Gary L. Nebeker

2012-02-20T14:43:00.000-06:00

2012-02-02T21:24:00.000-06:00

2012-01-22T16:13:00.000-06:00

"Original sin . . . causes a pervasive feeling of alienation from God, from other people and from the true Self. The cultural consequences of these alienations are instilled in us from earliest childhood and passed on from one generation to the next. The urgent need to escape from the profound insecurity of this situation gives rise, when unchecked, to insatiable desires for pleasure, possession, and power. On the social level, it gives rise to violence, war, and institutional injustice. . . . The particular consequences of original sin include all the self serving habits that have been woven into our personality from the time we were conceived; all the emotional damage that has come from our early environment and upbringing; all the harm that other people have done to us knowingly or unknowingly at an age when we could not defend ourselves; and the methods we acquired--many of them now unconscious--to ward off the pain of unbearable situations."

Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart, 158-59.

2012-01-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

2012-01-08T21:46:00.000-06:00

"If you have eyes for the shortcomings of your neighbor and not for your own, no feeling of mercy will arise in you but rather indignation. You will be more ready to judge than to help, to crush in the spirit of anger than to instruct in the spirit of gentleness. 'You who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of gentleness,' says the Apostle (Gal. 6:1). His counsel, or better, his precept is that you should treat an ailing brother with the spirit of gentleness with which you would like to be treated in your own weakness. He shows them how to find out the right way to apply this spirit of gentleness: 'Considering yourself lest you also be tempted' (Gal. 6:1) . . . . that is, considering how easily you are tempted and how prone to sin [then], you will become meek and ready to help others in 'the spirit of gentleness.'"

Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride

2011-12-30T22:21:00.000-06:00

Books Read in 2011

Jeffrey Greenman and George Kalantzis, eds., Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Darrell W. Johnson, Experiencing the Trinity

Olivier Clément, The Roots of Christian Mysticism: Texts from the Patristic Era with Commentary

Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God

Harvey Cox, The Future of Faith

Jim Logan, Reclaiming Surrendered Ground

V. Raymond Edman, They Found the Secret: 20 Transformed Lives that Reveal a Touch of Eternity

Rob Bell, Love Wins

Tom Schwanda, Soul Recreation: Spiritual Marriage and Ravishment in the Contemplative-Mystical Piety of Isaac Ambrose

Tod E. Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives

Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited

Susan S. Phillips, Candlelight: Illuminating the Heart of Spiritual Direction

Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man

Iain Matthews, The Impact of God: Soundings from St. John of the Cross

Everett Worthington, Jr., Coming to Peace with Psychology: What Christians Can Learn from Psychological Science

Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America

St. Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule

James M. Houston, Joyful Exiles: Life in Christ on the Dangerous Edge of Things

Glendon Moriarity, ed. Integrating Faith and Psychology: Twelve Psychologists Tell Their Stories

Victor A. Copan, Saint Paul as Spiritual Director

Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

James Emery White, The Prayer God Longs For

Jim Kallam, Jr. Risking Church: Creating a Place Where Your Heart Feels at Home

Derek Tidball, The Message of Holiness

Andrew Murray, Humility

André Louf, The Way of Humility

Jame K. Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy, Justification: Five Views

Thomas Jones and Michael Fontenot, The Prideful Soul's Guide to Humility

Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

2011-12-27T23:31:00.000-06:00

"The Evangelical Protestant mind has never relished complexity. Indeed, its crusading genius, whether in religion or politics, has always tended toward an oversimplification of issues and the substitution of inspiration and zeal for critical analysis and serious reflection."

N. K. Clifford, "His Dominion: A Vision in Crisis," in Sciences Religieuses/Studies in Religion, (1973), 323.

2011-12-21T19:54:00.000-06:00

" . . . sexual lust is an idolatrous obsession [since] it places self-gratification of another person at the centre of one's existence, and thus the worship of the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25)."

Peter O'Brien, Ephesians, 363.

2011-12-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

" . . . how can we come more under the influence of the Holy Spirit so that we may be filled with him? For most of us it starts with our desiring to be so. Many of us are not filled with the Holy Spirit because we show little real commitment to being so. We dance to other tunes and are content to play around in the shallows of holiness than to wade out more deeply. If the appetite is there, it will lead us to confession of our sin, consecration of our lives, urgency in our prayer, faith in God's provision and obedience in our daily lives. There are no shortcuts to sanctification. The key is consecration, 'an act, done in studied deliberateness, in full awareness of the implications, and without reservation.' It 'remains superficial if it does not reach the jugular of the self-nature."

Derek Tidball, The Message of Holiness, 214.

2011-12-07T17:18:00.000-06:00

"The question is often asked, how can we count others better than ourselves, when we see that they are far below us in wisdom and in holiness, in natural gifts, or in grace received. The question proves at once how little we understand what real lowliness of mind is. True humility comes when, in the light of God, we have seen ourselves to be nothing, have consented to part with and cast away self, to let God be all. The soul that has done this, and can say, 'So have I lost myself in finding Thee,' no longer compares itself with others. It has given up forever every thought of self in God's presence; it meets its fellow-men as one who is nothing, and seeks nothing for itself; who is a servant of God, and for His sake a servant of all. A faithful servant may be wiser than the master, and yet retain the true spirit and posture of the servant. The humble man looks upon every, the feeblest and unworthiest, child of God, and honors him and prefers him in honor as the son of a King. The spirit of Him who washed the disciples' feet, makes it a joy to us to be indeed the least, to be servants one of another.

The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised and himself forgotten, because in God's presence he has learnt to say with Paul, 'I am nothing.' He has received the spirit of Jesus, who pleased not Himself, and sought not His own honor, as the spirit of his life."

Andrew Murray, Humility, 84.

2011-12-01T17:10:00.001-06:00

"Chief among them [the idols that Christians worship] is our demand for an increasingly comfortable way of life and the satisfaction of our desires, whether those desires were worthy or not. Hand-in-hand with this is the addiction to entertainment and the fascination with celebrities. There are also idols of scientism which excludes God, or sexual licence which rides roughshod over God's wisdom, or an ethnocentricism that is xenophobic [afraid of foreigners], or unbridled self-expression which takes no account of our fallen natures, or, for some a sport that demands unquestioning devotion. The idols confronting the church today are subtle and often so thoroughly mixed with values and goals of contemporary culture that we find it hard to identify them. Nonetheless, to be the authentic church of God, we need to live holy lives that display a richer, alternative lifestyle. We are never to be 'resident citizens' in the world who feel so much at home that we belong without any discomfort. Nor are we to be 'resident absentees' in the world, withdrawing from it into our holy ghettos, for our calling is to influence the world for God. We are called to be 'resident aliens' in the world, who engage with the wider community but never quite fit, living alternative lives that are fully in harmony with the living God."

Derek Tidball, The Message of Holiness, 268.

2011-11-28T20:48:00.000-06:00

"The most that happens is that with advancing age, ups and downs of health, and shifting personal circumstances, indwelling sin finds different modes of expression."

J.I. Packer, A Passion for Holiness, 108.

2011-11-19T17:34:00.001-06:00

"Lament allows us to speak from the darkest regions of the heart, where our despair threatens to overwhelm us. In so speaking we do not exhibit a lack of faith, but stand in a biblical tradition that recognizes no part of life, including the most hideous and painful parts, is to be withheld from God, who loves us, who in Jesus Christ speaks the psalms of lament alongside us, and who proclaims hope, when there can--at least for the time being--be no hope in us."

Nancy J. Duff, "Recovering Lamentation as a Practice in the Church, " In, Lament: Reclaiming Practices in Pulpit, Pew, and Public Square, 13.

2011-11-17T13:55:00.000-06:00

"Friendship brings a new dimension into human relationships. The notion of 'another' (Russian drugoi), which combines both similarity and difference, reveals the essence of friendship. In a friend (drug) we find someone who is close to us in spirit, with thoughts and experience in tune with ours, yet not as a double, nor as someone identical to us."

Nicholas Zernov, Sunset Years: A Russian Pilgrim in the West, 123.

