Tag Archives: listening

Fast Faith and Fast Leadership

Malcolm Muggeridge argued that, if Jesus was alive today, there may have been a fourth temptation. It is the temptation to a fast faith and a fast leadership. He describes it like this: One day a Roman tycoon named Lucius hears Jesus preaching in Galilee and is very impressed. “This Jesus has star potential. He could be a superstar!” He tells his representatives to “puff Jesus,” then bring him to Rome – along with the John the Baptist guy. Lucius promises: “I’ll put him on the map, launch him off to a tremendous career as a worldwide evangelist. I’ll spread his teaching throughout the civilized world and beyond. He’d be crazy to turn it down! Instead of a ragtag lot following him from Galilee, everyone will know him.” Jesus, of course, says no and is dismissed as irrelevant. “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’”. Read more.

Self-Identity as the Key to Discernment

Augustine once said that God is always trying to give good things to us but our hands are too full to receive them. Roslyn H. Wright, a Director of Field Education at Whitley College in Australia, visited me in NYC recently. The following are reflections out of her work with seminary students around “Incarnational goal setting”: 1. God’s calls us to courageously lead out of our ‘true self.’ “The problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self” (Thomas Merton). God gives to each of us a “manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” with a unique working out of that gift in the Body and the world. The forces, internal and external, that move us away from that place of leading from within are enormous. 2. Prayer, particularly the Examen, along with a trusted community, is the foundation for. Read more.

Prayer: Let Your Words Be Few

I have spoken way too many words in my prayers to God over the years. Fortunately, as C.S.Lewis reminds us, God retains the power and to refuse our prayers, knowing now easily we could destroy ourselves (God in the Dock, pp.106-107). Do not be quick with your mouth…God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few (Eccl.5:2). And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words (Matt. 6:7). I will stand at my watch and station myself at the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me (Habbakuk 2:1). Proverbs reminds us that even a fool is thought wise if he is silent. I am beginning to realize this applies to talking with Him as well.

The First Thing To Do Each Day

Seth Godin wrote a great blog called, “The First Thing You Do When You Sit Down at the Computer” each day. He says, “If you’re an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals.” I think he is right – for artists and leaders at least. If you are a Christ follower, however, the first thing you are to do is “to get up and go” to the place of grace like the younger son in Luke 15:11-24. Soak in the unconditional love that God bestows on you. Let Him heal your shame and celebrate over you “with music and dancing.” Dare to believe that you are His beloved. Adam and Eve lost this sense of their blessed identity and listened instead to the voice of temptation. In their hiding God sought them, asking “Where are you?” God. Read more.

Living Faith for 2013

A pastor friend of mine from Vancouver recently asked my long-time mentor, Leighton Ford, the following question: “I’d love for you to email me 200 words or so on how Christians can live out their faith every day.” Leighton, in response, sent him a paragraph from a recent e-mail he received from Geri! It reads: “I’m here in Queens amidst the long lines and gridlock traffic of the Christmas (and somewhat Christ-less) season. I am re-reading your book The Attentive Life. For me, it is the gift that keeps on giving. I feel motivated to “not be conformed to this world” but try to follow a different drummer, that of our invisible/visible God … to know Him in all the ways He reveals Himself — if I’m not too busy or distracted, or preoccupied, or anxious, or indifferent to the Real behind the real.” For a related message I recently preached on a “Spirituality. Read more.

Hurricane Sandy — A Pause

Each day brings new stories and images of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. An old friend had his house completely washed away in the storm. He had built it himself. The following is from his e-mail to me two days ago: “I’m having trouble accepting this all as the will of God…The realization that everything a man has worked for in his whole life has been washed away in just one 2-3 hour period. I don’t know, but I wish I did.” Sandy is an invitation to pause and ponder. The following are a few thoughts out of my journal from this past week: 1. God is Greater and More Powerful than I Realize. He remains “seated on his throne, high and exalted” (Isaiah 6:1). The force and size of a hurricane is humbling. 2. You and I Are Not in Control of Our Lives or Destiny. Take another long look at the roller coaster. Read more.

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