Apprentice 2 Jesus

Spiritual Formation

  • Breathing the Word of God

    We need more than “Bible knowledge.” The Bible is more than information. It’s more than your personal answer book. The written word leads us to the Living Word, and we too often treat it like a manual for life.  Read more

  • My hardest struggle

    Over the years I have watched the Lord lead me to so many victories. I have been amazed at the process. This is truly a “long obedience in the same direction,” as Eugene Peterson would put it. Yet, I keep struggling with one basic thing. Read more

  • The way of humility

    A man given to arguing becomes for himself a double-edged sword; he destroys his soul, without knowing it, and renders it alien to eternal life. Read more

  • What is faith?

    I will forever bless the day when I was asked to rummage through a friend’s office and take any book I liked in certain sections. That is the day I came on Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart. I’ve noted some thoughts from this treasure on past posts. Today’s thought may be the… Read more

  • The depths possible in walking with God

    I am now moving between two pieces of writing that will not allow me to hurry. In our culture (and especially in a world defining “leaders as readers” and shame on you if you’re not reading a book a week..) this is hard. My reading does indeed move too quickly. These writing won’t let me,… Read more

  • Creative Power

    The discovery of the Creator is not only the belief in the First Cause… It is also — and first and foremost — the discovery of love. To create means not only to reveal power, omnipotence that surpasses all, but also it means: to give being, existence and goodness, therefore — to love! — Pope… Read more

  • The God who stoops

    “God gets down on his knees among us, gets on our level and shares himself with us…. Read more

  • Nobody knows the trouble…

    This is not a call to embrace suffering, either. It’s not to dwell in the fatalism. It is to immerse the suffering in God. Read more

  • The key to knowing the heart of God

    I came across a gem of a book called Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart. It is a collection of writings from Fathers of the Eastern Church from about the 4th to the 14th centuries.  Read more

  • Study war no more

    Challenging thoughts from Thomas Merton on “hating war.” Read more