As with most, if not all, of the spiritual practices, service and submission go very much against the grain of our culture. However, when we make them a part of our life, we find incredible freedom from a life of duplicity, manipulation, arrogance, and resentment.
Service: Downward Mobility in an Upwardly Mobile World
Jesus taught that the way up is to go down. He taught his first disciples that the secret to becoming great is to become the servant of all. He illustrated his teaching by putting on the dress of a lowly house servant, and washed the grimy feet of his students.
Submission: Freedom from the Need to "Have It Your Way"
Perhaps one of the most difficult spiritual practices is the discipline of submission. It is completely counter-cultural. We want things to go "our way." We do not want to answer to anyone. We do not particularly care to have someone tell us how to live our lives. However, we need the freedom that comes in living life in complete honesty, transparency, and openness to correction and discipline.
We are meeting at 7pm and are ACTUALLY having out movie night this week... Be there... Bring snacks...
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
spiritualdisciplineslesson5 : prayerandstudy
"Those who live prayerfully are constantly ready to receive the breath of God, and to let their lives be renewed and expanded."-Henri J. M. Nouwen, "With Open Hands"
"All good meditative prayer is a conversion of our entire self to God."-Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
Keep your soul free. What matters most in life is not knowledge, but character.-A. G. Sertillanges, "The Intellectual Life"
"Many people have chosen to seek knowledge rather than to live well, and they are often let astray and their lives come to very little--or nothing at all."-Thomas a Kempis, "The Imitation of Christ"
Prayer...
Sam closed his eyes as the elder began his prayer. Sam was with him for the first ten seconds, then he remembered that he needed to pick up some super-glue so he could fix that coffee cup he chipped that morning…which reminded him of breakfast…which reminded him of lunch…which reminded him that he also needed to get the grill's propane tank filled soon…which reminded him that the gas bills were finally coming down with the warmer weather…gee it's a beautiful day…kind of like those days he flew kites as a kid…nice breeze…warm sun on your face…Then the elder said, "Amen."
Study...
When Jamie's mother walked in her room, Jamie was laying on her back with her feet at the head of her bed. She had headphones covering her ears which blasted out music at a seemingly deafening volume. The television blared out some commercial about fast food. Jamie was holding a book up in the air two feet from her face."What are you doing?" her mother yelled."Studying."
Prayer and study are the two practices that are the most talked about, and perhaps the most commonly practiced-although not as commonly as we would like to imagine. Prayer and study are often either avoided or misapplied. However, they are two disciplines that act as catalysts for transformation in both the heart and mind
"All good meditative prayer is a conversion of our entire self to God."-Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
Keep your soul free. What matters most in life is not knowledge, but character.-A. G. Sertillanges, "The Intellectual Life"
"Many people have chosen to seek knowledge rather than to live well, and they are often let astray and their lives come to very little--or nothing at all."-Thomas a Kempis, "The Imitation of Christ"
Prayer...
Sam closed his eyes as the elder began his prayer. Sam was with him for the first ten seconds, then he remembered that he needed to pick up some super-glue so he could fix that coffee cup he chipped that morning…which reminded him of breakfast…which reminded him of lunch…which reminded him that he also needed to get the grill's propane tank filled soon…which reminded him that the gas bills were finally coming down with the warmer weather…gee it's a beautiful day…kind of like those days he flew kites as a kid…nice breeze…warm sun on your face…Then the elder said, "Amen."
Study...
When Jamie's mother walked in her room, Jamie was laying on her back with her feet at the head of her bed. She had headphones covering her ears which blasted out music at a seemingly deafening volume. The television blared out some commercial about fast food. Jamie was holding a book up in the air two feet from her face."What are you doing?" her mother yelled."Studying."
Prayer and study are the two practices that are the most talked about, and perhaps the most commonly practiced-although not as commonly as we would like to imagine. Prayer and study are often either avoided or misapplied. However, they are two disciplines that act as catalysts for transformation in both the heart and mind
Saturday, February 03, 2007
spiritual discipline part 4 : secrecy and sacrifice
Secrecy and Sacrifice.
These are two more spiritual practices that are not made easy by our culture. However, they are two spiritual practices that will produce incredible freedom from the chains of emotional, spiritual, and material insecurity
"Don't do your good deeds publicly so that you will be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:1).
Do we do the things we do in order that we will be admired, respected, applauded? Are we caught up in the approval game?How do you know if you are caught up in the approval game?
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I ever feel disappointed when nobody notices my efforts?
Do I ever get upset when someone else gets the credit for my idea?
Do I ever find myself doing something so someone will think I am smart
?Do I ever sulk when my past achievements are forgotten or ignored?
Do I ever get upset when no one says, "Thank you?"
Heb 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
NIV
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