Prayer of Surrender and Grace [audio]
What are the words that have formed you? That's what I had the opportunity to contemplate and meditate on as I prepared to preach last Sunday - as I focused on a prayer that is a part of my life.
Be Filled with the Helper
Much of what I aim to cultivate in this space is focused on the inward journey, however, really, the heart behind Simply on Mission is the outward journey: sharing the love and grace of God in a way that overflows from a place of true identity. In other words, it looks like compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and grace in our relationships and how we engage the world (i.e. being close to the brokenhearted, remembering the poor, standing with the oppressed and downtrodden, etc.). The thing is: we are used to doing. Especially in our western culture, we measure our worth by our literal or metaphorical resumés, and when we do that, we often begin to believe the lies of [...]
A House That Points to Home
This month our family relocated to a new house. The previous rental where we had been at is being sold, and while we like that place, we had to begin searching for a new locale to lay our heads. We began praying, and we began looking, and something just right opened up in a way that we knew it wasn't us or luck. One of the great joys of praying and listening for the Lord's voice, is that the Lord speaks. Sometimes it's through circumstances in such a way that you sense a wink and a smile coming from the One whom you've been speaking to. This transition has brought me to meditate on how we [...]
Following the Relaxed Rabbi: simplifying the heart
Bill Gaultiere, founder of Soul Shepherding, Inc. and mentee of Dallas Willard, shared a story on his website of an interaction that he had with Dallas. In Dallas' office at USC, Dallas asked him the question, "If you had one word to describe Jesus, what would it be?" There of course are so many words that come to mind to describe Jesus, and after a good length of silence in which Bill was able to contemplate, he asked Dallas what his one word would be. Dallas' answer: "relaxed." Relaxed. It has been a powerful paradigm shift for me as I've been grasping the picture of Jesus as the most relaxed person you'll ever meet. Time and time [...]