Personal Development on Reflection

illustration

We Learn from Reflection on Experience, not Experience Alone

Author

Keywords

One simple sentence, from my first pastoral supervisor, has significantly shaped how I seek to discern God’s personal will. Each Wednesday during my first year of congregational ministry, we met to re...

illustration

A Life Re-Defined by The Spirit of God

Author

Mark Labberton

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:36-38, Acts 8:29-31, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 10:3-6, Acts 10:1-48, Acts 9:17-18, Acts 9:3-6

In his excellent book on worship, The Dangerous Act of Worship , pastor and president of Fuller Seminary Mark Labberton shares a story of the transformation of one of his former congregants: Ben ...

illustration

Stuck in the Houses Our Words Construct

Author

Gregory Spencer

Keywords

Scripture

James 3:5-6, Psalm 19:14, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Proverbs 18:21, Romans 12:2

All day long, all of us are framing and reframing our lives. We talk about the memory of our adorable but sexist grandpa. We label ourselves as movie critics or introverts or justice-lovers. We say th...

illustration

Daring to Glance

Author

Terry Linhart

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 12:15, 1 Corinthians 13:12, James 1:22-25, Psalm 19:12, Proverbs 14:12, Jeremiah 17:9, 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

One helpful, practical tool to understand our blind spot is what’s called the Johari Window, an image developed as a counseling tool in the 1950s. Subjects were given a list of fifty-six adjectives, a...

Quote

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 18:13–24, 1 Kings 19:4–9, Isaiah 30:15, Mark 6:30–32, Romans 12:1–2, Psalm 139:23–24

On retreat we stop avoiding the pain of the disconnect between our deepest desires and the way we are actually living. We have time and space to reflect on our life rhythms to see if they are really w...

illustration

The Importance of Building Margin Into your Life

Author

Daniel Im

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 18:13-24 , Leviticus 25:1-7, 1 Kings 19:4-12, Mark 6:30-32 , Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 46:10

[D]o you have margin in your life, like the white spaces between these words and the edges of the page? Having margin is about intentionally scheduling white space in your calendar to pray, rest, read...

illustration

Study Your Own Failures

Author

Arthur C. Brooks

Keywords

Studying your own failures as well can make them seem less earth-shattering. One researcher suggested in a 2010 article in Nature that people maintain a “CV of failures,” a written list of the things ...

Quote

Author

Harper Lee

Keywords

The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.

Quote

Author

G. K. Chesterton

Keywords

The modern world has had far too little understanding of the art of keeping young. Its notion of progress has been to pile one thing on top of another, without caring if each thing was crushed in turn...

Quote

Author

Rick Warren

Keywords

One of the ways we reflect God's love and bring him glory is to accept each other just as he accepts us. This means we accept others' quirks and look past their faults in order to see a person...

liturgy

Gracious God, today we think of those

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Gracious God, today we think of those we have ignored when they were suffering, excluded when they different, written off when they were difficult, harassed when they were our enemies. We take this mo...

liturgy

Loving God, we reflect on the times

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Loving God**, we reflect on the times when we took too long to obey you. Give us courage next time.(silent reflection)** Merciful God**, we reflect on the instances where we failed to see your leadin...

liturgy

We confess our sins to you, today, O

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

We confess our sins to you, today, O Lord. We confess that we sometimes find it difficult to believe that you are actually involved in our day-to-day experiences, that you actually impact our circumst...

illustration

A Shaman Decides to Practice What He Preaches

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:3-5, 1 Peter 5:3, James 3:1, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Matthew 23:3

There once was a popular shaman in India whom people would seek out for advice. People would stand in line for hours, waiting to hear the choices they should make in their lives or the changes that wo...

blog

Sabbath for Pastors: Why Is It So Hard to Rest?

