?He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not […]
Happy or Blessed, Part 2
For the full context, CLICK HERE to read Part 1 I live within a whole cultural value system where what ?makes us happy? can actually cause wholesale harm to someone else. Did owning slaves and prospering from their free labor make slave owners happy in the South? They would say it did. Again, we?ll say […]
Happy or Blessed, Part 1
Most of us have heard the almost omnipresent song ?Happy? by Pharrell Williams. I saw it on the Oscars. I saw it on Saturday Night Live. And I hear it everywhere. Don?t get me wrong. I really like the tune and the feel of it. There?s a reason it?s caught the attention of so many. […]
Discerning Unholy Desire
The theme of discerning desire comes out of my experience of the Ignatian exercises on my eight-day silent retreat a few years ago in the Boston area. The passage that I?ve increasingly been drawn to is Galatians 5. There is plenty of desire language there?holy and unholy. Looking at the New Living Translation: 16 So […]
Discerning Holy Desire
Galatians 5:22-23, ?But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!? What does it look like on the with-God side of the battle? I enjoy how Peterson expands these nine fruits in The Message: Love […]
How is Jesus Praying for You?
?My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have […]
Grace is Not Magic
?Grace is not a strange, magic substance which is subtly filtered into our souls to act as a kind of spiritual penicillin. Grace is unity, oneness within ourselves, oneness with God. Grace is the peace of friendship with God?and if it does not necessarily bring us a ?felt? peace, it nevertheless gives us every reason […]
