Category Archives: Discipleship/Formation

Going Deep into Yourself to Know God

It was Meister Ekhart, a Dominican writer from the 13th century, who wrote: “No one can know God who does not know himself.” Teresa of Avila said, “Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge.” I am convinced that discerning God’s will, especially for leaders with diverse interests like myself, requires an ever-deepening knowledge of oneself. Without it we find ourselves beyond our limits and overloaded. (Commitment to Scripture and the willingness to do God’s will, of course, is assumed). Why? Because God reveals Himself through what we cannot not do. He made us that way. The following story comes from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke as he advises a young man wondering if he should be a poet. The counsel applies to each of us as we sort out God’s priorities: “You ask whether your verses are good. You ask me. You have asked others before. You send. Read more.

The "Tiger Pastor"

I read Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother with ambivalent emotions. It is true that many Chinese parents raise stereotypically successful kids (at least as defined by academic achievement and upward mobility) through discipline, parental intensity and a narrow view of what constitutes intelligence. But I think Howard Gardner’s seminal work on seven types of intelligence -linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal, and intra-personal — is more holistic and more in line with God’s view of what makes “intelligence.” Nonetheless, I believe there is a “Tiger Pastor” in the Western church, and in me. I was trained as one actually. What might a “Tiger Pastor” look like? To begin, I think they are: 1. Workaholics. Life is growing the numbers in the church, the buildings, the budget, the next hill to climb.There is little time for life outside of work for play. Life is, sadly, very narrow. 2. Delight-deficient. Again, there just. Read more.

The Local Church and Monasticism… a Growing Learning Curve

We move our membership at NLF a few years ago to a Rule of Life in order to focus more clearly and succinctly on how we do spiritual formation. The commentary on our NLF Rule of Life can be read online. The image of our need for a “trellis” or structure to provide rhythm to our days and order to our lives has been immensely helpful. At the same time, we continue to look for ways to communicate our DNA and clarify the pathways to help people in our community move towards greater Christlikeness. The following reflect, of course, our local church and context. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. We call them the 5 M’s.(the values and foundations of NLF) Monastic – slowing down to be with God. Growth in this area includes learning about silence/solitude, Daily Offices/prayer, Sabbath-keeping, Scripture, the examen. Multiracial– bridging racial,cultural, economic and gender barriers. Growth here includes learning about. Read more.

EHS and Bridging Racial/Cultural/Economic Barriers

At our recent Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference, I offered the most comprehensive view of what I believe the EHS contribution is to this enormous problem in the global church. Click here to hear the first 30 minutes Racial Reconciliation Workshop The following are a few points from my notes: I. The Challenge Before Us “Despite devoting considerable time and energy to solving the problem of racial division, white evangelicalism likely does more to perpetuate the racialized society than to reduce it” Divided by Race: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith. This problem is global — from Turkey to Israel to South America to Africa to Northern Ireland to Bosnia to Russia. David Brooks of the NY Times describes trends in the USA: “Not long ago, people said that globalization and the revolution in communications technology would bring us all together. But the opposite is true. People. Read more.

The Way to the Future is through the Past

In preparation for our Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference I spent a lot of time reading of about the impact of social media/technology on our formation in Christ along with the importance of learning from other spiritual traditions outside of contemporary evangelicalism to root us deeply in Christ. What are the lessons I learned? 1. We need to learn from Roman Catholics, Orthodox churches and church history. Remember, Luther was anti-Semite. Calvin drowned an Anabaptist for believing in baptism by immersion. Jonathan Edwards had slaves. Azusa Street, in 1906, split on racism. While my church historian friend, Dr. Scott Sunquist, reminds me that the roots of evangelicalism in the 18th and 19th century was marked by a generous spirit towards other traditions, that is not the case today. We are often deeply judgmental and narrow. Our church family genogram since Pentecost has many riches and warts. By studying this history, we can see better what. Read more.

EHL Conference -Opening Talk on the Leader's Marriage

This is the a segment of the opening talk Geri and I gave at our Pastor’s/Leader’s Marriage Pre-conference yesterday around a biblical theology of Marriage and Leadership. Beginning with our inadequate theology of marriage and leadership, we expound on the truth that as goes the leader’s marriage, so goes the church. It was our most recent attempt to present clearly this radical biblical paradigm that Scripture calls us to lead others out of our marriage. Enjoy. How might such a truth transform our churches and culture?

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