Apprentice 2 Jesus

Spiritual Formation

  • The Heart of Worship, with Dallas Willard | Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

    The Heart of Worship, with Dallas Willard | Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. There are few who move my heart to follow Christ more than Dallas Willard. I pray this video sinks into your soul and spirit and gives you rest. Read more

  • Do We Understand the Times?

    I just finished my first Stanley Hauerwas article. I have heard his name for quite awhile but had never ventured into any of his writings. I finally linked to one and read it. Normally when I read such intelligent pieces having a dictionary by my side is helpful. Even that didn’t help. I understood the… Read more

  • Popularity of Mysticism

    Who woulda thunk it? This Ross Douthat column in the New York Times reflects on the popularity of so many mystical practices, but it has its downside. We are dabbling in so many things, we are diving into nothing. We are not fully entering into ANY of the practices, so we might think we are… Read more

  • Narcissicistic Christianity

    I admire people who write well, and say things I try to say. When I write them it’s just not very fluid. This post on “Jesus and me broke up” is outstanding. It encapsulates my thoughts on what is going wrong in American Christianity. We have a Christianity that isn’t about Jesus. It’s about “me.”… Read more

  • Satisfied… or not?

    Just when I think I’ve got something figured out… go figure. Ben Witherington has to write on holy DIScontent. Great! 🙂 First, I would say that we must not listen to the siren voices of pop psychology and the like which encourage us to settle, to be satisfied with the way we are, especially when… Read more

  • The Pain of Satisfaction

    The other day I read a story about a man I have admired for well over 20 years. He is the top in his profession, in my opinion. He has known tremendous success in just about any way you could measure it. Not just money, but integrity, family, awards… I have not known him personally,… Read more

  • Struggles with Ego

    Over the weekend I spent time in silent retreat meditating on Ephesians 1-3. One of the key disciplines of a silent retreat is taking time to quiet the soul. Henri Nouwen used the description of getting the monkeys out of the trees. We get all the distractions flying at us and chattering away in those… Read more

  • Spiritual Reading

    I am working my way through Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain again. I am not good at re-reading many books, but this one I’ve ready probably 5 times. It is his story of coming to faith and entering the monastery as a Cistercian brother. As he came to faith, he struggled his first year. He… Read more

  • Learning from the Pentecostal Monks

    I am lecturing on my favorite subject: Pentecostal monks. One monk who has been influential in my life has been Evagrius Ponticus. In preparing my lectures, I came across this thought from R.R. Reno in “Fighting the Noon Day Devil”: There are no intellectual solutions to spiritual problems. Acedia is fought with spiritual discipline. We… Read more

  • Why I am Sacramental

    Really, I’m probably not. I tossed between “Orthodox,” “Liturgical,” “Mainline,” or something else. What I appreciate so deeply in my life is the addition of the meaning of the Lord’s Table. I have a deeper love for liturgy. Public prayers. Reading of Scripture. I have a deeper appreciation for the love of the Church. I… Read more