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Showing posts from November, 2017

Be Gone

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I was reading the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as it is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew the other day.  (Matthew 4:1-11) 4  1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.   2  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.   3  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”   4  But he answered,  “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,      but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5  Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple   6  and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ And “‘On their hands they will bear you up,      lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7  Jesus said to him,  “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”   8  Again, the devil t

Contemplative Mentors

For almost forty years t he Center for Renewal has been a place where people from all walks of life have come to be renewed and refreshed by the presence of Jesus.   I was talking with a pastor just last week who told me how, when his inner city ministry was just starting 40 years ago, he would drive out here to be quiet and sit at Jesus’ feet. Over the years, we have encouraged pastors and lay people to follow Jesus’ model of getting away from the ministry and spending time alone with their Heavenly Father.   Every gospel gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ prayer life. Matthew 14   13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; Matthew 14  23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. Mark 6  45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd

Treasuring: A New Spiritual Discipline

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Background In the fall of 2014, I was going through a book entitled Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to a Well Ordered Way by Steve Macchia.  As one of the steps to create a rule of life, Steve invited us to review the primary relationships in our life: assessing the priority we give them, the health of the relationship, any problems, etc.  I realized that there was a significant lack of whole hearted devotion to these dear friends, family members and even acquaintances. I didn’t spend much time thinking about them.  I realized that I didn’t treasure each person I met. I knew that something needed to change in the way I related to those around me. In December of 2014 I preached a sermon  entitled “But Mary…” ( For the Text ; For the Audio ) based on the text from Luke’s gospel But Mary treasured and pondered all these things in her heart. Luke 2:19 I was struck by the phrase “treasured … all these things.”  This included "How can we learn to treasure and po