2011-11-11T18:08:00.001-06:00

"God's chastening is not God's way of getting even: God got even at the cross . . . the chastening isn't God getting even; it is preparing that person for something better, more valuable and worthwhile. God chastens us 'for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness' (Heb. 12: 10). Often God chastens the very one who, as far as anyone could tell, didn't apparently need it or deserve it."

R. T. Kendall, God Meant it for Good, 68.

2011-11-06T23:05:00.002-06:00

"We are not to deny the supernatural life Christians are given by God and called on to live. But our own human spirit does not have the potency for direct access to God. We do not need to train as contemplative athletes to attain special mystical knowledge. Like every other human endeavor and achievement, mysticism should be viewed with awareness of its ambiguity and its questionable nature. Ironically, those most hostile about it [mysticism] may not think to question their own intellectual prowess! . . . . When we have had a special experience of God that we can only describe as mystical, the test of its validity is our personal response and its benefits to ourselves and to others."

James Houston, Joyful Exiles, 64-65, 66

2011-10-30T17:18:00.000-06:00

"To say that God is in control means that He is moving all things towards an end point that we don’t always properly value or even like.

Larry Crabb, Soul Care Foundations 401 - The Sacred Journey

2011-10-19T14:56:00.000-06:00

" . . . it will always be necessary in the university for us to counsel those students who think that they would like to become scholars to find out early for themselves whether they can bear to be alone as much as a scholar must be alone."

Jaroslav Pelikan, The Idea of the University, 65.

2011-10-12T23:09:00.000-06:00

"It is an overwhelming experience to fall into the hands of the living God, to be invaded to the depths of one's being by his presence, to be, without warning, wholly uprooted from all earth-born securities, and assurances, and to be blown by a tempest of unbelievable power which leave one's old proud self utterly, utterly defenseless until one cries, 'All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.' Then is the soul swept into a loving center of ineffable sweetness, where calm and unspeakable peace and ravishing joy steal over one."

Thomas R. Kelly, "Holy Obedience, " in A Testament of Devotion, 29.

2011-10-07T07:07:00.000-06:00

" . . . sin crouches at the door . . . of our most idealistic schemes. They will ensnare us if we hold them too willfully. To identify the work of God with our own narcissicistic dreams is to court ultimate disillusionment."

James Houston, Joyful Exiles, 103.

2011-10-03T15:15:00.001-06:00

". . . the Christian should realize that the value of her good works, fasts, alms, penances, prayers, etc., does not depend so much on their quantity or quality, but on the love of God which she brings to them."

St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount.Carmel, Book 3, 27.5

2011-09-27T12:16:00.000-06:00

An Exhortation for the Overly Quiet Person - Part 2

" . . . often those who are overly quiet, when they suffer some injustice, develop a greater pain because they do not speak about what they endure. For if their tongues spoke calmly about what they suffered, the pain would fade from the consciousness. For wounds that are enclosed are more painful. But when the pain that burns internally is released, the wound is opened for healing. They should know, therefore, that they aggravate the seriousness of their pain by withholding all speech when they become annoyed. They are to be advised, therefore, that if they love their neighbors as themselves, they should not keep silent about the things that justly deserve censure. For by the medicine of the voice, both parties can receive healing; for the one who inflicted the harm, his evil actions are checked, and the one who sustained the pain is relieved by releasing his wound."

Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, §14

2011-09-17T13:35:00.000-06:00

“. . . there is one sort of prayer wherein we make use of the voice, which is necessary in public, and may sometimes have its own advantages in private; and another, wherein though we utter no sound, yet we conceive the expressions, and form the words, as it were, in our minds; so there is a third and more sublime kind of prayer, wherein the soul takes a higher flight, and having collected all its forces by long and serious meditation, it darteth itself (if I may so speak) towards God in sighs and groans, and thoughts too big for expression. As when, after a deep contemplation of the divine perfections appearing in all his works of wonder, it addresseth itself unto him in the profoundest adoration of his majesty and glory: for, when after sad reflections on its vileness and miscarriages, it prostrates itself before him with the greatest confusion and sorrow, not daring to lift up its eyes, or utter one word in his presence; or when, having well considered the beauty of holiness, and the unspeakable felicity of those that are truly good, it panteth after God, and sendeth up such vigorous and ardent desires as no words can sufficiently express, continuing and repeating each of these acts, as long as it finds itself upheld by the force and impulse of the previous meditation.

This mental prayer is of all others the most effectual to purify the soul, and dispose it unto a holy and religious temper, and may be termed the great secret of devotion, and one of the most powerful instruments of the divine life; and, it may be, the apostle hath a peculiar respect unto it, when he saith, that 'the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered,' or, as the original may bear, 'that cannot be worded.'"

Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, 92-93.

2011-09-11T07:51:00.000-06:00

". . . there is an illumination, divinely bestowed, without which theological truth is information and nothing more. While this illumination is never given apart from theology, it is entirely possible to have theology without the illumination!"

A.W. Tozer, Renewed Day by Day, Sept. 9.

2011-09-04T10:36:00.000-06:00

"It seems what gave the early Christians courage to persevere was not a secure future, but the certainty of a companionship more powerful than anything the future could bring."

Iain Williams, The Impact of God, 94.

2011-08-26T09:42:00.000-06:00

“We need to suffer before we learn truthin a way that changes us.”

Larry Crabb, SoulCare Foundations 301
Provisions and Practices

2011-08-19T21:59:00.000-06:00

An Exhortation for the Overly Quiet Person - Part 1

"It should be suggested to those who do not speak enough that while they flee some vices inadvertently, they implicate themselves in other hidden vices that are even more dangerous. For often when they bridle the tongue immoderately, they suffer from a greater loquacity [talkativeness] in the heart. As a result, thoughts become inflamed in the mind because of their being violently and indiscreetly silenced. For the most part, these persons allow these thoughts to flow all the more, because they believe themselves to be unobserved by those who find fault in others. But sometimes the mind is exalted with pride and despises those that it hears speaking. And when it closes the mouth of the body, it does not realize the extent to which it leaves itself open to the vice of pride. For as it suppresses the tongue, it equally elevates the mind, and because it rarely considers its own iniquities, it accuses others all the more frequently in secret."

Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, §14

2011-08-13T13:20:00.000-06:00

"An effective way to become open to the ways of God is to reflect on our own mortality. At my age I do it increasingly! But at whatever age we are, young or old, we miss a lot if we refuse to practice 'death-awareness.' We cannot do this by viewing death with objective detachment. Rather, we need to accept the inevitability and unpredictability of our own death as subjective truth. Our secular culture would have us deny anticipation of death, with the consequence that this repression leaves us with a shallow view of our own self-hood. But if we can live with a constant awareness of death, we will treasure all the more deeply that our identity is committed eternally into the hands of God for safe-keeping. How richly secure we become with this assurance as the apostle shared with Timothy, his son in the faith (2 Tim. 1:12)."

James M. Houston, Joyful Exiles, 57.

2011-08-04T13:05:00.000-06:00

When a person turns to the service of God with real determination, God normally nurtures his spirit and warms his heart, as a loving mother does to her little child. But as he grows, the mother puts him down and makes him walk on foot. She does this so that he can leave behind childish ways and take on greater things, more real things.

It is the same with the soul. When God senses that he has grown up a bit, God draws him away from the sweet breast and puts him down and gets him used to walking on foot so that he can grow strong and leave his baby clothes behind. He find this new phase bewildering, since everything has turned back-to-front.

Here God gives the person to taste the food of the strong which is dryness and darkness ... the spirit begins to receive in its empty dryness.

St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, Book 1; 1:2; 8:3; 12:1

2011-07-28T06:54:00.000-06:00

"Hatred, in the mind and spirit of the disinherited, is born out of great bitterness — a bitterness that is made possible by sustained resentment which is bottled up until it distills an essence of vitality, giving to the individual in whom this is happening a radical and fundamental basis for self-realization."

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, 79.

