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John Wesley and the Hunger for Christian Perfection
Wesley summarized his search for Christian perfection in his work, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. As I work my way through this piece I find my own heart longing for this work of Christ in me. It is a lifelong journey. Without knowing it, I’ve been living out Wesley’s journey for quite some time. It is wonderful to see…
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John Wesley and Entire Sanctification
As I move through part of my Church History II class (teaching it, anyway), I am once again visiting John Wesley and his view of entire sanctification. There is a hunger he stirs up in me as I read his words. One site I came across has a wealth of Wesley’s material and I am reading my way through portions…
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Familiar Passages That Bring Life
I realized after preaching last Sunday that I refer quite a bit to a list of Bible passages I call “Ancient Wells.” These are familiar passages of Scripture that call out to me every time I read them. When I am “stuck” in my Bible reading, I turn to these passages again to help renew my thirst for the Word…
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Gog and Magog and the End of the World
The past couple of weeks I have been reading through Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel. Just some light summer reading before heading back into teaching… As I cruise through Ezekiel 37-39 I am thrown back to my high school days. Those were the days when I had everything figured out. The Rapture, Israel, the Church, all of it. I could predict when…
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The Still Small Voice
The call of God doesn’t often come in the news. Direction from God may not come in the “action” of the day, or the “action” of our lives. I love Elijah’s call in 1 Kings 19. God needed to give him new direction. When Elijah was at Horeb, there was the wind that came through, then the earthquake, but both…
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The Rage of the Prophets
I am off for a few days of vacation with family. Our attempt is to do as little as possible, which may be aided by a couple of days of storms. As I enter into a very short period of “rest,” my reading for the week will actually be JEREMIAH. What a combination! In this time of rest I am…
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Bible Memorization
I grew up memorizing Scripture. I was in Bible Quiz in high school and memorized huge chunks of the New Testament. I miss my memory! In thinking of Bible memory, it is also important to understand that just having the verses down in your head doesn’t mean you’re letting the Word cultivate in your heart. The Word needs to have…
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Does the Kingdom Truly Transform?
I am continuing to digest Walter Brueggemann’s interview (found here). His work in the Old Testament draws out the explosiveness of the prophets (which he prefers to call poets). The imagery of the Old Testament is explosive. It is meant to invade our senses and disrupt our lives. Brueggemann’s contention is the Church over the centuries has closed in the…
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Fighting the Noon Day Demon
I have begun reading Thomas Merton’s The Waters of Siloe, which follows up his wonderful autobiography, Seven Storey Mountain. This book will give more detail to his life at the monastery in Kentucky. Early in the book he gives a reminder to monastic orders, or spiritual orders of any kind, really, that is a great reminder for me in ministry.…
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Being DONE With Living Like a Christian?
This post intrigued me. What intrigued me more was he quoted Dallas Willard. I think it strikes at the heart of what Willard is saying in The Divine Conspiracy. We need our spiritual DNA changed. Too often we are trying to DO things and the core of who we are remains the same. We’re taping oranges onto apple trees. It’s…
Category: Spiritual hunger
