A Fresh Way to Engage Scripture

Ever feel dry and dusty in your approach to the Bible? Ever feel like the way you've engaged the scriptures has become boring? Routine?

Here's a new way I picked up from my friend Jim Clark, pastor (priest) at St. Barnabas on the Desert in Scottsdale, AZ. Jim calls this approach, which he developed, "The Art of Engaging Holy Scripture." You can read more about it on his website, churchtoyou.org.

Warning: This is not your standard evangelical Bible study approach, and it will take you longer than 10 minutes. But if you're hungry, and willing to start as a beginner, you might just make some amazing connections with Father-Son-Spirit.

1. Begin with a simple prayer: [For example: “Heavenly Father (or whatever name you use for God), I come to this story (your Bible reading for the day) as a starting place for a conversation with you. I seek to be present to myself and to you, even though I’m uncertain what this means. Amen.”]

2. Read the selected passage and make observations. Note what you notice. There’s no right or wrong thing to notice…everything is about what you bring to the story and how the story impacts you. Just write in your journal what you notice.

3. Be attentive to whatever in the passage attracts your attention or draws you in — for negative or positive reasons. Usually this will be one of, or a combination of, the things you have noticed.

4. Allow what has attracted you to form itself into a response that you offer to God in prayer – however inadequate you might imagine that prayer is.

5. Then listen for the Holy Spirit to respond to you. This is where journaling becomes really valuable. It slows us down so that we can be more open and receptive to listen. Often as we are writing our response to God as a prayer, we intuit the response of the Spirit from within.

6. Now that you have offered your response in prayer, and the Spirit has responded to you, you are likely to have another response to the Spirit. Allow this to become a conversation. Often there will be two or three exchanges that will end in a very personal wisdom insight to you from the Spirit.

7. As your conversation draws to a close, simplify the kernel or theme of it into a brief phrase of one to three words. Let this be “the word” to you throughout your day.

That is, pause from time to time during the day and “be with” this “word” to you. Here we don’t just think about it or remember it or commit to do something. Rather, we become re-connected with the Spirit. Very much like remembering a special moment with a friend or loved one. Remembering the moment brings their presence back. So as we ruminate upon this “word,” as we roll it around in our mind and heart, we refresh our experience with the Spirit. We become re-connected. Re-centered. Re-anchored.

8. Before your engaging is over, allow yourself to be drawn into and rest in Christ’s presence in silence.

As our conversations with the Spirit mature, we realize there is something more than just these conversations. Actually much more. The mysterious Presence of the Spirit of Jesus is becoming known to us. The Spirit is, for sure, a mystery. Where It comes from and where It goes we do not know, but we do intuit or sense the Spirit’s Presence. We have become and are becoming awakened to the Spirit within.

We also find we are drawn into and toward the Spirit. This Presence is more, much more than the content of our conversation. It is Life. And we know it; we sense or intuit it. So we put everything down – our Bible, our pen, our journal. Close our eyes, take a deep breath, allow our “word” to help us be present, and then in silence let our self go into the Presence of the Spirit. We stop our inner dialogue and just let our self go and sink into the Spirit.

If we become distracted by exterior noises or by our thoughts, we recall our “word” and allow it bring us back to this simple Presence. Then, again, we sink into the Presence of the Spirit in silence. No words. No thoughts. No imaginations. Just interior silence resting in Christ’s Presence within.

9. When your resting in silence is over, simply say the “Amen.” Or, perhaps, end your time of prayerfully engaging the Scriptures with the Lord’s Prayer or some other brief prayer.

What ways of engaging scripture help you experience God? What might it be like to try this way?

Join Me in Giving Thanks?

I'm giving thanks today for the goodness of God, the beauty of creation, and the love of God revealed to us in Jesus. I'm using "The General Thanksgiving" from the Book of Common Prayer as a guide for my expression. Here's that prayer...

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. 

We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. 

And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, 
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, 
not only with our lips, but in our lives, 
by giving up our selves to your service, 
and by walking before you 
in holiness and righteousness all our days; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, 
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

What prayer or work of art or nature helps shape your expression of thankfulness?

What Makes This Friday Good?

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 1 Peter 1:18-20

How are you honoring Jesus this Good Friday?

Art by Ivan Glazunov

Do As You Can

You might not be at the top of your game today. Every day is not an up day. Maybe your biorhythm is off. Maybe the weather is too cloudy or you didn't sleep well. Okay, fine. But don't give up. Don't quit. Don't stop short.

Do as you can, not as you can't.

• Love your wife as you can.
• Do the work you can do.
• Make the call you can make.
• Do the run you can do.
• Say the prayer you can say.
• Write the letter you can write.
• Give your child the time you can give.
• Meet with the client that you can meet with.

Tomorrow will probably be a better day. Today does not have to be a total loss.

Do as you can, not as you can't.

What can you do today? 

Hail the Goodness of God

What is God like? Is God good? Does God care? How do we know?

John Eldredge was the first to help me see that part of the serpent's lie to Eve and Adam was that God is holding out on humans, that God's heart can't be trusted. How do we combat this deception?

I'll hold off on writing a treatise on the nature of God in a blog post (whew!), but how about a couple verses of scripture that illuminate the goodness of God?

Here we go...

Psalm 104:14 - God "makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate - bringing forth food from the earth: (now notice this next part) wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart." 

Here's what I see in the poet's words: We can see God's goodness in giving the animals their food and in giving people both the capaciity to work the land, to farm and steward the soil (agriculture, viticulture, etc.) - and to gain a harvest of what brings us strength - the work itself; the results of good work; and some of the prime blessings of the good life - wine, olive oil, and bread.

How about that?!

The next time you did your bread into olive oil and take a sip of wine, consider that you're partaking of the goodness of God. The next time you go to work and do your work, consider that you're swimming in the goodness of God.

And speaking of bread and wine and God's goodness, how about Luke 22:17-20 - "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you'.... In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'"

This is my body, given for you....This is my blood, poured out for you.

There it is; the goodness of God!

Jesus took bread and wine from the passover meal, declared it to be his own body and blood, and said that his broken body and poured out blood would be "for us." 

Jesus, 'for us.' Offering his life for us. The One-who-knew-no-rebellion against God, taking upon himself the shame and punishment for all our rebellion. 

Hail the goodness of the God of the Bible!

Which scripture verses speak to you of the goodness of God?