Christian

The Lord Be With You … And Also With You

A regular part of the liturgy in many Christian gatherings, this phrase is not something that has been a part of my (low-church protestant) worship experience. I think I’ve been missing out. As with all “traditions,” words like this can become lifeless Tradition, hardened in stone, uttered in droning tones … thoughtless. However, think of [...]

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Can Contextualization Go Too Far?

A group of Christians is observing Ramadan this year.  This “holy month” for Muslims commemorates Mohammed receiving of the Quran and calls it’s adherents to fast.  Most notable among the Christians joining in this observance is author, speaker, and activist Brian McLaren.  He writes: This year, I, along with a few Christian friends (and perhaps [...]

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A New Way of Thinking About Spiritual Disciplines

There is a destructive cycle of spirituality where we begin with “doing,” or self-effort.  Then we link our sense of significance with our achievements.  I wrote about this in a post called, “Cycle of Grace.”  Here is one of the illustrations from that post: We have a choice in our lives.  We can begin with [...]

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Meditative Prayer

These thoughts are offered as a follow-up to a message I gave on April 26th at The Bridge Community. This post is intended primarily for those who were in worship Sunday, although I hope everyone will benefit from these thoughts on meditative, or contemplative, prayer. On Sunday, I began what will hopefully be a community-wide [...]

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