One Sentence at a Time
Another Day Along the Way
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Another day,
In Spiritual Formation I've often asked students to pray only a phrase, a word, a sentence. Instead of rambling, we state. Rather than rushing, we pause. One sentence at a time can guide our thoughts, redirect our assumptions, and reconnect us to beliefs.
So, for this week's Another Day, I'll let sentences from other authors come for a visit. Hang out with them a while. Read them. Let them help you read yourself:
I think this must be what grace is, a gift of his embrace even when I'm at my worst, which must seem to be all of the time to him. (A Delicate Fade, Ben Devries, Zondervan, 2004)
The recent ground swell of emphasis on worship seems a strong expression of God-given spiritual renewal. (Dying for Change, Leith Anderson, Bethany House Publishers, 1990)
Jesus expects us to take necessary steps to love him and others with our minds. (Mind Games, Matthew Paul Turner, Tyndale, 2006)
Being a roaring lamb is really just putting the best face on your faith so that others can see Christians as an asset rather than a liability. (Lambs Among Wolves: How Christians Are Influencing American Culture, Bob Briner, Zondervan Publishing House, 1995)
To show and model love, we have to get close to those we serve, even when it isn't comfortable or clean. (The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, Group, 2004)
Playing and praying counter boredom, reduce anxieties, push, pull, direct, prod us into the fullness of our humanity by getting body and spirit in touch and friendly with each other. (Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987)
Those who still subscribe to the neat formula of Job's friends - and there are many, if religious broadcasts give any indication - would do well to consider one sobering fact: the most aggressively Christian continent on earth, Africa, is also the hungriest, while the most aggressively non-Christian region, around the Arabian Sea, is the wealthiest. (The Bible Jesus Read, Phillip Yancey, ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1999)
Contrary to what I believe or was taught in my Christian college education, God seems to prefer to minister through me more out of my brokenness than through my giftedness.(God Touches, Dan Gilliam, Standard, 2007)
At the heart of a life filled with unanswered questions lies the very nature of Christianity.(Second Guessing God, Brian Jones, Standard, 2006)
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Prayer Surrendered: Father, help me believe that you love me.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Another day,
In Spiritual Formation I've often asked students to pray only a phrase, a word, a sentence. Instead of rambling, we state. Rather than rushing, we pause. One sentence at a time can guide our thoughts, redirect our assumptions, and reconnect us to beliefs.
So, for this week's Another Day, I'll let sentences from other authors come for a visit. Hang out with them a while. Read them. Let them help you read yourself:
I think this must be what grace is, a gift of his embrace even when I'm at my worst, which must seem to be all of the time to him. (A Delicate Fade, Ben Devries, Zondervan, 2004)
The recent ground swell of emphasis on worship seems a strong expression of God-given spiritual renewal. (Dying for Change, Leith Anderson, Bethany House Publishers, 1990)
Jesus expects us to take necessary steps to love him and others with our minds. (Mind Games, Matthew Paul Turner, Tyndale, 2006)
Being a roaring lamb is really just putting the best face on your faith so that others can see Christians as an asset rather than a liability. (Lambs Among Wolves: How Christians Are Influencing American Culture, Bob Briner, Zondervan Publishing House, 1995)
To show and model love, we have to get close to those we serve, even when it isn't comfortable or clean. (The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, Group, 2004)
Playing and praying counter boredom, reduce anxieties, push, pull, direct, prod us into the fullness of our humanity by getting body and spirit in touch and friendly with each other. (Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987)
Those who still subscribe to the neat formula of Job's friends - and there are many, if religious broadcasts give any indication - would do well to consider one sobering fact: the most aggressively Christian continent on earth, Africa, is also the hungriest, while the most aggressively non-Christian region, around the Arabian Sea, is the wealthiest. (The Bible Jesus Read, Phillip Yancey, ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1999)
Contrary to what I believe or was taught in my Christian college education, God seems to prefer to minister through me more out of my brokenness than through my giftedness.(God Touches, Dan Gilliam, Standard, 2007)
At the heart of a life filled with unanswered questions lies the very nature of Christianity.(Second Guessing God, Brian Jones, Standard, 2006)
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Prayer Surrendered: Father, help me believe that you love me.
3 Comments:
Man, I needed some of thsoe today. Thank you a bunch.
I could have quit after #1 and been utterly challenged by grace.
For Me as a Follower. The more I see God, the more I see that is Yet to Come.
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