CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

The Fire and the Flood

In two conversations this past week, a gripping response was present: fear. Two disasters grip us—fire and flood. Both are unrelenting forces, overwhelming when they come upon us, but also haunting metaphors for the inner storms that scorch and drown our souls. Fear, anxiety, grief, sorrow, loss—these are the floods that rise, the flames that burn within.

If I asked you, “What is the most repeated command in all of Scripture?” what would you answer? Love? Obey? Believe? No—the steady refrain of heaven is: Do not be afraid. Some even suggest there are 365 versions of this command—one for every day of the year. Read More

CategoriesMentoring Matters by

Life Upon Life: Why Spiritual Mentoring Matters

This Fall, we will be hosting a short and sweet Mentor’s Workshop for anyone interested in sharpening their skills or preparing to mentor someone for the first time. For me, I am always and forever a student in the mentoring ways of Jesus. 

Listening to how Keith Anderson, Rob Loane, and I think about the importance of spiritual mentoring, frankly, jazzes me up. And perhaps, these excerpts from A Mentoring Guide: Christ. Conversation. Companionship will remind you as well that spiritual mentoring matters. 

The gospel plays out best in relationships. We believe this is absolutely true. It is in close relationships with others where we begin to see how Christ is actually, specifically, beautifully active in the fabric of our everyday lives. In the sadness and celebration, the betrayal and forgiveness, the division and unity, in the beauty and the muddle of our lives, we discover together the Spirit’s relentlessly creative activity.

 

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CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

When Scripture Reads Like Ink Instead of Fire

If you’re like me, there are times in your life when Scripture felt like it leapt from the page straight into my soul, prayers felt immediately heard, and worship stirred my heart, emotions, and mind. But let’s be honest. There are days when Scripture feels like ink instead of fire, when God feels silent and distant.

When Discouragement Creeps In

Usually, I hear or read words that discourage rather than comfort or console:

  • “If you don’t hear God’s voice, guess who isn’t listening?”
  • “If you don’t sense God’s touch this day, whose fault is that?”
  • “If God doesn’t seem to feel close, guess who moved?”

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CategoriesMentoring Matters by

When your instinct is to explain

When Jesus Chose Not to Explain

Mentoring like Jesus reminds us that he not only preached, taught, and explained—he sometimes resisted the instinct to explain. I know the feeling too well.  

 

My urge is to speak, to fill the silence, to provide my answer to their “problem,” to tell them how it worked for me.  As a rabbi, Jesus’ goal was seldom informational. More often, it was formative and especially transformational.

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CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

Is this the new normal?

A Pastoral Reflection on Violence in Our Society
By Keith Anderson

 

Every time another shooting erupts—in schools, in sanctuaries, on neighborhood streets—we ask the same anguished question: “Is this the new normal?”

 

It happened again. Families are grieving loved ones whose lives were cut short. Children are left shaken, carrying fears that no child should carry. Parents drop their kids off at school, wondering if they will be safe, and too many of us have begun rehearsing worst-case scenarios when we enter public spaces. Some buy weapons. Others send children with bulletproof backpacks. Schools practice lockdown drills. Many quietly avoid large gatherings. We are learning to live with fear, to anticipate trauma, to prepare for violence.

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CategoriesMentoring Matters, The Art of Dialogue by

Mentoring and Hospitality: Embracing Risk, Vulnerability, and Transparency

Mentoring Always Involves Risk

Mentoring is a risk.  Being mentored can be costly.  Being a mentor can require paying a price.

These are probably not words you want to hear if you are:

  • already a mentor or mentee,
  • considering becoming a mentor,
  • thinking about finding a mentor.

Mentoring requires one essential posture: hospitality. We create an open and free space for another person. As mentors, we open ourselves to the work of the Spirit in another.  As mentees, we open our inner soul space. There is an emerging and (hopefully) growing transparency.   Read More

CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

How to Read the Bible

How to Read the Bible Differently

Growing up, I became convinced I knew how to read the Bible: as content to ‘master.’ Its purpose seemed to be information, instruction, and data. I took an Old Testament class in college. Our exams primarily focused on recitation of the chronology of kings and prophets as if the primary purpose was to memorize a historical timeline.

 

Two people messed with that view and gave me a different understanding of the interaction between the Bible and faith: Jesus and Grandma McJunkin. Read More

CategoriesMentoring Matters, Spiritual Conversation by

Great questions for spiritual friendship

Mentors ask great questions.  We don’t always know the impact our questions will have until they are heard by the mentee.  Often, these great questions emerge from a pool of mentors, perhaps as starters or simply as something to introduce at the right moment.  

 

These questions can also serve you well as you journal—simply writing thoughts, prayers, experiences, questions, memories, in a carefully kept notebook for you to read again. Journaling is a spiritual practice that takes you deep into your inner landscape.  Many find it a valuable way to explore fears, dreams, aspirations, and convictions through regular writing.

 

We’d love for you to keep these questions for spiritual friendship close at hand. That’s why we’ve created a printable PDF of spiritual mentoring questions—a free resource that includes all 25 questions and the first practice prompt. Print it, tuck it into your journal, or bring it to your next mentoring conversation. Read More

CategoriesSpiritual Conversation by

The Door Is Open: A Blueprint for Prayer from Psalm 5

Skeptical About ‘Steps’ to Prayer?

When I read or hear someone tell me there are five steps or three steps to prayer, spiritual formation, or knowing God, I become skeptical. I once took a 10-booklet course on steps to Christian maturity. I filled in all the blanks, read, and prayed, but two months later, I still wasn’t mature. Did I miss a step, or did it just not take? Was it the course—or was it the student?

Psalm 5: A Blueprint for Prayer

When I read Psalm 5 the other day, the image of a blueprint came to mind. I wrote in my journal: “Psalm 5 is a blueprint for prayer.” Or even better—what if it invites us to imagine what might be in the mind of an architect who draws up such a blueprint? It’s a visual representation of the architect’s craft, artistry, and imagination. Read More

CategoriesEncouraging by

Jesus Saved a Life: We Were There

I was a young pastor in a university town, newly baptized into the fierce faith of campus ministry. Soon after, a group of Christian students—bold, bright-eyed, unashamed—welcomed me into their company. They carried the gospel like wildfire, unafraid to bring the name of Jesus into the thick of frat house bravado.

 

“Will you join us,” they asked, “as we go into the fraternity houses to speak the name of Jesus?”

I said yes. Braver in word than in spirit, I nodded—though inside, I trembled.

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