Category Archives: Spiritual Direction

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The Secret of God


b15architecture_interiors007-imagea I enjoyed this so much I’ll share it without comment:

“The only solution that God has to offer to all our problems is himself, is the fact that he is, that he is the kind of God that he is, a God who has a Word to utter, which he utters in an ecstasy of joy, an ecstasy of giving, which we call the Holy Spirit….

“God has only the one thing to say, which is himself, he has only the one thing to give, which is himself. And he invites us to hear that Word, to treasure it in our hearts and find in it the source of all our bliss.” (Tugwell, Simon. Prayer: Living With God. Springfield: Templegate Publishers, 1975, p. 126-27.)

This morning, Gem and I are flying to the Dominican Republic to lead a church leadership retreat, as well as retreat 5 of 6 of the Journey Gen 1 here. We would be grateful to have you agree with us in Jesus that we will experience a great sense of His presence in our gatherings, much creativity and emotional energy, and His transforming grace in each person’s life.

As internet can be unpredictable where we hold the retreats, I may go quiet here between now and our return January 18th. (But I’ll still try to post regularly).

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Spiritual Formation: My Way or His Way?


IMG_0920“So often we are too full of what we think should be happening to us in our spiritual formation to notice what God is actually teaching us. We must be still enough, simple enough, humble enough, to let him plan the course, and use whatever opportunities there may be for our instruction.” (Tugwell, Simon. Prayer: Living With God. Springfield: Templegate Publishers, 1975, p. 116.)

Our own impressive ideas and plans for our spiritual life and the lives of others can become an effective barrier to noticing and paying attention to God’s actual activity in our lives. When we make space for practices like listening in solitude, we can begin to be still enough, quiet enough, simple enough and humble enough to be attentive, receptive and responsive to the direction of His Spirit. Do we make enough space to discern the direction and instruction of God for a particular group in a particular season? Do we feel such discernment is beyond us, or some sort of magical thinking?

This is where our need for enough open space and unhurried time as leaders, both alone and in community, to discern the presence and guidance of God. We are tempted, I think, to assume that we can figure out the present intentions of God for our lives and our communities through our efforts in studying the scriptures or making ministry plans. There can be a subtle and ironic tendency to be very self-focused in this apparently God-oriented activity.

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Merry Christmas


Here’s a brief thought I shared at our Christmas Eve service at The Following yesterday afternoon:
Bethlehem, Shepherd's Field
Earlier this year, in March, Gem and I had our very first visit to the Holy Land. It was amazing to visit places where Jesus lived, and where stories from the scriptures actually happened. After a few days in the Galilee region, including a visit to Nazareth, we travelled south to Jerusalem. Our first stop was actually Bethlehem. In a bus, it took us about two hours to travel a journey that would have taken Mary & Joseph nearly a week to make on a donkey. For us, entering Bethlehem meant leaving Israel, entering the Palestinian authority, getting on a different bus and taking on a new tour guide.

Bethlehem, Shepherd's Field

In Bethlehem, we were taken to the traditional site of the shepherd’s fields. Standing there with that view, I imagined what it would have been like to be a witness the announcement of Jesus by the angel. I think I would have been at least as scared as the shepherds were. Up the hill from the field, we went into some caves where shepherds would have found shelter at night or from the rain. A simple chapel was built in one of them. It had a mosaic on the floor with the Latin version of what the angel announced: “Gloria en Excelsis Deo,” or in English, “Glory to God in the Highest.” A number of prayer candles were burning in that quiet, dark place of prayer.

Bethlehem, Church of the NativityI thought about the fact that the angels announced the birth of Messiah to shepherds, It’s an unexpected choice. At that time, shepherds were viewed by most Jews as being on about the same social level as tax collectors or dung sweepers. And the Jewish religious leaders considered shepherds unclean because of the nature of the work they did. They were not the somebodies to whom you’d expect such an epic announcement to be made.

But then I thought about how so many key figures in Israel’s history were shepherds. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s sons were all shepherds. Moses was a shepherd when the Lord spoke to him out of a burning bush and called him to go back to Egypt to shepherd His people out of that slavery. King David had been a shepherd before he rose to rule Israel as its shepherd. He was the one who later wrote one of our best-known psalms, the one that begins, “The Lord is my shepherd…I shall not be in want.”

A thousand years later, the angels announce to shepherds living on the outskirts of town the birth of One Who would later be called the Good Shepherd. Jesus would say of Himself, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15).

How is Jesus coming to be with us in this Christmas season? How might He want to express His glory in the humble setting of our very lives? How might He be announcing good news in some of the very places of our lives that feel like anything but good news places? I wonder if we can let the words of the angel sink in deeply? I know I need to hear these words about no fear, good news and being rescued:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

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Morning Prayer: In God I Trust


IMG_6103

Psalm 25:1 NIV
In you, Lord my God,
      I put my trust.

David gives voice to his choice to trust in Yahweh his God. I made that choice thirty-four years ago, not even beginning to know what/Who I was choosing. Today, I can make a slightly more intelligent choice. I have experienced the unfailing trustworthiness of Jesus. I have witnessed the work of His hands in the lives of many. He can be fully trusted.

