Archive for the 'Spirituality' Category
Augustine and the Lure of Reward
Closed Published by Jonathan Dodson May 25th, 2009 on Creation ProjectHigh Calling is running a new article by yours truly on the role of praise, reward, and honor:
Nothing beats an honest day’s work, so the saying goes. In an age of unethical business schemes and get-rich-quick internet commerce delusions, an honest day’s work is harder to come by. The new saying might go something like: […]
Six in ten adults pray in America, at least once a day. It is interesting how age, gender, and income affects these percentages. Why do women pray more than men? What obstacles, idols, impede prayer for you? What have you found helpful in living a prayerful life?
For helpful books on praying, check out:
Praying Life: Connecting […]
Disciplined Duty vs. the Lie of Legalism
Closed Published by Jonathan Dodson February 21st, 2009 on Creation ProjectIs regular prayer, Bible reading, Scripture memorization, evangelism, social service, and the like all “duty”? Well, yes kind of. Consider John Piper’s comments:
You can call it that.
It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
It’s a duty the way pilots listen […]
Archbishop William Temple said: “Your religion is your solitude.” In other words, where your thoughts go in your silence determine your religion, your chief objects of devotion and joy. Do our thought wander to God or to self, to entertainment or to community, to hobbies […]
Superficial Prayers?: Praying Beyond Sickness
Closed Published by jdodson May 12th, 2008 on Creation ProjectSo often our prayers and prayer requests remain generic and superficial: God help so and so, bless this, heal that, and so on. Generic, superficial prayers are heard by God, but we have to wonder if we are really “praying in the Spirit” when we maintain a generic, superficial course in prayer. He’s not a […]
Monastic Practices for Modern Christians
Closed Published by jdodson May 7th, 2008 on Creation ProjectOver the years I have found personal retreat from they regular place and patterns of life critical for my spiritually sanity. Some of my sweetest retreats were when I lived in Boston, where I would retreat to Emery House, a modern monastary of the order of the Society of St. John the Evangelist. (Thanks to […]
Dan Merchant, author of Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, has sought to collapse ideological division in the U.S. by wearing a jumpsuit covered with aphoristic bumper stickers and traveling the country to capture public response. He intentionally selected conflicting bumper stickers in order to stimulate discussion about these important issues—issues of love, truth, justice, […]
This Easter season I have been stirred by the reflective writing of Alister McGrath. As a historical and systematic theologian, McGrath is known for his academic works and the recent Dawkins Delusion. However, his Resurrection (Truth and Imagination) is an exception. Retaining his ability to stimulate the intellect, McGrath devotionally pushes into the imagination in […]
In an article entitled “When the Problem is Sexual Sin,” John F. Bettler breaks down the problem of sexual sin into three areas: 1) Objects of lust 2) Relationship Lusts and 3) Life-meaning Lusts. Arranging these sins into a pyramid (Lust Objects at the top and Life-meaning lusts at the bottom), Bettler makes the point […]
How to Suffer (and to Preach Suffering)
Closed Published by jdodson February 26th, 2008 on Creation ProjectIf you have suffered or struggle to minister, counsel, or preach on suffering, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp has a chapter you should read. Mind you, Tripp is not dealing with the philosophical problem of evil; he is addressing the practical issues of suffering. The chapter entitled “Building Relationships By Identifying with […]