LENT: An Opportunity to Start Again A 40-Day Journey to Renewal LENT: An Opportunity to Start Again is a 40-day devotional for the season of Lent. The season of Lent refers to the 6 weeks of preparing our hearts leading ...
“And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all ...
“No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:9) What I have discovered is ...
"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. ...
I am preaching in a few weeks from the book of Philippians on contentment. My passage is Phil. 4 and the familiar words of Paul, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances…" (Phil. 4:12). So I’ve been thinking about that a lot. One thing for sure, I won’t have enough time to preach ...
“And so His people are still taught to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. When He strengthens them, it is not by taking away the sense of feebleness, and giving in its place the feeling of strength. By no means. But in a very wonderful way leaving and even ...
Lent, for all of its journey into self-awareness, repentance, and prayer should really lead to one thing…falling into the arms of the One who calls us “Beloved.” This is not a journey to shore up our mastery of the disciplines or fine tune Biblical techniques. It is a journey of falling deeper in love with ...
In thinking about the mission of God, we most often ask ourselves the question, “I wonder what kind of mission God has for me. I think a more missional mindset would ask this question instead, “What kind of ME does God want for HIS mission.” This perspective on how we live our lives changes everything, ...
One of the not-often recognized benefits of the spiritual disciplines is that they create space in our lives for God to do what only he can do. We cannot force ourselves to grow spiritually but the disciplines create a “clearing” (more needed than we realize) whereby we am able to pay attention and respond to the activity of God in ...
"How often have I lived through these weeks without paying much attention to fasting and prayer? How often have I missed the spiritual fruits of the season without even being aware of it? But how can I ever really celebrate Easter without observing Lent? How can I rejoice fully in your Resurrection when I have ...
So I’ve made my decision on what I am “giving up” for Lent. After several weeks of self examination, I’ve identified (with the Holy Spirit’s help) that thing which has attached itself, unknowingly and without invitation, to my life. While it may not be a specific sin, it is a pattern that is not congruent ...
“They needed 40 years in the wilderness to learn the ‘holy art of being lost’.” Barbara Brown Taylor "Obviously she is talking about the Israelites. 40 years. Slow learners? It might be easy for us to say yes to that question but really – aren’t we all slow learners when it comes to the ‘holy ...
(This is a blog post from a fellow student, Robert Rife, at SAU who graduates this May.) "I love the Church. But it makes me sad as well. I believe that we have abdicated our role as “God’s skin in the world” (see “The Holy Longing” by Ronald Rolheiser). Our mad dash toward relevance has squeezed ...
This Wednesday is the beginning of the Church’s observance of the Lenten season. I was raised in a home that had no religious underpinnings and in our own church tradition we have not routinely embraced observance of the Church calendar. What I am saying is…observing Lent is new to me. One thing, however, that becomes ...
Gail Johnsen 