So when I am feeling anxious, how can I turn to Him with trust and find His Spirit guarding my thoughts and feelings so that I can engage in fruitful labor?

Psalm 25:2-3
I trust in You;
Do not let me be put to shame,
Nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
Will ever be put to shame,
But shame will come on those
Who are treacherous without cause. 

Shame. Disgrace. Dishonor. Shame causes us to hide and pretend. We don’t want to face, let alone come to dishonor. We don’t want to be shamed before God or before others. Instead, we want to be honored, valued, appreciated, recognized as good. I want people to say, “Thank you” to me. I want to be known as a grace-filled person and not a person of dis-grace. I want to be honored, not dishonored.

I can trust in Jesus because He is simply trustworthy. My trust is not a virtue, but a realistic response to the goodness of God’s nature.

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Morning Prayer: Overcoming Powerful Enemies


Prayer candles in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (3/2012)

Prayer candles in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (3/2012)

[This comes from a journal entry in April this year when I was finishing up my manuscript for An Unhurried Life]

Psalm 118:17-19 NIV
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Can I echo David’s prayer in my own experience? My powerful enemies have been anxiety, fear, low confidence and self-doubt. I can say that this morning that I actually feel those enemies at bay compared to other days. They are a powerful enemy, but You are immeasurably more powerful. They really have been too strong for me to overcome on my own. I am grateful that I am not on my own though.

My enemies do not play fair. They are glad to kick me when I’m down rather than offering me any hand up. My enemies have nothing but my demise in heart. In the face of such malice and evil intent, You are my support. You reach to me to help me. You aren’t even waiting for my cry for help, though my cry is an evidence of recognizing Your availability to me. I am not abandoned but companioned.

In all of this, I can find myself coming out of such a constricted place out into a spacious place. There is room to breathe, room to move. I am not stuck or trapped. I am walking, even running, free.

And all of this is a delight to my God. He takes pleasure in caring for me, watching over me, guiding me, rescuing me. His heart is full of good towards me.

  • Reflect: Where are you sensing opposition or resistance to the good God desires to do within and through you? How are you responding to this push-back?

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A Simple, Mysterious Truth


Mt. Hermon on our March 2012 visit to Israel

Mt. Hermon on our March 2012 visit to Israel

There is a simple scriptural truth that many Protestant Evangelicals seem to have a very hard time with when it comes to practice. We don’t seem to have a hard time with it as a doctrine or belief. Here are some texts where you’ll find it:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20).”

“…God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27).”

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test (2 Co 13:5)?”

You can see it, right? 34 years ago, it was after a concert and I was told that if I wanted to become a Christian I should invite Jesus into my heart. So that’s what I prayed. What Protestant has a problem with this? None that I know of. We’re good with “Christ in me” when it comes to salvation or entering into the Christian life. But what about spiritual formation, prayer, or actually living the Christian life. Listen to this comment from Shirley Carter Hughson, an early 20th century Anglican abbot:

“It is evident, therefore, that in practising the presence of God we are to look within, not without. We are not to allow the imagination to project our attention to some external place or condition where God may exist, for however He may exist there, it is not there that we can communicate with Him, but only in our souls. This was the mistake which St. Augustine tells us he made when he was searching after God, and found Him only after having lost much precious time because he did not seek Him aright. “Too late have I loved Thee, O Beauty, so ancient and yet so new,” he cries, “too late have I loved Thee! For, behold, Thou wert within, and I without, and it was without that I did seek Thee!”‘ (Confessions, Bk. X, ch. Xxvii).” (Hughson, Shirley C. Contemplative Prayer. West Park, NY: Holy Cross Press, 1935, p. 13.)

This is the idea that some of my Protestant Evangelical friends do seem to have problems with. In 1990, I had a mentor, who was also one of the founders of The Leadership Institute, named Wayne Anderson. He wanted to suggest that the biblical idea of Christ in me was key to understanding prayer and living in communion with Him.

Some of my ministry colleagues at the time interpreted Wayne’s invitation to listen to Christ within them as somehow out-of-bounds, non-Christian, Eastern Mysticism. They could not embrace a practice that, to my way of thinking, was a rather obvious extension of our theological belief in the indwelling Christ. As I suggested, we have urged new Christians to affirm that Christ in in their hearts. But what does that mean when it comes to the practicalities of living in communion with Him?

In the quotation, Augustine grieves the time he wasted looking for God “out there somewhere” when He was nearer than his own heart. Augustine describes himself as being out there instead of God. God was “in here” all along. When we prayed to “Our Father in heaven,” we’re not talking to a distant God living somewhere above the clouds. We’re talking about God Who is at home beyond the mere here and now.

We tend to prefer the familiar over the true. That which is unfamiliar raises red flags and we assume it is in error. When it comes to spiritual practices, a common criteria by which we decide whether or not it is fitting for us is, “Have we done that before?” If we haven’t, we assume it must not be for us. It must be a “them” practice. This is how some of my conservative Evangelical friends have felt about solitude, silence and listening prayer. Since these practices weren’t part of many of our early experiences as Christians, they must not be truly Christian practices (or so the reasoning seems to go).

