Speaking Live Words

9 11 2009

IMG_7317“The vessel God wants for his work is not prepared by hearing a lot of things, but by seeing and receiving and being satisfied. Its understanding is based on the life of Christ within, not on information about him. We must beware of just passing on to others what we hear. No matter how precious or profound the teaching may be, we are not to be disseminators of information.” (Watchman Nee. Changed Into His Likeness. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1967, 1978, p. 51)

A. W. Tozer distinguished between scribes and prophets. Scribes are experts on what someone else says. Prophets have living words to speak. (Gem talked about this in a recent blog post). Too many times we say things about God without enough personal knowledge of God. God invites us to intimate encounter, to experienced grace, to actual participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). If I am not actually walking with God, what difference will information I pass on about Him make? The world has enough scribes spouting religious ideas without any life in them.

As a voracious reader, my great challenge is to guard against first teaching what I read. I must live it first. I must teach from experienced truth, not just from someone else’s experienced truth. The Pharisees managed to make a living word into a dead letter. Lord, protect me from such an awful fate.

What insights into who God is, how He works and what He says have been most encouraging to you lately? How might He be inviting you to live those insights today before you talk about them?

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Categories : God-focused Life, Ministry, Power of words, Preaching, Watchman Nee

Creativity is Unhurried

8 11 2009

IMG_8085One thing I’ve learned in the course of taking and leading days of unhurried time and space with God is that true creativity cannot be hurried. A while back, Gem stumbled across a book in the library by Brenda Ueland on writing—If You Want to Write. She wrote it in 1938, but her voice is so simple and honest that it still rings true now. She is talking about writing, but what she says works well for all of life. Listen, for example, about what she says about imagination:

“So you see the imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: ‘I see where I can make an annual cut of $3.47 in my meat budget.’ But they have no slow, big ideas. And the fewer consoling, noble, shining, free, jovial, magnanimous ideas that come, the more nervously and desperately they rush and run from office to office and up and downstairs, thinking by action at last to make life has some warmth and meaning.” (Brenda Ueland. If You Want to Write. Saint Paul: Greywolf Press, 1938.)

(Obviously saving $3.47 in a year on meat would have been much more exciting in 1938!). In day retreats of open space and unhurried time to be in God’s presence, I have seen participants write songs that were later recorded and write poetry that was later published. Recording and publishing was never the goal, but it was a creative by-product of unhurried time in the presence of a Creator God. I’ve received creative solutions to challenging problems resistant to typical methods. I’ve received compassion to deal with others who have hurt me.

When is there time in your schedule for “holy moodling”? How might God use such a time to increase your actual, practiced compassion and creative engagement in meeting the real needs of people who God would call neighbor?

Buy a copy of If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit on Amazon.com


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Categories : Unhurried, creativity, time, writing

Demolition Before Rebuilding

8 11 2009

For the last few days, our backyard has been torn up. The patio is gone. A slab of concrete that had been severely cracked is demolished. We’re getting a new backyard. It’s a mess, but sometimes it takes a mess to make something beautiful. It feels a metaphor for God’s work in my own soul.

Below are a few images Gem took this morning. As you look at them, do you think of any areas in which God has seemed to be tearing something down before He builds something good?

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And Gem has had fun shopping at Home Depot, looking for some plants to go in this new yard of ours. We’re very grateful for the generosity of our landlord in helping beautiful our space. (We’ve lived here eleven years now…hard to believe!)

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Do I Know What I Don’t Know?

7 11 2009

IMG_7372“…the wrong kind of ignorance is the conviction that we can know exactly what is going on. Those who have too many programs and answers are absolutely blind and their ignorance leads them to destruction. Those who know what they do not know are able at least to see something of what is in front of their nose.” (Thomas Merton. Courage For Truth. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993, p. 198)

There is a kind of certainty that is limiting instead of freeing. There are plans that assume at a practical level that God will not be intervening any time soon. Do ministries design meetings, services or gatherings that assume God has no likely intention of showing Himself or working among us? Does every gathering run, minute-by-minute, exactly the way we planned it? Is this a good thing? Just questions I ask myself.

And what Merton says about answers and programs hits home. Programs can drift towards becoming self-contained systems. Programs and systems usually seek to eliminate surprises, give standardized answers to all possible questions, and leave us with a process that runs on its own. Is this really what Jesus’ way was like? Wasn’t he continually surprising people? Doesn’t the life of the Spirit involve a certain amount of unpredictability (Consider John 3:8, for example)?

