One thing I?ve learned in the course of taking and leading days of unhurried time and space with God is that true creativity cannot be hurried. A while back, my wife stumbled across a book in the library by Brenda Ueland on writing?If You Want to Write. She wrote it in 1938, but her voice […]
Invitation by Season
Most mornings I walk our dog, Lex, up and down our neighborhood street. A while back, I noticed that one of our neighbors was getting rid of some shrubs in front of her home. As time progressed, I saw the dirt being prepared, as dark plastic went down and bark chips went on. Then one […]
Perfectionism Paralyzes
Perfectionism is damaging to the human venture because it cuts the nerve of all effort. If I refuse to participate in an operation until I can approve every part of it, I shall wait forever. This is the meaning of the initially mystifying aphorism to the effect that the ideal best is the enemy of […]
How Can I Grow More Mature in Christ?
Let’s spend some time in scripture together. Take a moment to?read Philippians 3:7-17 slowly and reflectively.?Then make your way through the thoughts below. We grow more mature in Christ as? He Himself fills more and more of the horizon of my life (7-8). Paul looks at the advantages of his Hebrew heritage, his religious family, […]
Spiritual Dynamics: Death Leading to Resurrection
Watchman Nee, in the two quotations below, says that we can sometimes so cling to the gifts of God that we focus on them rather than on God Himself. Listen?. ?Sometimes God reaches out his hand to take ours in fellowship. Then we need an empty hand to put into his. But when we have […]
God?s Unexpected Methods of Leadership Development
?[Quoting Charles Spurgeon] Have none of you ever noticed, in your own lives, that whenever God is going to give you an enlargement, and bring you out to a larger sphere of service, or a higher platform of spiritual life, you always get thrown down? That is His usual way of working; He makes you […]
Mother Teresa and the Soul’s Dark Night
A while back, I read Come Be My Light, a collection of materials from the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Many have talked about her extended lack of God?s felt presence for most of her years of ministry among the poorest of the poor. Some have thought she was being hypocritical in proclaiming good […]