Questions:

  • What difference does it make for you that Christ is in you when it comes to practicing prayer? How does this affect your sense of Jesus with you always?

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Psalm 99: Acknowledging God’s Reign


A morning walk with Jesus

A morning walk with Jesus

Psalm 99:1 NIV
The Lord reigns,

      let the nations tremble;

he sits enthroned between the cherubim,

      let the earth shake.

Jesus, Your majesty and your might are good reason even the highest human rulers to tremble with fear. The earth itself should quake before You. For me, it would be better to tremble before the gracious might of a loving heavenly King, than to tremble for all the lesser reasons that I do: fear of what others will think, fear of being unable to do what I’ve been given to do, fear of financial troubles.

In all of this, I either believe or I don’t in Your reign. You are either King or You aren’t. I’m either living in the light of reality of Your rule or I am not. There is an unhealthy version of “all or nothing” thinking. This isn’t it. When it comes to You, there are “alls” and “nothings” to be embraced and affirmed. Apart from You, I really can do nothing. And I really can do anything through the strengthening of Jesus Christ in and with me.

You reign over my life and my work today. You are King. No one else has effective say over me but You. This is unless I come to wrongly believe that some other force, authority or power is over me. What do I believe? What are my convictions? Where is my confidence settled?

Help me to see You, Jesus, and my Father in heaven through You. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done both in and through me. I offer that prayer hardly knowing what I’m asking. I ask anyway. I trust Your goodness and wisdom to answer me better than I could imagine. I look to You to be the gracious and merciful God. Thank you.

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Mid-Life Awakening


I came across the extended quotation below from Carlo Carretto on a common experience of Christians at the halfway point of their lives. I’d be curious to hear from you (in the comments below) to what degree this does or does not describe experiences you’ve had if you are at or past this life stage:

“With the exception of those privileged souls who understood right from the beginning what the problem really was, and who immediately set out upon the true, rough road of humility and spiritual childhood, the greater part of mankind is called upon to undergo a hard and painful experience.

This normally occurs around the age of forty: a great liturgical period in one’s life, a Biblical period, a period of the noonday devil, the period of one’s second youth, a crucial period for man: “For forty years that generation repelled me, until I said: ‘How unreliable these people who refuse to grasp my ways!’”(Psalm 94:10).

This is the time when God has decided to take the man who until now has escaped behind a smokescreen of halfheartedness, and make him put his back to the wall.

Disaster, boredom, depression, all these but especially the experience of sin make man dis­cover what he really is: a poor, fragile, weak thing; a mixture of pride and wickedness; inconstant, lazy, illogical.

There is no limit to this misery in man. And God lets him drink the bitter cup to the dregs.” (Carretto, Carlo. Letters from the Desert. Trans. Rose Mary Hancock. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1972, p. 65-66.)

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Spiritual Honeymoon


From our Thanksgiving 2010 trip to the Dominican Republic

I remember the very warm fuzzies of my first few dates or first few days of marriage with Gem. Those kinds of “firsts” are very fun. It’s often the same in the early stages of the spiritual life. Here is the way Carlo Carretto put it:

“But here too, it is the same as with love. Words pour out to begin with. Then they get rarer and deeper. In the end they are reduced to some monosyllable which none the less contains everything. Mostly a soul speaks a great deal at the time of its conversion, during the period of its novitiate, that is, the first years of its discovery of God. It is the easiest time for the soul. Prayer has a certain novelty, it seizes the imagination. And God, for his part, encourages the soul; everything pours out as in the beginning of a happy marriage.” (Carretto, Carlo. Letters from the Desert. Trans. Rose Mary Hancock. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1972, p. 43.)

Having just come through Black Friday where many are looking for life and joy in a new toy, in a culture that celebrates the new thing and grows quickly tired with the old thing, it is hard to help people understand that an element of maturity is a kind of “reduction of devotion” in the sense of felt and verbalized love. We say more as beginners in prayer than we do down the road in a more mature stage.

 

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Divine Enabling


From our Thanksgiving 2010 trip to the Dominican Republic

On this day of Thanksgiving, one gratitude I feel is for God’s enabling power. I put 2 Peter 1:3-4 into my own words the other day:

“I can do the work God gives me to do. I really do have everything I need for life in God through more deeply knowing the One Who has called me from out of His Own majesty and virtue. It is because of God’s own glorious goodness that I have such wonderful commitments from God so that I am able to enter into the communion of Father, Son and Spirit, living free from the lying promises of the culture around me.”

I am not powerless unless I distance myself from the Mighty One. My archenemy desires to diminish and discourage my confidence in God’s great goodness. If I listen to him, this is his only source of victory. I find myself angry that I would listen to His lies. He wants nothing but my loss and ruin.

Reminding myself of these realities is something I need. Sometimes I let myself get in a trap of wallowing around in my own thoughts and feelings without letting God and thoughts of/from Him to intervene. There is no life if I’m just living with my own thoughts about God. I need vital communion with and in my good God. He is for me, not against me. He is doing good work in me. His love for me has never once waned.