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Emotionally Healthy Discipleship
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Category Archives: Trust

Second-Hand Spirituality

The vast majority of people in our churches have a second-hand spirituality, i.e. they live off the spirituality of others. Because people attend our weekend worship services, participate in our programs, give money and serve, we assume they are in a vital personal relationship of loving union with Jesus. We assume wrong. They are not. Ask the people you serve about their time with Jesus each day: “How often do you meet with Him around Scripture and prayer? What do you do, and for how long? How might silence, solitude, Sabbath, spiritual companionship, and study fit into your life?” Ask for specifics. You are in for a shock. The world has changed dramatically. We have underestimated the magnitude of information overload, the moral decline of Western culture, and the impact of the Internet/social media in altering our brain circuits. “Dozens of studies by neurobiologists point to the same conclusion: when we go online, we. Read more.

Why Can’t We Slow Down?

Slowing down can be terrifying because doing nothing productive leaves us feeling vulnerable, emotional exposed and naked. Overworking hides these feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness, not just from others but also from ourselves. As long as we keep busy, we can outrun that internal voice that says things like: I am never good enough.                   I am never safe enough.                   I am never perfect enough.                   I am never extraordinary enough.                   I am never successful enough. Do you recognize that voice? Far too many of us use workaholism to run from these shaming messages. I count myself among them, though I would consider myself more of a recovering workaholic at this point. When meeting someone for the first time we usually ask, “What do you do?” We ask because, in our time and culture, identity is defined in large part by occupation or job title. It is how we typically define ourselves. Read more.

Good Friday: A Time to Embrace Our Endings

On Good Friday we remember that at the cross Jesus wipes away our sins, becoming a global magnet that draws the whole world to Himself. Good Friday also reminds me that embracing endings (deaths) and new beginnings (resurrections) is the pattern of life for every Christian. Nothing new takes place without an ending. A real ending—a final death—often feels like disintegration, falling apart, a coming undone. It feels that way because that is what death is. It is an ending that requires walking through a completely dark tunnel, not knowing when or if any light will come again. If we embrace these losses for the severe mercies they are, God does a profound work in us and through us in ways that are similar to what the apostle Paul describes as “death is at work in us, but life is at work in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). As a person who tends to resist. Read more.

Sabbath: Resisting Powers and Principalities

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…Remember you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a outstretched hand. Deut. 5 This issue of Sabbath is a global problem – from Africa to North America to Asia to Europe to Latin America to Australia/New Zealand. We as pastors and leaders must come out from the slave driver, the Pharaoh, that lives inside of us and dominates our culture. Imagine the violent anxiety the Israelites must have felt for 430 years in Pharaoh’s workaholic system. They were always busy and frenetic. They constantly had to prove they were worthy of being alive based on producing more bricks. We may be free physically from Pharaoh, but he continues to live inside of most of us. Our families of origin, along with Western culture with its emphasis on “bigger and better,” keep us working faster and faster. We simply. Read more.

Christian and Secular Leadership -The Difference: Part 2

While 50-75% of what we read in excellent secular leadership books may be applicable to a Christian leader, the following qualities make a Christian leader distinct: Our identity is grounded in God who forever says to us, “You are my beloved.”Jesus says to us that we are loved as He is loved.  For this reason we can handle enormous success or enormous failure without losing our identity. A high-quality relationship with God permeates all our relationships and decisions. Our marriage and singleness are a call to become a living sign and wonder of His love to the world. We lead out of our marriages in that our love for our spouses is to be like His love for us – passionate, permanent, intimate, unconditional, and life giving. Our leadership energy is first given to be as present to our spouse as Christ is to us, so that others can see His presence manifested in our tender love. Read more.

Christian and Secular Leadership -The Difference: Part 2

While 50-75% of what we read in excellent secular leadership books may be applicable to a Christian leader, the following qualities make a Christian leader distinct: Our identity is grounded in God who forever says to us, “You are my beloved.” Jesus says to us that we are loved as He is loved.  For this reason we can handle enormous success or enormous failure without losing our identity. A high-quality relationship with God permeates all our relationships and decisions. Our marriage and singleness are a call to become a living sign and wonder of His love to the world. We lead out of our marriages in that our love for our spouses is to be like His love for us – passionate, permanent, intimate, unconditional, and life giving. Our leadership energy is first given to be as present to our spouse as Christ is to us, so that others can see His presence manifested. Read more.

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