2011-07-11T10:14:00.000-06:00

"Christians struggled for many years under the power of an Almighty God, fearful of this Law-giver and of the punishments they would receive if they did not obey him, and hopeful of the rewards if they did. Then the pendulum swung. Fear of authority was replaced by negation of authority. Jesus became Emmanuel, God-with-us, the gentle and kind friend, who blesses everything and makes few demands. It was a positive swing but something was lost in the transition: Jesus lost his divinity, his sacredness, the flame of love that purifies, hurts, and burns, in order to lead us into something totally new."

"It is important to come back to the true face of God ... not in the marvellous, the extraordinary, or even the charismatic, but rather the presence of God who burns us, who gives and reveals divine love, the life of the Trinity."

Jean Vanier, Foreword in Iain Matthew, The Impact of God, xi.

2011-07-04T07:10:00.001-06:00

"Puritan Mysticism": An Oxymoron?

"Puritan mysticism [is] . . . the grateful and loving beholding of God through God's mighty acts and Scripture, in which one experiences union and deepening communion with Jesus Christ through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit."

Tom Schwanda, "Soul Recreation: Spiritual Marriage and Ravishment in the Contemplative-Mystical Piety of Issac Ambrose," 15.

2011-06-27T07:14:00.000-06:00

“Experience confirms that the most ordinary cause of 'dryness' or 'staleness' in prayer is a defect in genuine spiritual reading. Without consistent intake of the Word of God, prayer never comes naturally and interest in prayer declines. On the other hand, the first step in any program to revitalise the practice of prayer is always renewed contact with God’s Word…However, many people continue to experience such dryness even though they devote regular periods to spiritual reading. This is usually due to the fact that the reading is not done in such a way as to provoke prayer….” - Michael Casey, The Undivided Heart.

2011-06-17T08:57:00.000-06:00

"He [Jesus] recognized with authentic realism that anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his destiny. If a man knows precisely what he can do to you or what epithet he can hurl against you in order to make you lose your temper, your equilibrium, then he can always keep you under subjection."

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, 28.

2011-06-10T08:10:00.000-06:00

". . . if people feel disconnected, disregarded, or discouraged, they will not extend themselves to others. When hurt abounds, ministry flounders. But when love is ample, ministry flourishes."

Tod E. Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, 140.

2011-05-31T16:28:00.000-06:00

"When the body is ill, the soul is badly affected. In the great majority of cases, in fact, our spiritual capacities behave according to our physical condition; illness lays us low and makes us different, almost unrecognizable from when we are well. If the strings of an instrument give a feeble or false sound because they are not taut enough, the artist has no way of displaying any particular talent: the defect in the strings defeats all skill. It is the same with the body. It can do a great deal of harm to the soul. So I ask you: take care that your body stays fit, safeguard it from illness of any sort.

I am not telling you either to let it waste away or to let it grow fat. Feed it with as much food as is necessary for it to become a ready instrument of the soul. If you stuff it with delicious dainties, the body is incapable of resisting the impulses that attack it and weaken it. A person may be very wise and yet, if he abandons himself without restraint to wine and the pleasures of the table, it is inevitable that he will feel the flames of inordinate desire blazing more fiercely within him. A body immersed in delights is a body that breeds lust of every kind."

John Chrysostom Homily on the Epistle to the Hebrews 29, 31T

2011-05-24T06:49:00.000-06:00

". . . contemplation [is] a penetrating moment of perception which conveys something of the beauty and attractiveness of God which has the result of distracting the mind and the heart from absolutely everything else."

Michael Casey, Athirst for God, 295.

2011-05-18T20:27:00.001-06:00

"It is the nature of holiness to sanctify that which surrounds it."

Leonid Ouspensky, "The Meaning and Content of the Icon," in

Theology of the Icon, 59.

2011-05-14T14:15:00.000-06:00

"If you think that because you're a good church member, or because you belong to such and such an organization, you're going to be revived, you had better forget it. The basis of revival is men and women shattered by their failures--aware that all is not well, helpless to do anything about it." - Festo Kivengere, When God Moves in Revival, 17.

2011-05-07T08:15:00.000-06:00

"Set us on fire, burn us, make us new and transform us, that nothing besides thee may live in us. O wound very deeply our hearts with the dart of thy love. . . . O that we were sick of love . . . and by an heavenly excess may be transported into an heavenly love, that we may imbrace Christ, who is the Lord from heaven, with a love like himself. . . . Nor do we desire onely the pleasures of love, and the joys of thy union, but that we may become generative and fruitful, far be it from us to love thee like a harlot, and not like a wife: O let us desire union with thee, and to bring forth fruit unto thee."

Isaac Ambrose (1604-1664) - Media, 224.

2011-05-01T18:17:00.000-06:00

My Favorite Saint

St. Bernice of the Piedmont

2011-04-19T12:22:00.000-06:00

"Doing justice . . . requires constant, sustained reflection and circumspection. If you are a Christian, and you refrain from committing adultery, or using profanity or missing church, but you don't do the hard work of thinking through how to do justice in every area of life--you are failing to live justly and righteously" - Tim Keller, Generous Justice, 112.

2011-04-12T11:18:00.000-06:00

"Someone, I was told, at the sight of a very beautiful body [a woman’s or man's] felt impelled to glorify the Creator. The sight of it increased his love for God to the point of tears. Anyone who entertains such feelings in such circumstances is already risen .. . before the general resurrection."

John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 15th step, 58

2011-04-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

"Divisions within a church are not benign; they violate the character of the Holy Spirit, who provides unifying and universal dimensions to the living temple of God, dimensions that transcend personal preferences."

A paraphrase of the wisdom of John R. Levison, Filled with the Spirit, 306.

2011-04-01T10:36:00.000-06:00

" . . . our emotions are a flucuating, unreliable guide to truth and must not be exalted to the place of supreme authority in determining it."--John Stott, Essentials, 315

2011-03-25T21:09:00.000-06:00

“Spiritual progress has no other test in the end, nor any better expression, than our ability to love. It has to be unselfish love, founded on respect; a service, a disinterested affection that does not ask to be paid in return, a ‘sympathy,’ indeed an ‘empathy,’ that takes us out of ourselves enabling us to ‘feel with’ the other person and indeed to ‘feel in’ him or her. It gives us the ability to discover in the other person an inward nature as mysterious and deep as our own, but different and willed to be so by God."

Olivier Clement, The Roots of Christian Mysticism, 270.

2011-03-18T09:42:00.000-06:00

"God built heaven and earth to be the dwelling place of the human race. But he also built the human body and soul tο make them his οwn abode, so that he might dwell therein and rest there as in a well kept house ... 'We are his house' (Hebrews 3.6). . . . Ιn their houses human beings carefully accumulate their wealth. The Lord in his house, our soul and body, amasses and stores up the heavenly riches of the Spirit."

Pseudo-Μacarius, Forty Ninth Homily (PG 34,813-4)

2011-03-11T11:50:00.000-06:00

“When someone whose mind is but partially developed sees something clothed in some semblance of beauty, he believes that this thing is beautiful in its own nature . . . but someone who has purified the eyes of his soul and is trained to see beautiful things . . . makes use of the visible as a springboard to rise to the contemplation of the spiritual.”

Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, (PG 46, 364).

2011-03-06T13:28:00.000-06:00

"Educative desolation brings to the soul humiliation, grief and a proper despair in order that the part of the soul that seeks glory and is easily exalted may return to humility. But it leads the heart immediately to the fear of God, to tears, and to a keen desire for the beauty of silence." Diadochus of Photike, GC, 87.

2011-03-01T13:34:00.000-06:00

"The more the Inaccessible shares with us, the more inaccessible he shows himself to be. By reminding us of the distance between him and us he keeps us from idolizing the mystical state. It is a spirituality not of fusion or commixture but of communion, in which the Other remains the more unknown the more he makes himself know. This is the way into a living eternity where a progress in love never ends." Olivier Clement, The Roots of Christian Mysticism, 191.

