Year: 2014

  • It won’t always be pleasant, but I promise it will be worth it.

    One of best things my wife and I have done for our marriage is intentionally making time to spend together, just the two of us. We’ve learned that this is absolutely essential for maintaining the close relationship that we need in order to have a healthy marriage and family.

    We try to make time for a least a few moments each day, but sometimes we need a bit more time. So we have regular date nights where we can spend a couple hours together. Every now and then we’ll have the opportunity to spend the majority of the day together, just us. Those are treasured times.

    Of course, they don’t just happen. Amber and I have to plan them, commit to them, and follow through. Intentionally making time for each other is a discipline.

    I think that if you look at most of your relationships, you’ll find that you do this with your closest friends, mentors, and advisers. You have that extended, dedicated time for each other.

    Don’t forget God.

    Do you do this for God? Do you spend time alone with God daily, weekly? Do you ever set aside a whole day or a large portion of your day just for prayer, Bible study, and sitting quietly with him?

    Every analogy breaks down at some point, but here are some ways spending alone time with God is similar to dedicating exclusive time to any relationship:

    • It’s a bit awkward at first; you might not know what to say
    • This will inevitably drive you to say more than you should
    • After a significant time investment, that awkwardness will melt away to an easy familiarity
    • Silence will then often be sweet and full of meaning
    • Even after this, it will take work to maintain the relationship; you will be constantly challenged

    Tips to develop a habit of spending alone time with God

    First, determine if you’re ready to get outside your comfort zone. God never leaves us as we are. When we come into his presence we leave changed people (Tweet this). He is always at work in us. When you dedicate time to being alone with God, you are opening yourself up to a new level of intimacy with him. It won’t always be pleasant, but I promise it will be worth it.

    Schedule your time. What gets scheduled, gets done. This is–in my opinion–a fact of life. Put your devotional time on the calendar, and treat it like you would any appointment with a VIP.

    Don’t over-program. It’s great to go through a devotional book, keep a prayer journal, and perhaps even explore the liturgy as part of your personal time with God. That said, don’t forget to save a few moments to just be with him, without talking. I recommend Lectio Divina as way to practice listening to God.

    What’s your greatest challenge when it comes to spending alone time with God? Let me know in the comments!

  • 3 ways to think about the Trinity

    The doctrine of the Triune nature of God is a core, essential teaching for historic, orthodox Christianity. This concept, officially formulated very early in the history of the faith, is part of what makes Christianity unique among world religions. Heretical challenges in the first centuries of the Church prompted leaders to join together in order to articulate an “official” doctrine. Examples of these proclamations include the Nicene Creed and of course the Athanasian creed (commonly read on Trinity Sunday in liturgical traditions).

    Over time theologians have sought to explain and express this paradoxical concept in terms that make sense in their context. Interestingly enough, three primary ways of thinking about the Trinity emerged: the economic Trinity, the essential Trinity, and most recently the social Trinity. Read More “3 ways to think about the Trinity”

  • Preparing for Pentecost: Are you trying to tame God the Holy Spirit?

    It seems to me American Evangelical culture in general is guilty of trying to sort of domesticate God. There’s an emphasis on the love of God that often overshadows (or better: glosses over) the fact that he is wholly other, that he is a God of justice, the truth that simply standing in his presence would kill us. Read More “Preparing for Pentecost: Are you trying to tame God the Holy Spirit?”

  • 5 surprising benefits of taking a digital sabbatical

    I just took my family on camping trip in the woods of northern Arizona. I barely had cell service, so I couldn’t be on Twitter or Facebook or check my website stats. I went for walks, played with my kids, laughed with my friends, and enjoyed the cool weather.

    I was reminded of how great it is to get a digital “reset,” a rest, a sabbatical. It’s really one of the most refreshing habits you can have in today’s world. Trust me, you need to do this if you don’t already. Here are 5 surprising benefits of taking a digital sabbatical for a day for a day or two–or longer. Read More “5 surprising benefits of taking a digital sabbatical”

  • How and why you should keep a prayer journal

    Keeping a prayer journal has been simultaneously one of the most rewarding and one of the most difficult decisions I’ve tried to stick with.  Ultimately it’s been worth it, despite my own inconsistencies.

    What is a prayer journal?

    A prayer journal is a little different from simply keeping a diary, because the point isn’t just to record your thoughts, feelings, and observations (although a prayer journal might include those things). Instead, a prayer journal serves to record your conversations with God. Not just requests, but what he is teaching and revealing to you, and what you are saying to him. Read More “How and why you should keep a prayer journal”

  • Are you feeling far from God?

    Are you feeling far from God? You’re not alone. Even the greatest saints have struggled with doubt and the fear of being abandoned by God.

    Remember Doubting Thomas? Even Mother Theresa endured a decades-long loss of feeling God’s presence.

    Christians throughout the centuries have called this experience “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

    16th century mystic John of Cross is known for his poems regarding this difficult (yet rewarding) experience. In this short, 3 minute video I’ll share some insight from John of the Cross that has helped me–and might help you–to make sense of the darkness.

  • I'd like to say I'm not a liar, but…

    “There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

    I mean, I usually tell the truth to other people, about events and whether I like their haircut and all that.

    I don’t willfully misrepresent the Gospel or the Scriptures.

    I don’t use bait and switch tactics or advertise falsely in my business.

    No, most of my lies are to myself. In my mind my motivations are pure and my actions righteous. If I endure the pain of inner honesty, though, there’s a lot of selfishness. A lot of choices I convinced myself were ok, but aren’t.

    If I pry back a few grimy layers of self-deception it becomes obvious that most of the time I care more about how others perceive me than how they are hurting when I apologize.

    I’m quick to verbally offer forgiveness, but so slow to actually let go in my heart.

    I believe in holiness and real sanctification. God is making me new. But there’s a whole lot of work yet to be done. That’s why I know I still have to cling to grace for every fleeting choice and passing thought.

    I can’t do without God’s gifts. Some days it’s hard for me to remember they’re even there…times like that make me so thankful to be explicitly invited to Jesus’ table every week for bread and wine, forgiveness and promises, a renewed awareness of the Spirit inside me.

    I’m grateful that when my heart condemns me, God is greater than my heart. Because when I’m real with myself, my heart is both condemning and condemnable.

    So…I’d like to say I’m not a liar, but that just wouldn’t be honest.

    This song pretty much sums it up, way better than I can do in writing.

  • The exponential power of encouragement

    Years ago I was going through a very tough time. I was a long way from home, feeling alone, and wondering how I was going to move forward. My dad, one of the wisest people I know, read me a short passage from Scripture on the phone:

    And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV)

    I remember vividly the hope and life these words seemed to breathe into my situation. Read More “The exponential power of encouragement”