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Finish Strong Day-By-Day
The start of your life journey doesn’t define you, and it will forever remain behind you. Our “finish” has yet to be written. Finishing strong begins with one good, God-centric next step. Start here: What do you want your “finish” to look like?
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Disney Pixar’s Soul: A Spiritual Review
Disney Pixar’s latest feature film, Soul, follows the unassuming life of Joe Gardner. ( Caution, if you haven’t already seen the movie this blog includes spoilers.) He is a middle school music teacher with dreams of making it big. The character’s angst to accomplish his life’s dream drew me in as I sat and thought of my own unfinished goals. Joe’s desperation to become a successful Jazz performer highlights humanity’s struggle with meaning and purpose. While the movie Soul may not be a biblical guide to life, it echoes biblical principles without even knowing it. Joe Gardner’s search for purpose and fulfillment is reminiscent of the book of Ecclesiastes. After…
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The Value of a Soul
As a children’s minister I’m often caught up in the day-to-day oversight of making weekends happen. Are there enough volunteers? Is the curriculum ready? Do we have enough Cheerios? You know, the stuff that makes Sunday great for all children’s ministries everywhere. As the lone paid staff member in the children’s ministry, I rely on the goodness, dedication and hard work of a team of volunteers who make it all happen, each and every week. I would be lost without them to say the least. The preparation for Sunday is essential and has to happen every week, but the challenge I find is that with everything it takes to make Sunday’s happen all of that…
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Above All Else––A Message for Weary Souls
As this over-the-top-difficult year wears on and hopes for a summer reprieve or a maskless fall fade, my mind can struggle to muster up positivity. I’ve heard I’m not alone. Apparently many of us wrestle with the lack of normalcy, inability to plan a way forward, and uncertainty of how long “this” will last.
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Adjustments for Life
I recently purchased some new eye glasses. Within the first hour of wearing the glasses, I knew the hinge on one side was loose. Because of traveling, it took about 2 weeks before I could go back to my optometrist to get the glasses adjusted. When I walked in, the associate asked what he could do for me. I replied, “I can see great and I love these new glasses, but they need to be adjusted.” He quickly said, “I can see how they are slipping on your nose.” I was surprised he said that because I had gotten so used to dealing with glasses over the years that slipped…
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Handling the Commotion in Emotions-Growing in Supporting Others
In 2015, Barna Group did research on factors changing women’s relationship with churches.[1] One of the factors researched was the amount of support women felt they received at church. Sixty percent of women felt no support or not much support at church. The lack of support women feel at church is a sad fact. I think we can increase the percent of women that feel support. One way to increase support for women is to become more attentive to emotions—our emotions and other’s emotions. Emotions can create commotion deep within. Because we are embodied souls, God uses our emotions to let us know what is going on in our souls.…
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Viewing Art – A Soul Nourishing Exercise
A few weeks ago during a doctoral of ministry residency our students and two professors spent an afternoon of silence at the Biblical Art Museum. Having been immersed in the readings and discussion of soul care biblically and historically we offered this simple, soul nourishing, soul – noticing exercise. We experienced this same exercise attending the Dallas Art Museum last summer. Viewing art offers a place to rest, breaks the rush rhythm of living in the fast lane and offers your soul an opportunity to be nourished in a place of creativity, wonder, curiosity and even dissonance. Thomas Moore, in his book Soul Care, a Guide for Cultivating depth and…
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Spiritual Transformation Demystified
God exists in three different forms simultaneously (the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) (Deuteronomy 6:4. John 17:21.Luke 3:22). Mankind was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26,27); consequently, we have three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body (1 Thessalonians 5:23. Genesis 2:7). God is the Father of all spirits (Hebrews 12:9). Therefore, when we were conceived, God gave us a spirit that was alive. “Alive” means a spirit that could go into God’s presence.
