Early in the morning Jesus went out to a lonely place to pray. I don't know what time that was. David Swartzendruber, my friend in Champaign, IL, told me it was about 4:30am. "That's when I start hearing my chickens. So I think it had to have been 4:30am or even 4:15am," Dave told meContinue reading "The words Jesus heard most frequently in the land called “STILL”"

Very frequently Jesus went out early in the morning to pray.  Where do you think he went? "Well, probably outside somewhere." you say. "Or maybe he walked along the Sea of Galilee." I'd say you're likely right on both counts. I have another thought.  Prayer is something we do, something in which we engage. ButContinue reading "A place called “Still”"

This morning I joined about 10 saints at the Gilbert, AZ, Vineyard church (in the southeastern part of Phoenix) for 2 hours of silent prayer. These saints do this regularly, and call it "Quiet Days." During the time of prayer, the silence was broken with an occasional short word of direction. But that was it.Continue reading "“Quiet Days” at the Vineyard Church in Gilbert, AZ"

Along with 34 new Catholic friends, I spent 3 days last weekend on a retreat called "Dry Heat -- How the desert fathers and mothers found God in the desert."  The retreat  was sponsored by the Casa, a Franciscan retreat center in Paradise Valley, up on the north side of Phoenix. (We were encouraged toContinue reading "“Dry Heat” retreat in the Sonoran desert"

I've run into lots of pastors who are almost compulsive in their need to be liked.  "Did I connect with people in my sermon today?" "How did I do in the elders meeting tonight?  Did I talk too much?" "I guess you can tell I really love the Psalms. How'd you feel like I didContinue reading "Pastors and their need to be liked and then liked some more!"

So many men struggle with pornography addiction, and sexual brokenness, and increasingly, women, too. Of course, pornography is ubiquitous.  So often many young men and women choose pornography, often unwittingly.  Sadly, it's generally not long before it then chooses them.  The pain, confusion and brokenness that follows is obvious and getting worse. That's why theContinue reading "Sexual addiction, brokenness and moving toward hope!"

The Southern Baptists were here in Phoenix for the annual convention last week -- 5 or 6 thousand of them.  That's way down from the mid-1980s when there might have been almost 40,000 Southern Baptists at their annual gathering. Even though in the last year alone, the Southern Baptists have targeted, and in fact, plantedContinue reading "The Southern Baptists are losing numbers, too. Yikes!"

I just read a The Power of Silence -- Against the Dictatorship of Noise, by Robert Sarah, a Guinean Cardinal in the Catholic Church. In a world where there is almost no silence, Cardinal Sarah argues that silence is the indispensable doorway to the divine.   To give you a tiny smattering of his style:Continue reading "The Power of Silence — The importance of developing a listening heart"