2011-02-23T18:54:00.000-06:00

"Let us not be troubled when it befalls us to be plunged into darkness, especially if we are not responsible for it. You must realize that this darkness enshrouding you has been given you by God's providence for reasons known to Him alone. Sometimes indeed our soul is engulfed by the waves and drowned. Whether we give ourselves to the reading of Scripture or to prayer, whatever we do we are increasingly imprisoned in darkness...it is an hour filled with despair and fear. The soul is utterly deprived of hope in God and the consolation of faith. It is entirely filled with perplexity and anguish. But those who have been tested by the distress of such an hour know that in the end it is followed by a change. . . . Blessed is he who endures such temptations. For, as the Fathers say, great will be the stability and the strength to which he will come after that. However, it is not in one hour or at one stroke that such a combat is concluded. Nor is it at one moment, but gradually, that grace comes to take up indwelling completely in the soul. After grace, the trial returns. There is a time for trial. And there is a time for consolation."

Issac of Nineveh, Ascetic Treatises, 57.

2011-02-17T12:17:00.000-06:00

"What entitles someone to act as spiritual guide? How and by whom is he or she appointed? To this there is a simple answer. The elder or starets is essentially a 'charismatic' and prophetic figure, accredited for her or his task by the direct action of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual guides are ordained, not by human hands, but by the hand of God. They are an expression of the Church as 'event' or 'happening,' rather than of the Church as institution. . . Moreover, . . . the starets may be a simple monk, not in holy orders, or even a layman; the ministry of eldership may also be exercised by a nun or a laywoman, for in the Orthodox tradition there are spiritual mothers as well as spiritual fathers. The starets, whether ordained or lay, frequently speaks with an insight and authority that only a very few confessor-priests possess. . . . they are 'recognized as such by the people.' Within the continuing life of the Christian community, it becomes plain to the believing people of God-which is the true guardian of Holy Tradition — that this or that person has the gift of spiritual fatherhood or motherhood. Then, in a free and informal fashion, others begin to come to him or her for advice and direction.

It will be noted that the initiative comes, as a rule, not from the master but from the disciples. It would be perilously presumptuous for someone to say in his own heart or to others, 'Come and submit yourselves to me; I am a starets, I have the grace of the Spirit.' What happens, rather, is that — without any claims being made by the person himself — others approach him, seeking his advice or asking to live permanently under his care. At first, he will probably send them away, telling them to consult someone else. Eventually the moment comes when he no longer sends them away but accepts their coming to him as a disclosure of the will of God. Thus it is his spiritual children who reveal the elder to himself."

Kallistos Ware,“The Spiritual Guide in Orthodox Christianity," in The Inner Kingdom (130).

2011-02-11T18:28:00.000-06:00

"One who strives after pure prayer will hear noises and uproar, voices and insults. But he will not be dismayed nor lose his composure if he says to God, 'Thou art with me, I fear no evil.'

Evagrius, On Prayer, 97.

2011-02-05T09:24:00.000-06:00

"I have many people who are already in my life: friends, colleagues,

family. Some of these people I care for very deeply, and I want a fuller and stronger

relationship with them. So I ask for them, I seek them, I knock at their door. I

ask them for more of their time, their story, their memories, their thoughts, their

feelings, their life.

So it is, I believe, with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is already present to us, but

often as a stranger, or at most a distant friend. I think Jesus encourages us to

ask for more than this. If you . . . are seeking to take a few tentative steps into experiencing the Spirit-empowered life, I would encourage you to begin in prayer, simply by asking the Spirit to come more fully into your life. Don’t come seeking the gifts, nor the vivid spiritual experiences. Don’t come hoping for an emotional rush, or a spectacular miracle. Seek instead just the companionship of God’s Spirit. Ask to be drawn more deeply into his life, his thought, his feelings, his love. Get to know the Holy Spirit."

Christopher S. Webb, "Becoming Like Jesus: Spirit-Empowered Life," 11.

2011-02-01T13:05:00.005-06:00

You say you feel overwhelmed with guilt and a sense of unworthiness.
Well, you cannot be too aware of the inward and inbred evils you complain of, but you may be (indeed you are) improperly controlled and affected by them.
You say it is hard to understand how a holy God could accept such an awful person as yourself.
You, then, not only express a low opinion of yourself (which is right!) but also too low an opinion of the person, work, and promises of the Redeemer, which is wrong. . .
You complain about sin, but when we examine your complaints, they are so full of self-righteousness, unbelief, pride, and impatience that they are little better than the worst evils you complain of!

Works of John Newton, 6:185.

2011-01-27T11:46:00.001-06:00

"Anger, more than the other passions, is wont to trouble and upset the soul. But even anger sometimes renders the soul great benefits. When, in fact, we use it calmly against error or stupidity, to denounce and save, we obtain for the soul additional gentleness, since we are furthering the purposes of justice and divine goodness. Therefore one who makes temperate use of anger out of zeal for truth will no doubt be found better, in the time of judgement, than one who out of inertia was never stirred to anger."

Diadochus Of Photike, GC, 62

2011-01-22T14:09:00.000-06:00

"Anyone who prays in anguish will be able, after his prayer, to know a great joy in his soul. Just as clouds when they gather begin by making the day dark, then, once they have poured out all the water they contained, the atmosphere is serene and light; so anguish, as it builds up in our heart, plunges our thoughts into darkness, but then, when it has vented all its bitterness through prayer and accompanying tears, it brings to the soul a great light. God’s influence irradiates the soul of the one who is praying, like a ray of sunlight."

John Chrysostom On the Incomprehensibility of God, Sermon 5

2011-01-17T17:24:00.000-06:00

"The excesses and vagaries of certain elements in the churches have frightened many of God's people away from the fountain of living waters. Rather than have wild fire, they have chosen to have none of His operations at all. Rather than be mistaken about the operations of the Spirit, they have chosen to have none of His operations at all. They have allowed themselves to be 'dispensationalized' into a state of spiritual vacuity. We must revolt against this Babylonian Captivity. We must have courage to disagree with even big names and famous men, if we can get satisfied no other way. Never forget, God is on the side of the thirsty saint. You do not need to persuade Him to meet you. He is already persuaded. Just dare to trust Him."

A. W. Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life, 91-92.

2011-01-11T11:47:00.000-06:00

See! The Lord is our mirror:

open your eyes,

look into it,

learn what your faces are like!

Odes of Solomon, 13

2011-01-07T16:57:00.000-06:00

"The beauty of God calls out to us, drawing us to God, enabling us to overcome sin and make suffering a means of deepening the heart so as to understand more profoundly the fullness of God's beauty."

Andrew Louth, "Beauty Will Save the World," Theology Today 61 (2004): 75.

2011-01-03T10:36:00.000-06:00

The Inability to Repent

I have no broken heart to start me on the quest for thee, no penitence, no tenderness .. .
I have no tears with which to pray to thee. My spirit is in darkness . . . my heart is cold . . . .

I know not how to make it warm again by tears of love for thee. But thou, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, do thou give me complete repentance, the breaking of my heart, that with my whole soul I may set out in quest of thee. Without thee I should be without all reality . . . May the Father who . . . begot thee in eternity renew in me thine image.

I have forsaken thee. Do not thou forsake me.
I have wandered far from thee. Do thou set out in quest of me. Lead me back to thy pastures with the sheep of thy flock.

Feed me together with them on the fresh grazing of thy mysteries where the pure heart dwells, the heart that bears in it the splendour of thy revelations .. . May we be worthy of such splendour through thy grace and by thy love for humankind, O Jesus Christ our Saviour, for ever and ever. Amen.

Isaac of Nineveh Ascetic Treatises, 2

2010-12-29T15:49:00.000-06:00

Books Read in 2010

David A. J. Seargeant, Lamps on the Candelabrum: Five Evangelical Mystics

John T. McNeill, The History of the Cure of Souls

George E. Demacopoulos, Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church

Carlos R. Bovell, Inerrancy and the Spiritual Formation of Younger Evangelicals

Thomas Dubay, Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment

Bruce Demarest, Seasons of the Soul: Stages of Spiritual Development

Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective

R. A. Herrera, Mystics in Spite of Themselves

Diogenes Allen, Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today

E. Lynn Harris, The Mystic Spirituality of A.W. Tozer, A Twentieth-Century Protestant

Winfried Corduan, Mysticism: An Evangelical Option?

