A New Year Resolution… But you can call it whatever you wish – Goal, Ambition, Intention… It matters not. What does matter is that the New Year Resolution is crystal clear. Concise, too. Here is my New Year Resolution – PRACTICE. Meditation My New Year Resolution is to daily engage in the spiritual practice of […]
Toward Spiritual Maturity
Spiritual maturity is the goal of life, not getting to heaven. Some reading this will likely recoil in shock. Maybe anger. That’s OK. A few of these will conclude I am beyond redeeming. That, too, is OK. What I know is that there are some who will resonate with what they read. It is they […]
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Experiencing God
Experiencing God… Not far from our home here in Louisville is Gethsemane, the monastery where the monk and spiritual teacher Fr. Thomas Merton spent his final years. One day, a younger monk approached his mentor, frustrated at what seemed to him to be an impossible task of knowing or experiencing God. “Experiencing God is such a struggle,” he […]
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Does God Exist?
Does Goes exist? Is there a God? I have answered that question for myself. You must answer for yourself. Or, ignore the question, pretend you’ve never asked the question, or just wait for the question to return. It likely will. Whatever you do, my advice is to ask the question, seek an answer, but do not seek […]
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Suffering…Or, the Feeling You’re Not in Control
Suffering, to paraphrase Richard Roar’s definition is “the feeling that you are not in control.” Being conscious, or aware, that our suffering, this internal disquieted state of our soul, is the consequence of our feelings of being “out of control” may escape us. The suffering, however, does not. The suffering, too, may take many different […]
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What Do I Think When I Think God? I Try Not To. Here’s Why…
What do I think when I think God? I try not to. It makes sense to try not to think too much of God, does it not? I mean, how does one think of God except in ways that are limiting, loaded with ideas and assumptions that are incomplete at best and, most often, just […]
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Now, Here’s an Ancestry Worth Researching: “The Father and I are One!”
By Dr. Steve McSwain on February 25, 2017 in Ancestry, Christian, Christianity, Identity, Spiritual Life
Morning thoughts on your real ancestry… Your spiritual ancestry. Try this on for size. Your spiritual ancestry – your real ancestry is revealed in the tenth chapter of his Gospel. John says that the people were intent on killing Jesus because he was not content with merely breaking the Sabbath, He dared to speak of God […]
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Healing: Do You Want to Be Healed?
Healing. “Do you want to be healed?” asked Jesus of the invalid man who was brought daily to the Pool of Bethesda (John 5). Not everyone wants to be healed, do they? Do you? It is healing we need, isn’t it? Or, is it something else? For much of my Christian experience, the preoccupation of […]
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The Day Jesus Threw God Out of Church
One day, Jesus went into the temple and began throwing people out. Or, is this a story of the day Jesus threw God out of Church? Check it out for yourself. In Luke 19:45-46, we read… “Going into the Temple, he began to throw out everyone who had set up shop, selling everything and […]
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Wrestling with God: The Day God Lost a Wrestling Match
Wrestling with God. What does this mean? Wrestling with God This is a Biblical myth for which I have had much fascination and attraction over the years. It is that story of Jacob who wrestled all night long with a man, an angel, or, was it God? I suspect it doesn’t matter, though I am […]
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The Secret of Contentment: Christ Consciousness
What is the secret of contentment? Christ consciousness. Contentment But what does this mean? The following is my attempt to explain these words and how they connected to the secret of contentment. When I use the words “Christ consciousness” I am referring to an inner awareness of one’s origin and identity as a temporary human expression […]
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Problems: When Dark Gives Way to Dawn
Problems. We all have them. Which makes all this talk I hear about gratitude all the more problematic. The longer I live, the more aware I am that there are two distinct types of gratitude: The first is SITUATIONAL or CONTEXTUAL; the other is a STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Problems The first comes and goes based […]
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Christian-Nature-Nurture: I Am a Christian by Nature and Nurture…
A Christian-Nature-Nurture I am a Christian by nature and nurture. First, by nature. That is to say, I was born into a Christian family. I did not choose this family. I could have been born into a Jewish family in Manhattan or to a Muslim family in Iran or to a Buddhist family in Tibet. […]
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Faith that Makes Mountain’s Tremble…
Faith makes mountain’s tremble. That’s what the spiritual master said. “For sure, I tell you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to over there,’ and it would move over. You will be able to do anything” (Matthew 17:20). Note the following three things…and then, […]
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Christianity is Alive and Well
Christianity is alive and well. My guess is, you were not expecting that. Admittedly, I do write often about what’s gone wrong in the Church…within Christianity. But there is much about which I hope…I exult…I find cause for celebrating. I was inspired to think about this today after reading John Pavlovitz’ devotional reflections at his […]