If you ask any priest what his wish for his church would be, he’d probably say SPIRITUAL GROWTH. And I don’t disagree. But what does that look like?
In this week’s message, I talk about 4 things I as a priest wish for all the members of my church in this coming year. It’s more than just read the Bible and say your prayers. These are four things that I believe God wants to use deepen your faith and bring you closer to His perfect plan for your life.
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The day we’ve been dreading has finally arrived. It’s here and we don’t know what to do with it. Do we run and hide? Or do we succumb to its pressure and surrender? What to do, what to do, what to do... What day is it?
It’s the day when LIFE GOES BACK TO NORMAL AFTER HOLY WEEK!
That’s right. We’re now midway through the week after Easter and life is back in full swing. Back to work... back to meetings... back to traffic... back to posting pictures of your breakfast on Facebook and Twitter... you know, the normal routine.
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Recently I found some old pictures of myself from my younger days – my pre-priesthood/pre-marriage days. Nothing is more fun than looking through those old pictures (especially with your kids who think the world wasn’t created until they came into being) and remembering what life was life back in the good days of the late 1990s (aka, the Stone Ages for all you younger pups).
Things were so different back then. Life was slower and simpler. We used to "chat" with our mouths, not our keyboards. We used to play outside and drink from the hose and we all lived to tell about it. We used to read newspapers and magazines and books! And get this…back in the 90s, MTV actually played music!!!!
Times certainly have changed quite a bit since then. But as much as the world has changed in 20 years, the thing that struck me the most from those old pictures is how much I HAD CHANGED.
Read MoreKicked off a brand new series this Sunday and let me tell you: I AM PUMPED!!! I’ve been waiting for this series since the start of the year and it’s finally here!
It's called FINDING YOUR FLAVOR and the premise is this: there may be One Way to God (that is Jesus Christ), but there are many ways to the Way.
In other words, your way of drawing near to God doesn’t have to look exactly like mine. There’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to the spiritual life. The ways of drawing near to God could be as varied as we are unique.
Trust me. This one could be a lifelong game-changer.
"God uses COMMUNITY to lead us to MATURITY."
God's plan for humanity has always been clear - that we "may GROW UP in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). As any parent, God isn't content for us to merely be born into His family; He desires that we would grow and reach the point of maturity. His desire is that we wouldn't just grow OLD, but that we'd grow UP as well.
How does that maturity happen? I believe that a major portion of the process takes place in the context of community. Without community, you'll never reach the level of spiritual maturity that God desires for you life.
How can I say that? Check out Part 4 in The BodyShop series as we continue to look at the different markers that make for a healthy member of the Body of Christ.
“Life in Christ is like an iceberg: we only see the tip of it here on earth. But an infinite amount of grace lies submerged, and God communicates this to man by means of man’s faith.”
I recently finished one of the best (and longest) spiritual books I’ve ever read. It’s called Remember Thy First Love: The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life in the Theology of Elder Sophrony.
I know, I know…it sounds real boring doesn’t it? Believe me, I thought the same – especially when you couple the very long title with the plain brown cover and the book’s thickness…463 pages and ZERO PICTURES! Not exactly what you think of as light reading.
But trust me, the book is PHENOMENAL! Truly inspirational and full of nuggets of wisdom all over. Yes it’s long, but it isn’t nearly as difficult/cumbersome as it appears.
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