Phileena Heuertz, Pilgrimage of a Soul: Contemplative Spirituality for the Active Life

Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Gerald Sittser, Waters from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries

Eric Johnson, ed. Psychology & Christianity: Five Views

A.W. Tozer, et. al. The Christian Book of Mystical Verse

Richard J. Hauser, Moving in the Spirit: Becoming Contemplative in Action

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives

Jean Vanier, From Brokenness to Community

Lyle Dorsett, A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A.W. Tozer

John R. Levison, Filled with the Spirit

A.W. Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life

2010-12-28T00:52:00.002-06:00

What Do You Do with All Your Wicked Thoughts?

" . . . nothing is to be gained by consulting your spiritual father about all the thoughts that come into your mind. Most of them quickly disappear. You need to ask about those that persist and make war on you. . . . do not try yourself to discern the thoughts that come into your mind. You are not capable . . . If they worry you . . . cast your powerlessness before God, saying, ‘Lord, I am in thy hands, come to my help.’ ... As for the thought that persists in you and makes war on you, tell it to your Abba [spiritual father] and by God’s grace he will cure you."

Barsanuphius, Letter 165 and 142

2010-12-21T16:11:00.000-06:00

"Humility"

"Never thinking about what one deserves."

Didadochus of Photike

(c. Fifth Century)

2010-12-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

Longing for the Presence of God?

"Our longing for God . . . can never be assuaged or satisified, for it is a longing for the Infinite, a longing which the Infinite satisfies by making the longing itself extend unto eternity. God satisfies our desires for Himself, not by satiating us with His presence, but by intensifying our desire for His presence with every new manifestation of it. And those who have felt that desire long only to feel it ever more keenly."

Richard B. Steele, "Transfiguration Light: The Moral Beauty of the Christian Life according to Gregory Palamas and Jonathan Edwards." St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 52:3-4 (2008): 438.

2010-12-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

The Bountiful Vision of God

"Beauty stirs up in us an insatiable desire to see, to stare, to behold and be held. For in some deep corner of ourselves we know that we become what we see, what we gaze upon--and so, our hearts hunger for nothing less than the bountiful vision of God." Nathan D. Mitchell, "The Amen Corner: Being Good and Being Beautiful," Worship 74:6 [November 2000]: 552).

2010-12-09T20:55:00.000-06:00

Spiritual Elders as Soul Guides

"One of the first rules of thumb in the ancient church regarding Elders was that those who offered their services to you in this way [as soul guides] were almost always bogus. . . . The second aspect was that they ought to be of the same gender, and usually much older than you. This was because the transmission of deep truths of soul and heart opens up floodgates of humanity in a person that require some detachment in the Elder, some space in their own lives where they can be involved deeply without being caught up in the needs of the journeyer. This is a critical factor that if disregarded . . . can cause havoc. The movements of the spiritual life are deep and passionate and bear an immediate relationship to other primary aspects of a person's life (such as marriage, children, career) and just as we would not entrust major aspects of the development of a professional career to any random person we meet at a bus stop, so too we cannot presume to entrust our soul's guidance to any person who has 'set up shop' as a counselor" (John A. McGuckin, "The Significance of Eldership in Spirituality Today," Spiritus 10:2 [Fall 2010], 280).

2010-11-29T13:28:00.002-06:00

"Tens of thousands of believers who pride themselves on their understanding of Romans and Ephesians cannot conceal the sharp spiritual contradiction that exists between their hearts and the heart of Paul. That difference may be stated this way: Paul was a seeker and a finder and a seeker still. They seek and find and seek no more. After “accepting” Christ they tend to substitute logic for life and doctrine for experience. For them the truth becomes a veil to hide the face of God; for Paul it was a door into His very Presence. Paul’s spirit was that of the loving explorer. He was a prospector among the hills of God searching for the gold of personal spiritual acquaintance. Many today stand by Paul’s doctrine who will not follow him in his passionate yearning for divine reality. Can these be said to be Pauline in any but the most nominal sense?"

A. W. Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life (29).

2010-11-22T20:29:00.000-06:00

John Owen on Contemplation on God in Christ

"The spiritual intense fixation of the mind, by contemplation on God in Christ, until the soul be as it were swallowed up in admiration and delight, and being brought unto an utter loss, through the infiniteness of those excellencies which it doth admire and adore, it returns again into its own abasements, out of a sense of its infinite distance from what it would absolutely and eternally embrace, and, withal, the inexpressible rest and satisfaction which the will and affections receive in their approaches to the eternal Fountain of goodness, are things to be aimed at in prayer, and which, through the riches of divine condescension, are frequently enjoyed. The soul is hereby raised and ravished, not into ecstasies or unaccountable raptures, not acted into motions above the power of its own understanding and will; but in all the faculties and affections of it, through the effectual workings of the Spirit of grace and the lively impressions of divine love, with intimations of the relations and kindness of God, is filled with rest, in 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.'" And these spiritual acts of communion with God, whereof I may say with Bernard [of Clairvaux] Rora hora, brevis mora ["a rare hour and a short stay"], may be enjoyed in mental or vocal prayer indifferently."

John Owen, A Discourse on the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer in Works, 4:329-330.

2010-11-17T22:13:00.000-06:00

A Brief Response to David Powlison

Dr. David Powlison's remarks in my blog posting of November 13 are part of his response to John H. Coe's and Todd W. Hall's Transformational Psychology model in Psychology & Christianity: Five Views (InterVarsity 2010). In this book, the Transformational model is one of five Christian perspectives on the integration of psychology and Christianity.

Powlison rightly critiques those varieties of Christian mysticism which foster a spiritual narcissism. The concern for a spiritual life model that is accessible to garden variety people is also commendable. I agree too that there must be a communal orientation toward spiritual formation. To be sure, mystical excesses can be found throughout church history.

Be this all as it it may, Powlison's assessment unnecessarily pits mysticism against common need. There are numerous examples in Christian history where mystics were action-oriented and focused on practical pastoral need. In fact, Gregory the Great, whom Powlison suggests serves as model of pastoral counseling, was himself a mystic! Gregory was the synthesizer of the mystical spirituality of the Desert Fathers (via John Cassian) into the mainstream of Catholic spirituality.

In the Reformed heritage to which Dr. Powlison belongs, mystical overtones can be seen in some Puritan authors (e.g., Issac Ambrose, Samuel Rutherford, and even in John Owen, see A Discourse on the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer, Works, 4:329-330). These Puritan authors were able to make the connection between the mystical and the practical.

I have a great respect for David Powlison. I have used some his work with great profit in ministering to others. Unfortunately, the response to Christian mysticism he offers to the Transformational Psychology model is an unfair caricature. More than anything else his response reflects a somewhat superficial understanding of the historical character of the Christian mystical tradition.

2010-11-13T22:09:00.001-06:00

David Powlison On Contemplative Spirituality

What are your thoughts regarding the following assessments of contemplative spirituality and the Christian mystical tradition?

". . . contemplative spirituality does not track with the troubles and struggles of everyday people. It does not track with Scripture. It does not track with Jesus. It is an 'upper story' spirituality, not a feet-on-the ground way of life. . . . the hazy encounter spirituality of mystical encounter with the divine in the noumenal realm of privatized experience drifts away from earthed humanness. The Bible everywhere treats everyday experience, and it never gestures toward monastic super-spirituality. The contemplative tradition tends toward an elite, strenuous, privatized spirituality that is impossible for garden-variety people. . . . But histories and prophets, psalms and proverbs, the actions and teachings of Jesus, and the epistles of his apostles speak to the garden-variety troubles of strugglers. Jesus has a wonderfully deft way of touching people who are sweating out life: peasants, fishermen, illiterate mothers, impoverished widows, disabled people, street people. Jesus speaks to the powerless, the weak, the addicted, the outsider, the remorseful. He brings elites--powerful, rich educated, spiritually refined--down to earth."

