Julian of Norwich, an anchoress and prophetic voice to her generation said, “We are Christ’s bliss.” Think for a moment how deeply loved you are, more than any text would suggest, or theology argues. With this bliss from the right hand of God, we labor without thought of whether we have enough to go the…
Tag: Waiting on God
The Three Who Stayed
The phrase, ‘the twenty who stayed’ keeps scrolling across my memory, those students who loitered in the presence of God at the end of the Asbury University chapel service, unable to do anything else. One said, she thought it was twenty minutes, but it turned into three hours. Worship, prayer, songs of deliverance, freedom for…
Asbury Revival-Please Read Now!
It’s Saturday afternoon, and I’m at the café down the way, seated among a throng of younger people, some alone and brooding, and others smiling in conversation. I’ve just tuned into the live feed of the revival going on at Asbury College, now for the past week and a half. I’m participating from a vantage…
Finding A Rest, That Rests-Part II
BEATING WEARY WITH LOVE Most of us would have to admit we rarely if ever find ourselves completely rested, though all of us long for it. We long for a child’s energy, waking up ready and raring to go, skipping to breakfast! Instead, we substitute deep rest for a preoccupation with over-filling our day. We…
Finding A Rest, That Rests
During a catch-up appointment with a young leader, I noticed how tired his eyes looked. Toward the end of our time, I asked him how he was doing. He responded that he was beat, having just passed through a rigorous season of travel and ministry. He had tried to take some time off, but things…
Three Questions…
Another one in the books. Another 365 days, the slow grind of a year, that now glancing back, feels more like a runaway train. Today I take pause before the train leaves the station of 2023, and ask myself three questions. Perhaps one of these will resonate with you. Did I view myself as God does?…
Grumpy Disciples-Contemplation’s Role in Re-creation
One of my favorite times of the day is what I call office hours. I shut the door to my office, put on piano music, light a candle, and close my eyes. The silence wraps me like a heavy blanket. My thoughts are a bundle of sharp brambles; their edges poke at me, a reminder…
Contemplative Prayer-Seeing the Son of Man
On the day after my first son was born, I stood at the discharge counter; only KJ wasn’t going home. We needed to transfer him to the children’s hospital trauma center. The night before a kind doctor had explained to us that our son was a very sick little boy, needing 3-4 operations the first…
Contemplative Prayer-In Whose Presence?
Squeezed inside a makeshift tent in the living room, a perfect hiding place for a granddaughter’s over-worked imagination. “What’s that?” I whisper. Her eyes widen, and a thin smile parts her lips. My eyes mimic hers in widening fear as we stare at one another. “The monster’s close, don’t move a muscle,” I say. Her…
Contemplative Prayer-In Whose Arms?
For contemplative prayer to be grounded, it relies on two movements of faith. The first happens when we reach for the person of Jesus Christ in his invitation to “come.” In my mind’s eye I see his arm stretched toward me, the same way it was stretched on the cross and nailed in place. His…
Contemplative Prayer-On whose terms?
After 42 and a half years learning every aspect of prayer, I’ve decided contemplative prayer is the key to opening up vast spiritual understanding, deepening my love for God, and prying open a door to mystery which builds love between lovers, the same way secrets do between those in whom we share them. Unless we…
Watch The White Line
Self-Leadership in a Crisis God uses times of crisis to prepare leaders for, well… times of crisis. Perhaps you can trace your own leadership roots to a trial, weakness or disappointment. It’s how God prepared and reconstructed the Apostle Paul, who bravely said, “For when I’m weak, then I’m strong.” That’s comforting for someone…
To Sir, with love 