Song Sparrow; photo by GAC a "To depend on God is to be free of men, things, and self. It is to be able to take pleasure in all his gifts, without being the slave to any. It is to be able, as occasion demands, to spend and to save, to speak and to forbear, … Continue reading Quote of Note #150: Dependence on God
Tag: spiritual life
Quote of Note #130: Hungering for the Living God
photo by GAC "I often ask myself the question of when and why we pastors began to believe that our primary calling was to build the church. How did we come to believe that the people we encounter are primarily in the market for a church? How did we forget that they are probably more … Continue reading Quote of Note #130: Hungering for the Living God
Prayer Note #62: Holy Kindness/Kind Holiness
Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho; photo by GAC Father, it is so hard for me to hold your terrifying holiness and your gentle kindness together in my conception of you. My mind wavers and falls out of balance as I try to keep those true aspects of your character in healthy tension. Then you either become a … Continue reading Prayer Note #62: Holy Kindness/Kind Holiness
Prayer Note #61: The Interference of God–A Prayer
Lord, there is in mea reluctance tosit quietly andattentively inyour presence.I want tobusy myself withthings that givethe appearance ofa devotional life, butwhich are,in fact,just externalactivity—busyness—withoutinternal reality.Yet it isthe internal reality ofintimacy withyouthat is the crucial element. Reading C. S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy showed me something about myself. He speaks of how, as a child, … Continue reading Prayer Note #61: The Interference of God–A Prayer
Quote of Note #119: The Grace and Hope of Prayer
photo by GAC "Our hope depends not on the right technique or the proper phrase or gesture, which borders on magic, but on the promise of God to look with favor on those who throw themselves on his mercy and who acknowledge the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, for their … Continue reading Quote of Note #119: The Grace and Hope of Prayer
Quote of Note #71–Keeping Full of Christ
"The fact is, we are leaky vessels, and we have to keep right under the fountain all the time to keep full of Christ, and so have a fresh supply." Dwight L. Moody, Spiritual Power. Chicago: Moody Press, 1881/1997, page 49.
Quote of Note #58–Vibrancy of Spiritual Life in the Church
"Look at the New Testament Christian, look at the New Testament church, and you see it vibrant with a spiritual life, and, of course, it is always life that tends to lead to excesses. There is no problem of discipline in a graveyard; there is no problem very much in a formal church." Martyn Lloyd-Jones, … Continue reading Quote of Note #58–Vibrancy of Spiritual Life in the Church
Prayer Note #50 — Wandering
O my Lord and Father, I long for you. Year after year I have wandered after other food for my soul. But it was no food. It was poison. I could see that very clearly. I could see how it always diminished me. I withered. Yet, I persisted. But so did you. You persisted with … Continue reading Prayer Note #50 — Wandering
Pastor Note #47 — Living in Time, Living with God, Part 3: Disciplines of Christian Remembering
Time can seem like an enemy to us sometimes. Our lives flow away from us into the past. And as they do, they seem to slip through our fingers like sand. We can especially feel that way as we watch our children and then our grandchildren grow up and … Continue reading Pastor Note #47 — Living in Time, Living with God, Part 3: Disciplines of Christian Remembering
Prayer Note #18 — Holy Pleasures
You, O Lord, give blessings and fullness of pleasures. Your pleasures surpass all the little, passing pleasures of sin and self-service. Serving you is the richest form of pleasure, though my worldly eyes have trouble recognizing that. Correct my vision today and always, so that I will be able to see, recognize, and hunger after … Continue reading Prayer Note #18 — Holy Pleasures
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 