"In themselves, the terms 'soul care,' 'spiritual direction,' 'spiritual formation' and 'spiritual disciplines' are good terms awaiting particular meaning. But when operating under the influence of the mystical tradition, they become vectors for upper-story spiritualizing. Such a turn leads away from the church's long tradition of hard-won pastoral counseling wisdom. God's self-revelation walks the earth in Jesus's practical mercies to us. He gradually forms us into the same shape of practical mercies toward others. This vision for human, humane, well-reasoned, psalmic and proverbial insight and practice has shaped the church's tradition of earthed wisdom. Thomas Oden's four-volume Classical Pastoral Care largely traces how the broad stream of pastoral wisdom has wrestled with how to understand people truly and love people well, not with how the mystics interpret their private agonies and ecstasies. The privatized spirituality of desert monks and medieval monastics moves in a different direction from the community-oriented pastoral care and cure of souls, as expressed, for example, in Gregory, Luther, Baxter, Bonhoeffer and in the intentions of the contemporary biblical counseling movement" (David Powlison, "A Biblical Counseling Response to Transformational Psychology," in Psychology & Christianity: Five Views, [InterVarsity, 2010], 243-44).

2010-11-07T20:39:00.000-06:00

Spiritual Journaling

"The primary purpose of my journal is to reflect on my life in terms of how well or poorly I am responding to the Holy Spirit in my daily activity. To accomplish this most effectively, however, I must stress that it is important that I record my daily moods, good as well as bad, just as I experience them, without any attempt to relate them immediately to the Spirit. An over-concern with seeing whether the Spirit is or is not present in a mood may short-circuit the full emergence of what is welling up from the center of my being. My goal is to get in touch with these moods. Recording these moods as I experience them becomes the raw material for all subsequent reflections on my life. If these moods truly reflect what is going on deep inside . . . me, then I will have an accurate 'handle' for dealing with them. Only after I have recorded them can I stand back and observe where the Spirit has been present and absent and then guide my life accordingly" (Richard J. Hauser, Moving in the Spirit, 93-94).

2010-11-01T20:48:00.000-06:00

Without the Spirit. . .

"Therefore, no one has true knowledge or true understanding, or is truly eminent in counsel and fortitude, or has either pious knowledge or knowledgeable piety, or fears God with a chaste fear, unless he has received 'the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge and piety and fear of God' (Isa. 11:2-3). . . . No one has true power, sincere love, and religious sobriety, except through 'the Spirit of power, and love, and sobriety' (2 Tim. 1:7). . . . In the same way, without the Spirit of faith, no one will rightly believe, and without the Spirit of prayer, no one will profitably pray."

Augustine, Letter 194 to Sixtus

2010-10-27T19:32:00.000-06:00

Spiritual Gluttony

"But there is a danger for the solitary life. . . the first and paramount danger is that of self-pleasing."

St. Basil, Longer Responses 7. 3. 26

2010-10-26T17:28:00.000-06:00

"Above all . . . God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason."

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae IA

2010-10-23T22:40:00.000-06:00

Bad Moods

"By a bad mood we mean . . . any feeling state that does not come under the influence of the Holy Spirit because it tends to move us away from the desire to love and serve God and others. . . . We must remember that a bad mood is not a sign that God is absent from us; it simply means that God's presence has not transformed the feeling dimension of our inner experience. . . . " (Richard J. Hauser, Moving in the Spirit, 43, 50).

2010-10-17T20:16:00.000-06:00

The Contemplative Collection

by Penny Rodriguez

Solo piano--highly recommended for meditative ambience!

2010-10-12T12:16:00.000-06:00

Life Without the Holy Spirit*

Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant,
Christ remains in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the Church is just an organization,
authority consists of dominating others,
mission is propaganda,
worship is boring ritual,
and following Christ is a life of exhausting servitude.

But with the Holy Spirit,
the cosmos is uplifted and groans
in giving birth to the kingdom,
the risen Christ is here, among us, and noticeable,
the Gospel throbs with life,
the Church is in communion with the Trinity,
mission is a work of the Spirit,
worship is both memorial and anticipation,
and human life is transformed into the likeness of Christ.

*My slightly modified version of a prayer from the Eastern Orthodox Church

2010-10-08T22:19:00.000-06:00

Do You Use the Word "Just" When You Pray?

"By far the most common interjection in evangelical prayers is the word 'just.' 'Lord, we just wanna' thank you . . . "; 'Lord, just be with us now.' While there is no grammatical explanation for that interjection, it is certainly a consequence of the Protestant emphasis on spontanaeity in prayer, eschewing liturgy and formalism" (Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, 313).

2010-10-02T19:26:00.007-06:00

"If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee"

If thou but suffer God to guide thee

And hope in Him through all thy ways,

He'll give thee strength, whate'er betide thee,

And bear thee through the evil days.

Who trusts in God's unchanging love

Builds on the Rock that naught can move.

Only be still and wait His leisure

In cheerful hope, with heart content

To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure

And His discerning love hath sent,

Nor doubt our inmost wants are known

To Him who chose us for His own.

He knows the time for joy, and, truly,

Will send it when He sees it meet;

When He has tried and purged thee duly,

And finds thee free from all deceit.

He comes to thee all unaware,

And makes thee own his loving care.

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,

Perform thy duties faithfully,

And trust His Word, though undeserving,

Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.

God never yet forsook in need

The soul that trusted Him indeed.

Hymn #518

The Lutheran Hymnal

Text: Ps. 55:22

Titled: "Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten"

Composer: Georg Neumark, 1621-1681

Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

Please make sure that this hymn is sung at my funeral, along with Mary Z. Cox's version of "The Song of the Chanter"!

2010-09-28T11:52:00.000-06:00

What is Shape Note Singing?

I have for some time now been a fan of shape note music (Sacred Harp). Check out this brief clip. It provides an informative overview of a reemerging American art form.

2010-09-25T12:47:00.000-06:00

"Help me O Lord to make a true use of all disappointments and calamities in this life, in such wise that they may unite my heart more closely with Thee. Cause them to separate my affections from worldly things and inspire my soul with more vigour in the pursuit of true happiness."

- Susanna Wesley (1669-1742)

2010-09-21T21:49:00.000-06:00

"God Reveals His Presence"

God reveals his presence:

let us now adore him,

and with awe appear before him.

God is in his temple:

all within keep silence,

prostrate lie with deepest reverence.

Him alone,

God we own,

him our God and Savior:

praise his Name for ever.

God reveals his presence:

hear the harps resounding!

See the hosts the throne surrounding!

"Holy, holy, holy,"

hear the hymn ascending,

angels saints, their voices blending!

Bow thine ear

to us here:

hear, O Christ, the praises

that thy Church now raises.

O thou Font of blessing,

purify my spirit,

trusting only in thy merit.

Like the holy angels

who behold thy glory,

may I ceaselessly adore thee.

Let thy will

ever still

rule thy Church terrestrial,

as the hosts celestial.

Written by Gerhard Tersteegen

(1697-1729)

2010-09-10T08:36:00.000-06:00

Crawling with Calvin

“But no one in this earthly prison of the body has sufficient strength to press on with due eagerness, and weakness so weighs down the greater number that, with wavering and limping and even creeping along the ground, they move at a feeble rate. Let each one of us, then, proceed according to the measure of his puny capacity and set out upon the journey we have begun. No one shall set out so inauspiciously as not daily to make some headway, though it be slight. Therefore, let us not cease so to act that we may make some unceasing progress in the way of the Lord. And let us not despair at the slightness of our success; for even though attainment may not correspond to desire, when today outstrips yesterday the effort is not lost. Only let us look toward our mark with sincere simplicity and aspire to our goal; not fondly flattering ourselves, nor excusing our own evil deeds, but with continuous effort striving toward this end: that we may surpass ourselves in goodness until we attain to goodness itself. It is this, indeed, which through the whole course of life we seek and follow. But we shall attain it only when we have cast off the weakness of the body, and are received into full fellowship with him”

John Calvin, Institutes, 3.6.5

2010-09-04T09:52:00.001-06:00

What is a Christian Mystic?

