Category: Spiritual
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And Then Comes Spring
In the winter season, it is easy to forget that in spite of gray skies and lifeless looking trees, there is something wonderful happening. Life is begetting life even when we cannot see it. The same is true for the winters of our souls. In each of our lives we experience seasons. Things grow, blossom,…
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How Certain Material “Miracles” Become Distractions
Nothing used to annoy me more than the preachers of the Prosperity Gospel. I felt like they were turning Christ’s message of faith into something you could find on an infomercial. It seemed like money and “blessings” were the only things on their minds and like any other pyramid system it was the people on…
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You Won’t Like Me When I Am Angry
In Ephesians 4:26, 27 it says “‘Be angry, and do not sin’:do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” This is a verse that I have had to remind myself of more frequently in the past few years than I ever have before. In general I am…
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I Don’t Need To Look At The Sun To Feel It
I was on a break during class when I saw a classmate, Sarah Wilson, looking at her smartphone. I jokingly said to her, how can you be looking at your phone when it’s beautiful out today. Her response was simple and ultimately struck me as very profound with regard to its spiritual implications. She replied,…
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I Almost Forgot Why I Came Here
So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) Beloved, I beg…
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S.A.D. – Sadness, Anger, and Desire
I spent the whole week of January 9, 2011 in Glastonbury Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Hingham, MA. It was part of a class I was taking for my Masters of Divinity program at Andover Newton Theological School. Before entering, I had to do my best to empty myself of all expectations and desires for my time…
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The Light Is Everywhere
Have you ever noticed how the deepest love songs always sound like they could be sung to God whether it was clearly the artist’s intent or not. My uncle pointed that out to me when I was a little kid and I have never forgotten it. A lot of times when I am trying to…
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The Foolishness and Weakness of God
On my knees in the prayer room at Andover Newton Theological School where I am attending seminary, I admitted to God how weak and poor in spirit I was. I am praying for the strength of mind, body, and soul so that I will be able to complete the six papers I have due in the…