On a typical day I am charged with the pastorate of three congregations. I teach regularly at the seminary. I have students living in my house. I am writing three books. Countless people write to me. When I start each day, therefore, I make it a point to spend an hour...
00935 – When Thou Prayest
When thou prayest, better thy heart be without wordsThan thy words without heart.
00934 – What is Prayer?
Everything that one turns in the direction of God is prayer.
00933 – Prayer: Knowing God Personally
Prayer moves from knowing about God to knowing God.
00932 – Sometimes God Says No
Nor is it adequate in certain cases to blame God’s lack of response to our prayers on a higher will for us that, for now, requires a no. No doubt what sometimes appears to us an evil is the very explosion necessary to blast us awake to the destructiveness of our...
00931 – We All Pray in Many Ways
We all pray whether we think of it as praying or not. The odd silence we fall into when something very beautiful is happening, or something very good or very bad. The ah-h-h-h! that sometimes floats up out of us as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the skyrocket...
00930 – Prayer: Spending Time with a Close Friend
I spend time with my closest friends not because of what they can do for me but for the pleasure of their company. How can I do that with God?
00891 – “The Deer’s Cry”
The Lorica of St. Patrick (The Deer`s Cry) I arise to-day: vast might, invocation of the Trinity,— belief in a Threeness confession of Oneness meeting in the Creator… I arise to-day: might of Heaven brightness of Sun whiteness of Snow splendour of Fire speed of Light...
00886 – Worship Expresses a Congregation’s Deepest Theological Beliefs
Good church musicians constantly ask whether the “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” of the church’s worship are sung “so that the Word of God may dwell in us richly” (the forgotten purpose clause of Col. 3:16). Good liturgical musicians worry about the link between...
00864 – Got a Shovel?
When we ask God to move a mountain, God may give us a shovel.