As we take our next step in our understanding of Christian spiritual practice, it is essential to remember that the goal of our practice is not “discipline,” but relationship. We are not aiming to be good at “spirituality,” but to love – and, ultimately, to be loved by – God. Relationship does require discipline (and thus...
Tag: introduction to reformed theology
What Do You Do with an Empty Tomb? (Easter 2015)
There are few claims of Christian theology more audacious than the bodily resurrection of Jesus. And any citizen of the 21st century who doesn’t doubt such assertions is probably in need of a good head examination (or a reduction in their AMC viewing…). Dead bodies don’t return to life. Not as ghosts. Not as zombies. And certainly not...
Loving God 101, Part 12: Contemplation “Lab” (Palm Sunday 2015)
Having – hopefully – made the theological case for contemplation (as St. Ignatius of Loyola describes it), in this episode our pal, Jon Saur, gives a short example of the practice. This sermon was preached on Palm Sunday 2015 and thus uses the traditional story of Jesus’s “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem as the gospel text to...