Leader || Preacher || Teacher
Many people experience prayer as a burden and not as a pleasure.
Even if it is agreed upon as important most people feel guilty about their failure to pray enough. Why does prayer rank so high on surveys of theoretical importance and so low on surveys of actual satisfaction? Why does prayer seem such a struggle?
We may feel as though we lack the words to pray. Could it be that our frame work of prayer needs to change?
Continue reading “Eat This Book: The Christian Diet of Listening”
“Love is a habit… We learn to love… not primarily by acquiring information about what we should love but rather through practices that form the habits of how we love.” James K.A. Smith
When you choose to gather in worship it reorients your heart towards God.
God is the object of our worship and God does the work of worship. Worship is top-down, not bottom-up.
And what God works in worship is the transformation of our minds. He moves us forward in our commitment to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. This begins with His Spirit and is perpetuated in covenant community.
We learn to worship God through revelation and in community. Our faith community plays an important role in how we choose to express our affections to God. It’s where we learn to put into practice living out our response to God’s initiation of mercy and grace. Continue reading “Learn to Love Out Loud”
If you are part of a club or an organization that only allowed people to join by invitation you would probably be extremely excited to accept their offer to become a member. You made it in! Conversely, after you have accepted their invitation, you might be a little upset if they decided to allow more and more people to join the ranks.
When you were on the outside you may have wished that more people would be allowed on the inside. Unfortunately, what happens often is that when you finally get on the inside you will be tempted to keep outsiders on the outside. You grow increasingly more concerned with how the club serves you than inviting more people into your club. Ironically, club growth may actually be part of the club’s mission.
Continue reading “Habits – Part 4: Engage Those Far from God”