materialist” worldview—the belief that human life and experience are ultimately reduced to nothing more than the material effects of our molecular and chemical components. Continue reading “Rediscovering the Wonder”
This week we begin rethinking the meaning of stillness for our quest of a practical faith and tangible hope in 2017. In looking back over the past year, we’ve learned that a dynamic and vibrant faith must be earnestly sought; in other words, we must be desperate for God. For the last five months we’ve discussed how important the heart attitude or “posture” of spiritual brokenness is for nurturing a lifestyle of holy desperation. Now we turn to the posture of stillness. Why is such a posture so important? Continue reading “Rethinking Stillness”
Your will not mine is my sacrifice.
There was a time when my faith was framed in rose colored glasses. I—like many others—did not understand how important disillusionment, suffering, and delayed answers would be for healthy faith. While Christian faith normally begins when we first dedicate our lives to Christ, it is easy to forget that what took place was only just that … a beginning. On that day we began the journey of learning how to surrender our lives to Christ. Continue reading “Unreasonable Faith”
Until I’m alive to your love once again.
Sometimes we take for granted the things we cherish most. We live with such jam-packed schedules that the time and energy needed to nurture our greatest treasures are often relegated to the margins of our calendars. Such is true of our families, friends, and even our relationship with Christ. Continue reading “Distracted to Death”
The next several weeks of blogs will be based on our most recent animated reading. To see the full text of the poem or watch the video, click here.
Change me O Lord, every part …
Just as in the voting booth so too in our personal faith … the greatest force for change begins not at the highest levels of leadership but in the hearts of ordinary people. When national change is needed we tend to look to heroes and leaders while often failing to take serious the incredible potential for change we already carry within us. The kind of change our country needs will not occur until—as Christ followers—we first become desperate for God to change us. Continue reading “Desperate for Change”
For the sealing of its holes made it sadly deceived, claiming the echo inside was the real thing indeed.
Have you ever felt totally confident and content one moment and the very next, overwhelmed with uncertainty? How is this possible? You’ve been hijacked by doubt. Such ambushing is especially true in our relationships because doubt challenges the very trust on which they are built. This is the story of the flute and I think it is often ours as well. As Christians, the festering question takes root in our hearts and threatens our faith, “Is God really enough?” Continue reading “Hijacked by Doubt”
