Following Jesus or the Pharisees? A 10 Point Check
In Christian circles it is usually considered a significant insult to suggest that someone is a Pharisee. Knowing the hard time these religious leaders gave to Jesus, and the harsh words he said about them in Matthew 23 – well, who would want to be a Pharisee? Yet if the essence of being a Pharisee is being legalistic and harshly zealous about faith, quick to dismiss others as beyond the pale and even quicker to declare oneself righteous, many would suggest that there are more than a fair few Christians who fall into this category. Now obviously they couldn’t mean either you or me, but...
Read MoreWhen mental health is the issue…
Most of us are sympathetic when family or friends face an obvious physical ailment. We are often a lot less certain how to respond when it is a mental health issue. Yet all the statistics indicate that large numbers of people struggle in this realm. It’s something we talk about too little. Pleasingly, and going against the trend of silence, the latest edition of the Advocate is devoted to exploring issues of mental health. For those not familiar with the Advocate, it is an award winning Perth based Christian newspaper produced on a monthly basis. I write a regular column for it (and it...
Read MorePracticing the presence of people…
You might well be familiar with Brother Lawrence’s classic The Practice of the Presence of God – a wonderful text on becoming aware of God in the everyday. But what do you think about practicing the presence of people. At my home church (Carey Baptist) we are currently working through Peter Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and on Sunday it was my turn to speak, the topic springing from chapter 9 of the book, ‘Growing into a mature adult: Learning new skills to love well.’ It is in this chapter that Scazzero speaks of ‘the spiritual discipline...
Read MoreRedeeming Emotions…
Most studies of emotion suggest that there are seven basic human emotions, and that in one way or another, all emotions fit within the categories of anger, anxiety, surprise, trust, grief, fear and love – well that’s Diane Raymond’s list. Humintell suggests they are anger, contempt, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise – so there is some overlap, although they are hardly identical lists. Apparently a combination of basic emotions leads to secondary emotions. Thus another site (which suggests there are six not seven basic emotions – happiness, anger,...
Read MoreWhen weak is strong…
At Carey we are running a series on emotionally healthy spirituality based on Peter Scazzero’s book of that title. It was my turn to speak this week, and I looked at his chapter on hitting the wall. The message was based on 2Cor 12:1-10 and focused on the Pauline paradox in 2 Cor 12:10 For when I am weak, then I am strong. Clearly this flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Here are the notes I spoke from… You’ve probably heard the Mae West quip: “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.” How would you complete this one? I’ve been strong and I’ve been weak… It’s a...
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