At the same time, I recognize the obvious need for godly processes and methods that can be learned and practiced so that we aren’t starting from scratch at every moment of our life. Do I really have to think again and again about how to brush my teeth? This is where spiritual disciplines and practices help train us in holy and lifegiving habits.

What responses or questions does all this provoke in you? I’d love to interact further with you.

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Categories : God's presence, Leadership, Ministry, Thomas Merton, programming, space for God, wisdom

A Great New Photographer!

6 11 2009

I’m not at all biased, but my beautiful bride of almost twenty-five years (this coming May 25) started developing her gifts as a photographer at the beginning of this year. What began as a creative hobby has been becoming a growing business. Recently, she and I worked on a logo for her new business, gem helen photography.

ghp_logo_lgIt’s simple and clean. I really like how it turned out. And recently, she upgraded her web site to provide a better setting to showcase her work and serve her clients. You’ve got to go click around a bit. It’s beautiful! (Just click on the image below).

ghp website

If you’ve been reading my blog at all, you’ll see that nearly all of the images I use with my posts have been produced by Gem. I’m amazed at how quickly her skill and her business have grown. I’m truly a proud husband. Here are a few of her images that I have enjoyed recently:

Trees against a clear high desert sky

Trees against a clear high desert sky

Arches at the San Juan Capistrano Mission

Arches at the San Juan Capistrano Mission

An amazing sunset view from our back balcony (Mission Viejo)

An amazing sunset view from our back balcony (Mission Viejo)

Thought these are scenery shots, what Gem has been doing mostly is individual and family shots in natural settings (beach, forest, park, etc.). You can see her work on the gemhelen.com site. I hope you’ll visit (and contact her if you’d like for her to take some pictures for you or your family).

Today, we played around


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Spiritual Direction: Unassertiveness Training

5 11 2009

Eugene Peterson, in his book Under the Unpredictable Plant, offers this insight into the practiced ministry of spiritual direction (and this way of life):

“Direction carries an obvious connotation of taking charge and showing the way. But spiritual direction is more likely to be quiet and gentle, unassertive and reticent. One of the characteristics of spiritual direction is to ‘get out of the way,’ to be un-important, to be un-influential to a person. A paradox is in operation here: the goal is to be (really) present without being (obtrusively) present.” (p. 188)

The “direction” part of spiritual direction can be misleading. It isn’t direction as in “I am the director of your life with God.” It is the kind of direction a sign gives to a traveler. The sign isn’t telling you what to do. The sign is making you aware of how keep on track in your journey, helping you stay on the good path.

As you reflect on your own faith relationships, in what ways are you tempted to tell other people what they should do, rather than helping them relate intimately with God and be faithful to this relationship? How is God inviting you to be really present without being obtrusively present in their lives?

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Categories : Spiritual Direction, spiritual guidance

Holy Stillness Or Unholy Stuckness?

4 11 2009

IMG_7331The writings of Thomas Merton encourage me. I don’t always agree with him, but whom in the world do I always agree with…even if they are right? Yesterday, I shared an excerpt from his letters to other writers, Courage For Truth. Here is another treasure I dug up.

“I fear nothing as much as conventionalism and inertia, which for me is fatal. Yet there is that all-important stillness, and listening to God, which seems to be inertia, and yet is the highest action. One must always be awake to tell the difference between action and inaction, when appearances are so often deceiving…” (Thomas Merton. Courage For Truth: The Letters Of Thomas Merton To Writers. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993, p. 187)

Unholy inertia and holy stillness are obvious opposites. I want to live in that stillness that is actually the place of highest action. As I look out my window this morning, I see a vast expanse of green. Palm trees. The Asian hibiscus in the corner of my yard. Thousands of other trees blanketing South Orange County. They are all growing, but I don’t hear them make one sound. None of them are grunting or straining or forcing anything. They just grow—slowly, steadily, and imperceptibly. Actual growth is rarely dramatic but gradual.

Merton suggests that conventionalism and inertia are his greatest spiritual concerns. Conventionalism is the one word summary of, “We’ve always done it this way” and “We’ve never done it that way.” Conventionalism makes my world feel safer by making it predictable, but it also makes my world smaller, stifling creativity and eliminating adventure.

As for unholy inertia versus holy stillness, I have to continually discern where I am. Am I letting stillness and silence become a breeding ground for spiritual laziness? Or, am I allowing life, work and ministry busyness to do the very same thing?