"The word 'mystic' . . . refers to that personal spiritual experience common to the saints of Bible times and well known to multitudes of persons in the post-biblical era. I refer to the evangelical mystic who has been brought by the gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead. His theology is no less and no more than is taught in the Christian Scriptures. He walks the high road of truth where walked of old prophets and apostles, and where down the centuries walked martyrs, reformers, Puritans, evangelists and missionaries of the cross. He differs from the ordinary orthodox Christian only because he experiences his faith down in the depths of his sentient [conscious] being while the other does not. He exists in a world of spiritual reality. He is quietly, deeply, and sometimes almost ecstatically aware of the Presence God in his own nature and in the world around him. His religious experience is something elemental, as old as time and the creation. It is immediate acquaintance with God by union with the Eternal Son. It is to know that which passes knowledge.” — A. W. Tozer, Book of Mystical Verse, vi.

2010-08-24T00:29:00.007-06:00

You Know You are a Christian Mystic When . . .

Ronald Knox perceptibly observed that mysticism is a "direction of the mind, not a bunch of conclusions" (Enthusiasm, 260). Christian mysticism is not easily measured. Any attempt to do so may in the end be self-defeating because we are, after all, dealing with "mystery. . . which cannot be reached by the usual modes of sensory experience" (Kohl, "Unanimity Argument," HibJ 58 [1959], 275). With all that said, how accurately do the statements below describe you? Imagine a line or continuum of degrees ranging from: "not so mystical" to "off the charts mystical."

You relate to God the Father and/or Christ as if He were a companion constantly “at your side."
Your love for God is passionate and not hidden from others.
You are in a continually prayerful state of mind.
Instinct and intuition are VERY important to you.
You have difficulty putting the experience of "union with God" into words.
You are conscious of your need of ongoing spiritual dependency, and regularly seek God's spiritual aid.
You see the fingerprints of God in every detail and circumstance of life.
You believe that God “speaks to you” regularly.
You are okay with allegorizing Scripture regarding spiritual truths, and often do so.
You are very comfortable with mystery and not having answers to difficult questions.
You connect with God more through love than through reason.
You occasionally experience God in a deeply emotional way.
You have experienced the loss of God's felt presence for long periods of time, and eventually regained it--only to lose it again. . . .
You believe that life consists of seasons in which your love for God is gradually deepened.
You have no problem, if you are a man, seeing yourself as "the bride of Christ."
You believe in demon spirits and see yourself in spiritual warfare 24-7.
Worship assumes a priority over reason.
You use intimate terms of endearment, sometimes even romantic or “erotic” language, when addressing God and Christ.
When you don’t have consistent times of intimate prayer with God every day, you feel out of sorts.
You delight in beholding "the beauty of God."
You regularly seize moments throughout your day to adore God.
Prayer, passion, and intuition are more important than management, practicality, pragmatism, and "getting things done."
Certain themes, symbols, images, from art, music, and literature stir something deeply within you.
"Listening to the Spirit" is a catchphrase in your vocabulary and a daily practice.
When it comes to spiritual matters, spontaneity is preferable to structure.
When beholding beauty you become less conscious of yourself.
The terms and phrases, "fire," "burning passion," and "heart aflame" describe your love for God.

Please feel free to comment, critique, and/or share what you believe to be other distinguishing features of a Christian mystic.

2010-08-17T12:14:00.005-06:00

"How to Keep from Going Stale"

"Periods of staleness in the life are not inevitable but they are common. He is a rare Christian who has not experienced times of spiritual dullness when the relish has gone out of his heart and the enjoyment of living has diminished greatly or departed altogether. Since there is no single cause of this condition there is no one simple remedy for it.

Sometimes we are to blame, as for instance when we do a wrong act without immediately seeking forgiveness and cleansing; or when we permit worldly interests to grow up and choke the tender plants of the inner life. When the cause is known, and particularly when it is as uncomplex as this, the remedy is the old-fashioned one of repentance. But if after careful and candid examination of the life by prayer and the Word no real evil is discovered, we gain nothing by putting the worst construction on things and lying face down in the dust. To say that we have not sinned when we have is to be false to the fact; to insist that we have sinned when we have not is to be false to ourselves. There comes a time when the most spiritual thing we can do is to accept cleansing from all sin as an accomplished fact and stop calling that unclean which God has called clean.

Sometimes our trouble is not moral but physical. As long as we are in these mortal bodies our spiritual lives will be to some degree affected by our bodies. Here we should notice that there is a difference between our mortal bodies and the 'flesh' of Pauline theology. When Paul speaks of the flesh he refers to our fallen human nature, not to our physical bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Spirit there is deliverance from the propensities of the flesh, but while we live there is no relief from the weaknesses and imperfections of the body.

One often-unsuspected cause of staleness is fatigue. Shakespeare said something to the effect that no man could be a philosopher when he had a toothache, and while it is possible to be a weary saint, it is scarcely possible to be weary and feel saintly; and it is our want of feeling that we are considering here. The Christian who gets tired in the work of the Lord and stays tired without relief beyond a reasonable time will go stale. The fact that he grew weary by toiling in the Lord's vineyard will not make his weariness any less real. Our Lord knew this and occasionally took His disciples aside for a rest.

Another reason some of us become jaded is monotony. To do one thing continuously will result in boredom even if what we do is pleasant: and to think about the same things without cessation will also lead to boredom even if we are thinking about the things of the kingdom. Milton suggests that God made night to alternate with day for the purpose of providing us with ‘grateful vicissitude,’ a welcome change for which we should be thankful.

Some of the purest souls have written of the dangers of continuous spiritual exercises uninterrupted by lowlier considerations. Von Hugel speaks of the ‘neural cost’ of prayer and advises that we should sometimes break off thoughts of heavenly things and go for a walk or dig in the garden. We have all known the disappointment felt when returning to a passage of Scripture that had been so fresh and fragrant the day before only to find the sweetness gone out of it. It is the Spirit's way of urging us on to new vistas. In the wilderness God kept Israel moving. One may wonder what would have happened if they had camped in one place for forty years. The lives of the great Christians show that they differed not only from each other but from themselves at different periods of their lives. Spiritual exercises that helped them at one stage of their development later became useless and had to be changed for others.

To stay free from religious ennui we should be careful not to get into a rut, not even into a good rut. Our Lord warned against vain repetition. There is repetition that is not vain, but oft-repeated prayers become vain when they have lost their urgency. We should examine our prayers every now and again to discover how much sincerity and spontaneity they possess. We should insist on keeping them simple, candid, fresh and original. And above all we should never seek to induce holy emotions. When we feel dry it is wise either to ignore it or to tell God about it without any sense of guilt. If we are dry because of some wrong on our part the Spirit through the Word will show us the fault.

In short, we can keep from going stale by getting proper rest, by practising complete candour in prayer, by introducing variety into our lives, by heeding God's call to move onward and by exercising quiet faith always."

A. W. Tozer, “How to Keep from Going Stale,” Alliance Witness, (May 17, 1961), 96:10, 2.

2010-08-10T22:06:00.000-06:00

Hard Times at Tranquility Park

A cracked rib, cracked helmet, multiple abrasions, a massive contusion, and deep frustration were met with kindness, compassion, attentive assistance this past Sunday.

Thanks Dale and Lindsey, your tender mercies spoke volumes to me.

Matthew 10:42

2010-08-05T21:31:00.003-06:00

"Spiritual Dryness" from the Perspective of Eastern Orthodoxy

"Grace will make itself known as joy, peace, inner warmth and light. . . . Dryness is a state of illness which must not last, it is never thought of by the mystical writers of the Eastern tradition as a necessary and normal stage in the way of union"

Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, (Cambridge: Clarke, 1944), 100-101.

2010-07-31T12:19:00.005-06:00

What is the Difference between Roman Catholic Spirituality and Eastern Orthodox Spirituality?

