-
The joy of giving
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not say, “IF you give…” He said, “WHEN you give…” We can hassle over tithe or some mandatory number, like 10%. But, why? The point is GIVING. Why give at all? Giving is a bold statement, which is why I try to push myself past an arbitrary number like 10%. Giving says,…
-
Understanding the Discipline of Giving
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do- blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they…
-
True Freedom
True freedom isn’t found in lack of discipline. True freedom is found as a result of discipline. Our lazy view of Christianity has reduced us to saying a prayer of salvation to get our “Get out of hell free” cards. The call of the Kingdom of God is freedom. Freedom to obey. Freedom to walk in the power of the Spirit.…
-
Kingdom Come — The Freedom of Discipline
When we walk with purpose in the spiritual disciplines, a hunger for the Kingdom is created and cultivated. We begin to see that the command to “be perfect like your heavenly Father” is a serious command and has serious resources to follow that command. We begin to truly align our allegiances with the kingdom of God. As our spirits are…
-
Kingdom Freedom
The power of the Kingdom, the offer of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, is found in true freedom. It is about freedom from the things that bind us up. It is about being complete in God. The Kingdom already provides that power. We need to recognize it, then walk in it. That is the rub. Being “anger-free” or “lust-free” or…
-
Giving up Facebook
I will be taking a break from Facebook… in a way. I’ll still have the account, but the discipline I need to follow is only connecting my blog, and maybe an occasional Twitter comment, to Facebook. No more Facebook “stalking,” or trying to update my own status. I have hopefully loaded up the pictures from the San Francisco trip I…
-
Rest
In the new year and the new me, I am told when I work out it is best to work hard one day, then rest the next. The muscles need time to rebuild. Spiritually this is just as true. Our lives are always in full tilt and it is hard to find time to stop. We need rest. The sabbath…
-
2 Peter and the Call to Spiritual Formation
The first chapter of 2 Peter (one of the letters we are reading this week) calls us walk in spiritual formation. We need to learn to build spiritual character in our lives. Spiritual disciplines aid us in this walk. QUESTION: What do you know… what have you learned… in the area of spiritual formation? For starters… what practices do you…
Tag: Spiritual Disciplines
