Currently Playing : The Postal Service - “Give Up”

So I was at Starbucks tonight sucking down a Venti, Soy, Caramel Macchiato and hanging out with my kids. I find the need to get out and get to coffee shops often. It sparks a better creative vibe than staying at home. Plus I get pumped on caffeine and sugar… YES!!! Home is boring and my coffee sucks too… I let the pros handle it. I digress… I was journaling about spiritual disciplines and my personal struggles with being more discipline. I was thinking about the concept of “being conformed into the image of Christ”.

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Okay, so the above title is a bit tongue-in-cheek (actually laughable for me, who could never get into any position CLOSE to what my yoga instructor was demonstrating), but how do we view the concept of meditation as Christians?

I heard Ken Boa teaching this morning, and he mentioned the concept of meditation: “understand that you can all meditate. We’re doing it all the time. Usually we’re meditating about stuff we shouldn’t be thinking about like worries and fretting and anxiety. To meditate means to ruminate, to chew it over, and to mull over it. We’re always mulling something over. The best thing you can to do is not to stop thinking about something but rather replace that thought with truth. In other words you can choose what you think about. You can make a choice, a volitional choice, to set your mind on the things above and not on earthly things. So when you find yourself tempted and so forth instead of mulling that one over, because that will only make it worse, the better thing to do is to replace it with truth. I can’t stress this enough. It’d be very wise of you to carry a handful of 3x5 cards that have verses that have spoken to you in the past. Put them in your car and have one of them to be the theme of your day.”

Jim Sawyer speaks quite eloquently on this subiect. Worth reading and meditating on.

http://www.ttpstudents.com/content/blog/mjsawyer/SpiritualityOfImperfection

Bob
Fides Quaerens Intellectum

Extract:
I would argue that the idea that spirituality/holiness/fellowship demands perfection is not “true spirituality.” But something that actually works against spiritual growth and wholeness. It is a negative spirituality that leads to isolation and self-destruction rather than relationship with God and one another …..

Years ago a friend observed the life of the Apostle Paul. While relatively young in the faith he called himself “the least of the Apostles.” Later in life his self-evaluation was that he was “the least of all the saints.” As he approached death his evaluation was that he was the “chief of sinners.” We may ask was Paul slipping backward in his Christian life rather than being progressively conformed to the image of Christ? I believe the answer is that as he grew in maturity he had a progressively better grasp of the Person of Chirst and an increasingly more accurate evaluation of his condition in light of the perfection of our savior.

Back To Basics

(This is Part 4 further exploring the wonderful metaphor of BallRoom Dancing, this time focusing on importance of the basics…)

Part 1 (I’m only the frame; she is the picture):
http://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/bob_pratico/2006/11/25/im_only_the_frame_she_is_is_the_picture

Part 2 (two-in-one with unity & diversity):
http://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/bob_pratico/2006/11/25/two_in_one_with_unity_diversity

Part 3 (Becoming a better dancer by yourself? Not gonna happen …)
http://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/bob_pratico/2006/11/25/becoming_a_better_dancer_by_yourself_not_gonna_happen

Consider maturity. We see various levels of maturity across society at any given moment: “immature” all the way to those that are considered “most mature”. We experience different rates of progression for maturity (i.e., we mature at different rates; some faster & some slower). We also see different pinnacles of maturity achieved by everyone (i.e., we do not all attain the same level of maturity.)

Society understands that certain processes are fundamental to maturity: training in morality, teaching of certain basic skills, assumption of responsibility, instilling of discipline, character molding, opportunities for service, etc. We observe that those individuals afforded this kind of training generally tend to both mature quicker and reach higher levels of maturity. We also observe that individuals without the benefit of exposure to these processes rarely mature to the same level as those afforded exposure to these processes - and tend to become selfish, unhappy, unfulfilled, and unproductive adults

I lost my voice.

Within hours of preaching yesterday I lost 90% of my speaking abilities. A speaker’s nightmare. Allergies? Cold? Bug? I’m not sure which is the culprit. As I woke this morning I considered the spiritual disciplines. In particular, I’ve thought about the discipline of solitude.

Look at Psalm 46:10
10 “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” NIV

10”Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” NASB