Before Praying….

December 17, 2008

Last Wednesday evening I was reminded by Terry Smith of a wonderful summary of worship from William Temple, Archbishop of Cantebury (1942-1944). It was Temple’s vision of how liturgical community can help spiritually form a person. Terry first heard it from E. H. Ijams who, at the time, was an elder at the Highland Church […]


Forgiving God: A Testimony

December 11, 2008

Last Saturday evening Jennifer and I attended a 5th-8th talent show at the Lipscomb Campus School.  It was almost three hours long, but had several excellent performances.  However, it was long. About thirty minutes into the program, I began to feel uncomfortable.  Something was gnawing at me. My insides were pushing me to run, to […]


Beyond (Before?) Theological Hermeneutics V

July 11, 2008

One last post on spiritual or contemplative reading of Scripture….I think. Afterwards, I will take a weekend break from blogging to enjoy some time with my wife. “Praying the Psalms” has been a intermittent habit of mine. Sometimes I have devoted myself to it and at other times I have laid it aside. As I […]


Beyond (Before) Theological Hermeneutics IV

July 10, 2008

I admit it.  I lied.  I said this would be a three post series, but I wanted to add a another form of communal spiritual reading that I have enjoyed on many occasions in the past five years. It is called–at least as I know it–“Dwelling in the Word.”  There are several good resources available on […]


Beyond (Before?) Theological Hermeneutics III

July 9, 2008

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was enriched by attending a session on contemplative spirituality at Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration led by Randy Harris, Rhonda Lowry and Gary Holloway.  In this post I will describe how Gary Holloway reminded me of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina which has been part of my spiritual meditations off […]


Beyond (Before?) Theological Hermeneutics II

July 8, 2008

Last Friday, July 4, I attended a session on contemplative spirituality led by Randy Harris, Rhonda Lowry and Gary Holloway at Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. These three along with Jackie Halstead lead a seminar on deepening spiritualitysponsored by New Wineskins.  I have not yet participated in the program but I know some who have. I have […]