Being still and attentive, and being stuck and idle is not the same thing. Spiritual growth thrives in the fertile soil of embraced mystery and a walking pace of life.

Buy a copy of Courage For Truth: The Letters Of Thomas Merton To Writers on Amazon.com


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Categories : Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Reading, Thomas Merton, Tradition, conventionalism, silence, simplicity, solitude, spiritual guidance

Ministry Burnout Stats Updated

3 11 2009

A ministry friend pointed out that the statistics on Ministry Burnout on my website are a bit dated. I agree. I’ve revised the page with a bit newer information, and will be doing a little research to see if I can get that even more current. FYI.


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Ministries That Help or Hinder Spiritual Formation

3 11 2009

IMG_7321Pastors, missionary leader, heads of campus ministries and other vocational leaders want to create organizations that encourage spiritual growth. The reality is that sometimes, the very structures within which we live and minister can begin to get in the way.

I read the quotation below from Thomas Merton a few years ago. It comes from a letter he wrote in 1959 to an emerging Latin American leader. He had been in the monastery at Gethsemani then for nearly twenty years. As you read his perspective on the monastic environment in which he had lived nearly two decades of life, think about the church, ministry and mission setting in which you have lived yours. Where are there echoes? Where are there differences?

“the peculiar circumstances of this monastery prevent real spiritual growth. Underneath the superficial and somewhat good humor, with its façade of juvenile [casualness], lie the deep fear and anxiety that come from a lack of real interior life. We have the words, the slogans, and the notions. We cultivate the pageantry of the monastic life. We go in for singing, ritual, and all the external. And ceremonies are very useful in dazzling the newcomer, and keeping him happy for a while. But there seems to be a growing realization that for a great many in the community this is all a surface of piety which overlies a fake mysticism and a complete [emptiness] of soul. Hence the growing restlessness, the rebellions, the strange departures of priests, the hopelessness which only the very stubborn can resist, with the aid of their self-fabricated methods of reassurance.” (Thomas Merton. The Courage for Truth. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993, p. 112)

What is it in particular that Merton suggests is preventing spiritual growth in his monastery? It seems to be a failure to attend to the deep resistances of fear and anxiety underneath the outward appearance of spiritual vitality. There is a difference between emotional excitement and spiritual life. Exciting music and energized preaching may or may not touch these deeper places that keep us from really engaging God.

What do you think?

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Categories : Classic spirituality, Community, Honesty, Leadership, Ministry, Organizational Transformation, The Leadership Institute, Thomas Merton, consumerism, distraction, monasteries, organism, spiritual guidance, spiritual leadership

Spiritual Direction: Insights from a Master

2 11 2009

IMG_7381This morning, someone stumbled upon my blog searching Google for “Abbé Henri de Tourville.” I was surprised. He’s a classic spiritual direction who has encouraged me often in my journey with Christ. Today, I decided to give you links to those past posts (oldest first). Why not click and read one that catches your eyes or stirs your curiosity:

  • “Eyes Off Myself” (2/8/09) – here he talks about our tendency to focus on ourselves in relationship with God, rather than on God in relationship with us. Subtle and wise counsel.
  • “The Joy of Growing” (4/8/09) – God knows our heart and intentions as well as He knows our actions.
  • “Does God Really Like You?” (5/3/09) – Do we really believe God not only loves, but likes us at this very moment–exactly as we are? Why or why not?
  • “Unaccountable Love” (5/8/09) – The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbor. Here are some encouraging words about that.
  • “Trying to Compete with God” (6/1/09) – Even though I know the scripture say that we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), do I ever catch myself competing and trying to love Him first?
  • “Christ in Me, But Sometimes I Forget” (6/5/09) – What happens when I realize the transforming reality of Christ making Himself at home in me and working in and through me?
  • “What If I Don’t Feel Like It?” (6/7/09) – responding to God when prayer doesn’t feel as inviting and rewarded as it once did.
  • “A Good Word: Talking to Myself” – (6/12/09) – The idea of self-talk is not a new one. Here are some wise words about the things we tell ourselves.
  • “Spiritual Direction: Allow God to Love You” (10/25/09) – I included a little bio on Abbé Henri de Tourville here, along with his “Go bankrupt!” counsel.

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    Categories : Christ in me, Desolation, Prayer, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Reading, consolation

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