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Attentiveness (First Thoughts)
For the past year or so God has had my attention and has been calling me to be more attentive. Whether this is for those I serve in ministry, my family, myself, whoever, God has called me to many times and places of being attentive and sitting with Him. Here is just an initial thought on attentiveness.
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Theme of the Year
For the past few years I have had a “theme” for the year. Sometimes it’s a word, sometimes a phrase. Sometimes it comes at the beginning of the year and sometimes it comes at the end of the year.
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Measuring Our Lives
“The most vital way to measure our lives is not by chronological time – chronos – but in terms of kairos, the word often used in the Bible to speak of those opportune times that become turning points.” – Leighton Ford, The Attentive Life
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World AIDS Day
Every time it rains and we’re in our home I am incredibly grateful to God for our home. Because we have a home I can shield my son from the rain. This gratefulness comes from an encounter with a single father in Ethiopia just a few short years ago.
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Holy Saturday (Part II)
Holy Saturday comes at different times, in different ways and even different lengths for each of us. Specifically we remember Holy Saturday as the day between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the day of the unknown and a day of rest. Two things that do not naturally go hand in hand for people.
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Holy Saturday (Part 1)
Ever since joining the Presbyterian church I’ve had opportunity to appreciate and grow to value various days in the Christian calendar and life of the disciples. While remembering Good Friday, and of course, always remembering and celebrating Easter, I never knew much about Lent, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday or Holy Saturday. The last few years,
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The Gift of Silence
Silence is a rare find. Most everywhere we go there is noise. Whether it is external noise or noise in our own minds and hearts. Our world is only getting louder and louder and often we think of silence is unproductive or invaluable. The truth is that silence is a gift.
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Discerning Our Deeds
7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.
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Solitude and Distraction
Q: “If superficiality is the curse of the modern age, what’s the curse of the postmodern age?” A: “Distraction. With the Internet and entertainment, so many different ways to keep people’s minds constantly shifting, they don’t have to think. That’s why solitude and silence are among the most important spiritual disciplines for today.”
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What are you Most Passionate About?
When you ask someone, "What are you most passionate about?" you get a myriad of responses. Most people have no idea and are paralyzed in their response. Some people think they know and they really don’t. Some people answer because they think they’re supposed to know and they really don’t. Others may have thought they knew then were disappointed by how their passions didn’t play