Presby-Musings

There's a strange notion that many people have when it comes to what they consider "spiritual" activities as opposed to "non-spiritual."  This contrast has also been described as the difference between what is "secular" and what is "sacred."   For example, going to church has often been classified as a "spiritual" or "sacred" activity, whereas meeting friends for dinner at the pub is described as "secular."   Some people might take this farther and extend the descriptions to vocation.  Being a pastor, for instance, is considered by many people to be a sacred vocation, whereas being a businessperson is considered a secular one.   I can't tell you how many times I've had conversations with people about their life of faith and they will say things to me like, "Well, I'm just a banker, not a pastor..." or "I'm only a stay at home mom, not a minister..."   The great Chri...

This week we are continuing the sermon series that will take us through the month of October--a series entitled, "Haunted."  The idea behind this series is something that we all share to some extent. No matter who you are, or what your background might be you have something in common with every other person who is sitting in here today:  At some point in time you have had something happen in your past that caused you pain.   Maybe you did something you regret.  Maybe you had doubts about your faith. Maybe you learned to be afraid.  Maybe you were hurt, wounded by someone.   And for many of us those experiences feel like they happened yesterday.  We've been haunted by them, and because we've been haunted by these experiences in our past, they are affecting how we handle our present, and perhaps are ruining our vision of the future.   Throughout this series we're going to be focusing on this simple, but life-changing truth: You ...

I've been thinking about some ways to share what I have been learning lately about personal reflection, Bible study and prayer.  If I had to distill my learnings down to one basic idea it would simply be this:   Without personal reflection, Bible study and prayer my life would be in a shambles. So with this in mind, I thought I would entitle this little series: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself.    Intrigued?  You bet you are. Today's installment has to do with Daily Devotions.  When I was a kid growing up in fundamentalist Christian world, the very best Christians were the ones who would pepper their conversations with phrases like: "Today when I was reading my Bible..." or "Can I just share something I learned today from my devotions...?"  or "I was just praying during my quiet time today and God was just in the room man..." These people always ticked me off.  I wanted to thump them with a Bible.  A really... big... Bible....