Telling a story of an encounter with the Spirit is a fundamental act of church fellowship. Mainline church people are not used to talking about their Spiritual experiences. They first need to be taught what to look for. Doing so is the thrust of my books Your Encounters with the Holy Spirit: Name and Share …
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About 3,000 years ago the Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The writer was referring to being mindful of God’s Word. About 500 years later in China, the Buddha (the Awakened One) founded the Buddhist movement, the …
Over coffee one day, a friend, Jennifer Malcolm, said she enjoyed reading about the saints in college. “Which ones?” I asked. Saint Francis of Assisi came to her mind. Then she added, “and that guy who prayed while he was washing dishes in a monastery.” “That would be Brother Lawrence,” I noted. She added, “It …
In my 1993 research of prayer practices of Lutheran church members, I almost overlooked the 51 percent among the other percentages in the table. Slightly more than half agreed that “prayer is the most satisfying experience in my life.” The question was deliberately asked in the extreme form—“the most satisfying experience of my life”—to discourage …
The fifth of the GROWTH practices I advocate is to Trust God in a New Venture. Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and do something new and different to help God’s Kingdom come in some person or group’s life. This is what you are asking for in the Lord’s Prayer. As Luther …
The fourth in the GROWTH practices is to give Witness to your Spiritual experiences. The six are: Go to God in Worship and Prayer, Receive God’s Word for You, Opt for Self-denial, give Witness to Your Spiritual Experiences, Trust God in a New Venture, Humble yourself before God. A spiritual experience in your spiritual life …
In the GROWTH practices I have identified, O is the first stretch practice. The six practices are Go to God in worship and prayer, Receive God’s Word for you, Opt for self-denial, give Witness to your Spiritual experiences, Trust God in a new venture, Humble yourself before God. In my personal walk with the Lord, …
How do we get more of the Holy Spirit’s influence in our inner being? The Spirit works at his own initiative. Yet there are certain activities we can undertake on our own to open ourselves more fully to his work. These historically are called spiritual disciplines. Forty years ago, Richard Foster recast disciplines for Protestants …
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I recently talked with my neighbor about the frustrations he is experiencing at a prominent mainline church where he has been an active member and leader for many years. Many such once-famous and now-mostly-empty mainline churches are spread across the country. What I noticed is how frequently he recalled great preachers of the past and …
The Spirit’s Work has to Stay Fresh for a Church to be Healthy Read More »