This is an updated version of a Bible study I did in 2006 on the role of the social part of the human being in spiritual formation in Christ. It is inspired by Dallas Willard’s book, Renovation of the Heart. This article on our social connections is part of a series from my class for counselors on…
God’s great universe is not an ethereal, fog-like realm way off in the clouds as a place we access in heaven or, if we’re among the fortunate few, in rare mystical experiences. Nor is it just ideas and principles that are true. It’s the ground of reality. It’s a place to live, the most wonderful…
Ask most Bible students what God’s grace is and they’ll answer, “undeserved favor.” Indeed, the Bible teaches that despite our sinfulness (rejecting God’s love and rule and failing to love people as God loves us), because of Christ’s death we are forgiven and have a credit of righteousness on our account before God. We are now…
Many Bible students miss the importance of Jesus’ Solitude and Silence. Every pastor, ministry leader, and caregiver — any disciple of Jesus! — needs to learn from Jesus’ example of intimacy with God. I don’t want to miss this! So I went back to the Gospel of Mark and did a Bible study on Jesus’…
The pastor’s wife is supposed to always look nice, smile, sit down in the front row of church, and agree with her husband. Her kids need to be model Christians. She needs to be ready to open her home to people in the church at any time and serve them. It’s good if she volunteers…
One of the great movie clips of all time is the scene of Eric Liddle running his 1924 Olympic race in Chariots of Fire. He wins the gold medal, finishing way ahead of everyone else. As he runs he’s clutching a piece of paper with a message from the Bible, looking up into the heavens, and laughing…
There are many ways to re-tell the Christmas story from the Bible. This collection of Christmas Bible verses are a simple way of telling the story of God coming to earth in Jesus Christ. It leads us on a journey of key Bible verses in chronological order. We’ve used these Christmas Bible verses in our…
People all around us today in our world and even in our churches “perish for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Knowing Christ is what brings us real life today and into eternity. In the ministry of Soul Shepherding we refer to knowing Christ as “Intimacy with Jesus” and we believe it is the most important…
In his Doctor of Ministry class for pastors Dallas Willard teaches that “The Gospel is a spiritual reality about a spiritual reality… the availability of life under the rule of the heavens.” Over 100 times in the Gospels Jesus preaches that he is making the Kingdom of the Heavens available. In his master key parable…
I lead a retreat called “A Walk with Good Shepherd.” I developed this in 2004 and have used it many times since then, most recently with a group at the Prince of Peace Abbey. You can use this handout to guide you in a time of Scripture meditation and prayer for a personal retreat or…