“Spiritual Growth” is a long-used category in my Lutheran experience, at least in the Walther League of my youth. But “Growth in the Spirit” is a totally new category not yet on the radar of most pastors. At least that is my experience in trying to promote “Thriving” or “Growing” in the Spirit. “Closeness to […]
Read MoreOver my years of membership in the American Psychological Association, I watched my division of industrial and organizational psychology spin off a new specialty called sports psychology. Those psychologists focus on helping athletes to reach peak performance. They explore mental practices that allow an athlete to squeeze out a little more speed or increase endurance […]
Read MoreI recently talked with my neighbor about the frustrations he is experiencing at a prominent mainline church where he has been an active member and leader for many years. Many such once-famous and now-mostly-empty mainline churches are spread across the country. What I noticed is how frequently he recalled great preachers of the past and […]
Read MoreHow do we get more of the Holy Spirit’s influence in our inner being? The Spirit works at his own initiative. Yet there are certain activities we can undertake on our own to open ourselves more fully to his work. These historically are called spiritual disciplines. Forty years ago, Richard Foster recast disciplines for Protestants […]
Read MoreWhen you celebrated the Christ child and started the New Year, did you have any primary experiences of the Spirit at work in your life? Did you see the Spirit touching someone else’s life? The Holy Spirit is God at work touching hearts and then moving people into action. The Spirit’s hallmark is stirring up […]
Read MoreIn the GROWTH practices I have identified, O is the first stretch practice. The six practices are Go to God in worship and prayer, Receive God’s Word for you, Opt for self-denial, give Witness to your Spiritual experiences, Trust God in a new venture, Humble yourself before God. In my personal walk with the Lord, […]
Read MoreThe apostle Paul had a dramatic experience of God and also a slow, over-the-years formation by the Holy Spirit. The dramatic one is his well-known conversion on his journey to Damascus in Acts 9. The slower formation, we know little about. It started with the three years he spent in the desert after his conversion. […]
Read MoreThe fourth in the GROWTH practices is to give Witness to your Spiritual experiences. The six are: Go to God in Worship and Prayer, Receive God’s Word for You, Opt for Self-denial, give Witness to Your Spiritual Experiences, Trust God in a New Venture, Humble yourself before God. A spiritual experience in your spiritual life […]
Read MoreThe fifth of the GROWTH practices I advocate is to Trust God in a New Venture. Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and do something new and different to help God’s Kingdom come in some person or group’s life. This is what you are asking for in the Lord’s Prayer. As Luther […]
Read MoreIn my 1993 research of prayer practices of Lutheran church members, I almost overlooked the 51 percent among the other percentages in the table. Slightly more than half agreed that “prayer is the most satisfying experience in my life.” The question was deliberately asked in the extreme form—“the most satisfying experience of my life”—to discourage […]
Read MoreOver coffee one day, a friend, Jennifer Malcolm, said she enjoyed reading about the saints in college. “Which ones?” I asked. Saint Francis of Assisi came to her mind. Then she added, “and that guy who prayed while he was washing dishes in a monastery.” “That would be Brother Lawrence,” I noted. She added, “It […]
Read More