At the risk of gross oversimplification, the differences between spiritual formation in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy might be articulated as follows. The cross of Christ is central to spiritual formation in Roman Catholicism (i.e., imitating the pattern Christ set for us to follow by loving others sacrificially with humility). "The glorious light" is central to formation in Eastern Orthodoxy (i.e., allowing to heart to be exposed to the illumining glory of the exalted enthroned Christ who presently sits at the right hand of God the Father). In Eastern Orthodoxy PARTICIPATION in God's grace as given by the Holy Spirit is central. In Roman Catholic spirituality IMITATION of Christ's earthly humanity is the emphasis. In Catholic modes of contemplation (or meditation), the humanity of Christ in His earthly life and ministry serves as the focus. In Eastern Orthodoxy the glorious divinity of Christ is to be one's focus. Imagination plays a key role in Catholic meditation, far lesser so in Eastern Orthodoxy. Both traditions would likely acknowledge the necessity of both imitation and participation. However, it seems that each tradition lends greater emphasis to one over the other.

The comparison I have just given suffers from simplistic reduction. There are many varieties and sub-groupings within these two traditions. There is far more complexity to this matter than what I am presenting in this short post. Please don't be too harsh in my attempt to bring such an elusive and enthralling matter to order.

There is one piece that is missing from both traditions: Paul's theme of justification by faith alone in Christ's death. In contrast to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, the Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century understood that justification by faith alone is the starting point of the spiritual journey. Richard Lovelace sums up well the Reformed ethos: "Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith [at what the Cross accomplished] and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification [holiness] as faith is active in love and gratitude" (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 101).

The Reformers also believed that, according to Scripture, union with God is already, but not yet (Rom. 6:5; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 6:17; 12:13; Eph. 1:6; 2:5-6). In other words, the Christian life begins and ends with union with God. This stands in contrast to union with God as a stage one reaches over a period of time, a prevalent view within certain Roman Catholic spiritual traditions.

All that said, spiritual transformation does involve BOTH imitation and participation. Though very closely linked, I maintain that participation MUST precede the imitation. Julie Canless is wise when she writes, "When obedience is seen as response rather than participation, we end up with exhaustion. Furthermore, when obedience is not seen as participation in Christ's own sonship, it is rendered contentless, only to be filled by a reaction to whatever is perceived to be vices in the culture . . . ."(Canless, Calvin's Ladder, 252).

When we attempt to imitate Christ without spiritual dependency, we end up being exhausted moralists. Without the starting point of a justified status before God, and without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, the imitation of Christ can become sheer duty. Duty without spiritual power is exhausting to to the human psyche. Duty to God and people without Spirit-empowered love can easily degrade into compulsive, guilt-driven, self-focused religion.

* * * * * * *

Lord, I cannot do what you ask me to do as a follower of you. Heavenly Father have your way with me this moment. I give you my heart, my thoughts, emotions, and choices; influence and guide them; quicken my heart to the indwelling and empowering presence of your Holy Spirit;
and may your Son Jesus be glorified
as a result.
Amen

2010-07-21T14:07:00.007-06:00

Evangelical Christians are "Binitarians"

" . . . even though . . . Christianity has maintained (strongly so) its trinitarian way of speaking about, and even sometimes of thinking about, God, in everyday life believers are practicing binitarians, in almost all areas of Christian Life, except in the creeds themselves. Thus in their practical life in the world, there is very little self-conscious awareness of one's life being filled with, or led by, the Holy Spirit. And the same generally seems to hold true in church worship and theological life, although in both cases there is a generally consistent doffing the hat toward the Spirit, as it were; but at the base there seems to be a general unease about Spirit talk. And it is precisely this tendency toward wariness regarding the Spirit that has allowed the biblical language to gravitate toward (I would say, degenerate into) a usage that is totally without biblical foundations."

Gordon D. Fee, "On Getting the Spirit Back into Spirituality," in Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective, ed. Jeffrey Greenman and George Kalantzis (InterVarsity, 2010), 37-38.

2010-07-16T16:11:00.005-06:00

“Let us not allow ourselves to go astray and to study our God. Let us take the measure of our mind, and gauge our thinking. And as for our knowledge, let us know how small it is, and too contemptible to scrutinize the Knower of all.”

Ephrem the Syrian - 4th Century A.D.

2010-07-12T22:09:00.007-06:00

The Pursuit of God

When I began my journey with Jesus in July 1979, the first book I read was A. W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. My dad gave me a copy. It was a biblically-informed spiritual compass for me, a developmental milestone. I believed that what Tozer wrote was normative Christian experience.

Then about a year or so later, a young man who was mentoring me told me that Tozer was a "mystic" and that his love for God was "too intense," "too passionate." He said that he couldn't quite relate to what Tozer was attempting to communicate. After some years, I began to hold that same belief. The crowds I associated with tended to regard Tozer a bit extreme in his love for God.

I recently re-read this classic. My thought is this. If someone tells you that Tozer was "over-the- top" regarding his passion for God, don't believe it. I think that temperament, personality type, theological tradition, and personal preferences will prejudice one's assessment of Tozer.

If you have just started your journey with Jesus, I HIGHLY recommend this book. Savor its contents slowly and prayerfully. Also read The Knowledge of the Holy. Don't listen to the naysayers.

2010-07-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

“I Want to be Somebody”

Twenty years I’ve been waiting in line, with the prayer that fame would be mine. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

All started at the age of three. The thrill I got when people noticed me. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

Hope the dream is fulfilled. Might end up gettin’ killed by trying to be somebody. Lord it’s hard to be me.

All my life I’ve been a nameless man, an average dude with very few fans. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

For far too long I’ve been second best. So sick and tired of being second guessed. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

Won’t shoot the president. To be unknown I do resent. I want to be somebody. Lord it’s hard to be me.

You might think I’m a bit extreme, or I lack self-esteem. You can give my performance a failing score, but I refuse to be ignored.

All my life I’ve gone without. I need attention and I need some now. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

I’ve played the gigs and I’ve done my time, I’m going deaf and the rent’s behind. I want to be somebody. I’ve got to be somebody.

When I’m old baby when I’m grey, you’re gonna’ hear Brian Williams say, “He really is somebody.” But will it be me?

2010-07-01T09:40:00.004-06:00

Participation

"When obedience is seen as response rather than participation, we end up with exhaustion. Furthermore, when obedience is not seen as participation in Christ's own sonship, it is rendered contentless, only to be filled by a reaction to whatever is perceived to be vices in the culture . . . ."

Julie Canless, Calvin's Ladder: A Spiritual Theology of Ascent and Ascension, (252).

2010-06-28T22:31:00.000-06:00

"Purge me from selfishness,

the fear of man, the love of approbation,

the shame of being thought old-fashioned,

the desire to be cultivated or modern.

Let me reckon my old life dead

because of crucifixion,

and never feed it as a living thing.

Grant me to stand with my dying Saviour,

to be content to be rejected,

to be willing to take up unpopular truths,

and to hold fast despised teachings until death."

-Puritan Prayer-

Excerpted from,

The Valley of Vision

2010-06-25T09:00:00.001-06:00

Electric Blues: Robben Ford

I have been an avid listener of electric blues music since the mid-1970s. My first real electric blues inspiration was Michael Bloomfield. One of his proteges was a young man from Northern California named Robben Ford. My list of favorite blues artists is rather lengthy, but Robben's name has always been high on that list. Give a listen to Robben's jazzy style and superb tone.

2010-06-23T22:20:00.004-06:00

Middle-Aged Men Standing on Boxes

2010-06-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

When Life Gets Boring

Sue Monk Kidd astutely wrote, "We seemed to have focused so much on exuberant beginnings and victorious endings that we've forgotten about the slow sometimes tortuous unraveling of God's grace that takes place in the 'middle places'" (When the Heart Waits, 26). In seasons of tedium, in the Christian whose heart is tender toward the Holy Spirit, God may be doing some of His greatest work of transformation.

2010-06-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

"Our intense need to understand will always be a powerful stumbling block to our attempts to reach God in simple love . . . and must always be overcome. For if you do not overcome this need to understand, it will undermine your quest. It will replace the darkness which you have pierced to reach God with clear images of something which, however good, however beautiful, however Godlike, is not God"

- The Cloud of Unknowing (c. 1375) - Author Unknown