Author

Dan Baumgartner

Keywords

If you are a pastor…this one’s for you. Sabbath. So many things have been written. Most of us have taught our people or preached about Sabbath, and underscored how busy people in our churches re...

blog

The Unhurried Word: A Devotional Practice for Pastors

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:105, Romans 15:4, 1 Peter 2:2, Job 23:12, Psalm 119:11, Colossians 3:16, Deuteronomy 8:3, Psalm 1:2

An Unhurried Practice: Reading Scripture Slowly One of the disciplines that has been an important part of my spiritual journey over the years is reading and reflecting on Scripture. In recent years,...

illustration

If I asked you the same question I asked my patient

Author

Curt Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:18-25, Ruth 1:16-18, 1 Kings 19:9-13 , Psalm 27:4, John 20:24-29, Luke 24:13-35

If I asked you the same question I asked my patient Aaron—“What do you want?”—and you could for a moment put aside the predictable anxiety that comes with it, I’m confident that at some point in your ...

blog

An Invitation to an Unhurried Lent

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

Finding Grace in Lent The practice of Lent has become a place of grace for me over the last number of years. While some feel that Lent is a failure to recognize that our salvation is rooted in gr...

illustration

Harry Potter’s Dementors & Depression

Author

Mark Meynell

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:29-31, Job 3:25-26, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, John 16:33, Psalm 34:17-18

When J. K. Rowling created the Harry Potter universe, she naturally drew on her own experiences to flesh it out. This is true even for such alarming creatures as ‘dementors’. These are soulless beings...

blog

Waking Up to the Illusion of Control

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

With the New Year comes resolutions. But are your resolutions an attempt to assert control over your life, rather than submit to God's transformational plans? Alan Fadling offers his wisdom as a p...

illustration

SEALS and Christian Mission

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 6:1-8

The US Navy SEALs are widely regarded as one of the most, if not the most, elite and effective fighting forces in the world. They are sent to do the most unique, complex, difficult, and critical missi...

blog

Good Friday | Psalm 22 | Forsaken and Alone

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 22:

Reflection The television series Alone follows ten individuals who are left to fend for themselves and by themselves in the wilderness. Now, these aren’t everyday individuals plucked from Main St...

blog

Preventing Pastoral Burnout: How to Cope with Overwhelm

Author

Alan Briggs

Keywords

A Leadership Coach’s Perspective I make it a habit to study what’s happening in churches across the country. I get the honor of coaching some incredible pastors, so I need to stay fresh. Any time I’m...

liturgy

God of healing, we look for you in all

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

John 9:1-7, Mark 8:22-25, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Psalm 146:8, Isaiah 55:8-9, Luke 24:13-32, Acts 9:1-19

God of healing, we look for you in all the wrong places. We assume we have figured out how you are at work. Because of this, we miss out on seeing your glory, and we fail to join with you as partners ...

liturgy

God of justice, you repeatedly call us

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

God of justice, you repeatedly call us to action, but we so often fail to respond. Your word convicts us, demonstrating that inaction is just as sinful as the wrong actions. Lord of mercy, forgive us ...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, you are faithful, even

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Heavenly Father, you are faithful, even when we are not. We look to the examples of our parents, and they often fall short. We, too, fall short when we consider the legacy we pass on to our children, ...

liturgy

Holy God–Father, Son and Spirit: We

Holy God–Father, Son and Spirit: We come with our agendas in order to enlist you in our causes but You won’t be co-opted for our small visions. Instead, You hold out a greater vision and purpose and i...

liturgy

How quickly our loyalties fade, oh God.

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

How quickly our loyalties fade, oh God. We proclaim you are our Lord, but lives do not reflect that truth. We pay you homage when it’s easy, but live our own way when we feel like it. We praise you to...

liturgy

Lord Almighty, you tell us that if we

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 11:27-34

Lord Almighty, you tell us that if we have a quarrel with another, we are to make amends before coming to worship. We seek your mercy today – for all of us live at odds with others to varying degrees....

liturgy

Gracious God, forgive us for when we

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Gracious God, forgive us for when we fail to recognize the destructive power of mental illness. Every day we are surrounded by people with real emotional and mental difficulties that we ignore. We con...

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

blog

blog

illustration

blog

illustration

blog

illustration

blog

blog

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos