All There: How Attentiveness Shapes Authentic Leadership is written for ministry leaders…but whatever your context you will still discover it means to stay attentive to God’s invitations into a life not of our own making but into wholeness and the festivities of God’s kingdom purposes.
According to the traditional church calendar, today is known as Epiphany. Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. I love Epiphany. Epiphany comes on the heels of the New Year and offers the same invitations to something new. Epiphany ...
Yesterday I chatted with a lady new to our church. She commented that when she was on the leadership team at her previous church, it was difficult to continually “stay strong,” to always “have it all together,” and to always ...
"Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." (Luke 2:15) Lent is all about taking an honest look at our cluttered lives and taking stock. It is a time when we take time to notice all the “dust” that has ...
by John O'Donohue Lent gives permission to stop. To take inventory of how our life is unfolding. If you are exhausted, let this and allow it to bring rest to your runaway soul. When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic, Time takes on the strain until it breaks; Then all the unattended stress falls ...
“The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Mark 15:38, Matt. 27:51, Luke 23:45 Two great columns flanked the doors leading from the outer courtyard into the Temple. Inside, there were two thick curtains (veils; that some say were eighteen inches thick), that separated this place from the rest of ...
"To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me." (Col.1:28, MSG) A phrase we sometimes hear in church is about becoming “fully devoted followers of Jesus.” This is ...
St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun, wrote this beautiful prayer in the 16th century that has been used throughout the centuries. It is simple in its format, which is why many turn to it in times of distress. If you are feeling afraid or anxious right now, consider praying this prayer, opening your heart ...
We turn our thoughts for the next few days to prayer…an integral part of our Lenten journey. I know some of us may cringe when prayer is mentioned because we feel like we are so bad at it, and we feel guilty for not “measuring up.” If we are honest, we might admit our experience ...
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NOTE: This was written as a reflection during Lent after a time of corporate confession with one of my spiritual formation groups.) When I first mentioned the idea of ...
Lent is the season for coming out of the shadows and coming clean. It is also the season for being renewed and restored. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:19 By now, our practices of self-awareness, solitude, and the ...
The formalized practice of this spiritual discipline dates back to the 16th century but grows out of the words and intentions recorded in Psalm 139:23-24, where the Psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead ...
“When we make a place for silence, we make room for ourselves. By making room for silence, we resist the forces of the world which tell us to live an advertised life of surface appearances, instead of a discovered life – a life lived in contact with our senses, our feelings, our deepest thoughts and ...
Gail Johnsen 