This week I welcome guest blogger, Jeff Byerly. Jeff is my pastoral colleague, friend, ThD classmate, and traveling partner! He and his wife Tasha have two daughters, a son-in-law and new grandbaby! As we continue studying the lament of Psalm 137, the psalmist recalls the vicious attack from Israel’s enemies that led to Israel’s captivity.Continue reading “How to have hope amidst evil in the world – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 4”
Monthly Archives: November 2023
How lament provides empathy in our despair – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 3
This week I welcome guest blogger, Jeff Byerly. Jeff is my pastoral colleague, friend, ThD classmate, and traveling partner! He and his wife Tasha have two daughters, a son-in-law and new grandbaby! In the first post, I mentioned the zeitgeist that we seem to be under—with things beyond our control. It’s always been this way,Continue reading “How lament provides empathy in our despair – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 3”
When life is bitter pill – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 2
This week I welcome guest blogger, Jeff Byerly. Jeff is my pastoral colleague, friend, ThD classmate, and traveling partner! He and his wife Tasha have two daughters, a son-in-law and new grandbaby! As I mentioned in the previous post, we will turn our hearts toward lament in order to turn our heads upward toward God’sContinue reading “When life is bitter pill – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 2”
How lament turns our weariness into hope – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 1
This week I welcome guest blogger, Jeff Byerly. Jeff is my friend, pastoral colleague, ThD classmate, and traveling partner! He and his wife Tasha have two daughters, a son-in-law and new grandbaby! What in the world is going on these days? I remember sitting in my doctoral studies just a few years ago … priorContinue reading “How lament turns our weariness into hope – Advent Psalms of Lament, Part 1”
Introducing the Advent 2023 blog series
If you were at Faith Church this Sunday November 26, 2023, you would see our sanctuary floor lights shining the color now purple, as this Sunday is the First Sunday of the Christian Season of Advent. Why do we use the color purple for Advent? When I see the color purple in the sanctuary, IContinue reading “Introducing the Advent 2023 blog series”
Resources for learning how to …Pray in the Spirit, Part 5
This week we have been learning what it means to pray in the Spirit. There are some helpful resources I would recommend. For the beginning of the day: The Daily Prayer services in the Book of Common Prayer. For the end of the day: St. Ignatius’ Prayer of Examen. It has five steps. There areContinue reading “Resources for learning how to …Pray in the Spirit, Part 5”
What to do when praying seems difficult or impossible – Praying in the Spirit, Part 4
When my wife and I are sitting on the sofa in the evening, and she is talking, I will admit to you that sometimes I fall asleep. Not good. She is gracious. Not necessarily happy about it. But gracious. I will also admit to you that when I practice meditative prayer, gazing on the beautyContinue reading “What to do when praying seems difficult or impossible – Praying in the Spirit, Part 4”
How to have two-way communication with God – Praying in the Spirit, Part 3
More than praying through lists, we were built to commune with God. He doesn’t want us to be like the spouse that just gives him a to-do list (as I mentioned in this post). God created us for communication, for a two-way relational conversation, not just with other humans, but also with him. He createdContinue reading “How to have two-way communication with God – Praying in the Spirit, Part 3”
What I learned in a prayer class about…Praying in the Spirit, Part 3
In my sophomore year of Bible college I took a class on Prayer, and we had to pray for 30 minutes every day. 30 minutes! That sounded impossibly long. My history with prayer as a child and teenager, for the most part was those 5 minute or shorter prayer sessions, where I did all theContinue reading “What I learned in a prayer class about…Praying in the Spirit, Part 3”
To-Do Lists and…Praying in the Spirit, Part 1
There was a husband and wife who were having marital difficulties. One of the spouses would wake up in the morning, lean over to their spouse and start listing what they wanted the spouse to do that day. The list wouldn’t take long to recite. Maybe five minutes at most. Some days less. Some daysContinue reading “To-Do Lists and…Praying in the Spirit, Part 1”
Engaging Scripture 