In the Coracle

What is Christian Spiritual Direction?

January 17th, 2010, No Comments

I’ve been dong some reading on spiritual direction to prepare for an upcoming adventure with a friend, and I wanted to share some of what I’ve found.
The next two quotes are good words on spiritual direction from a uniquely Christian perspective, from SDI World.

The whole purpose of spiritual direction is to penetrate beneath the surface [...]

SOF Observed – A Culture of Availability to Everybody But…

April 14th, 2009, No Comments

A Culture of Availability to Everybody But Yourself?
Trent Gilliss, Online Editor
Perhaps this TEDtalk gets at the heart of the matter. In the second half of our upcoming show with Jon Kabat-Zinn (first available in podcast on Thursday morning), he argues, to some degree, that the accelerated pace of technology and its significance in our lives [...]

The Big Takeover : Rolling Stone

March 24th, 2009, No Comments

Rolling Stone magazine published the following incindiary article about the global financial crisis.  It’s well worth reading, whether you agree or disagee with their premise.
The global economic crisis isn’t about money – it’s about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution
via The Big Takeover : Rolling Stone.

Social Monday: 3 Things Every Church Member Should Know About Social Media « NewsMuse

March 23rd, 2009, No Comments

Will Boyd writes about social media and the church.  Because I’m using social media all the time, and my dissertation appears to be taking the track of a social media project, this is interesting to me, and I suspect it will be for you also.  
Excerpt here, read more at the link below.
With all of [...]

Reclaiming the Mission » Instilling Missional Habits in a Congregation – As You Walk Among Your Community

March 20th, 2009, No Comments

David Fitch is doing some excellent work on the area of missional church and what church means in our culture.  His book The Great Giveaway is highly recommended, and his blog (linked below) is good too.
The following is the introduction to an entry David wrote about how we can ask congregations to refocus themselves from [...]

The coming evangelical collapse | csmonitor.com

March 13th, 2009, 3 Comments

Michael Spencer (the Internet Monk) writes a provocative piece on the future of evangelicalism.  I agree that there’s a large transition ahead, but not sure that it’s quite as apocalyptic as what he believes.
We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the [...]

Stimulus Packages From Around the World | jordoncooper.com

December 21st, 2008, 1 Comment

How much money is being spent around the world on various stimulus packages?  And in the US, how much money are we  committing, historically speaking?
USA :: Well, according to some sources, to put the bailout dollar amounts into proper historical perspective. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American [...]

Another Thought on Busyness

December 11th, 2008, No Comments

Via Bob at Pastorhacks
“…Pastors and Christian leaders seem to be as caught up in the culture of busyness as anyone else. A full 65 percent of pastors (right up there with lawyers, managers and nurses) are among the most likely to rush from task to task in a way that interferes with their relationship with [...]

On Thomas Merton on the 40th anniversary of his death

December 10th, 2008, No Comments

Entry quoted in whole from inward/outward, an expression of Church of the Saviour in DC.
By Joan Chittister
December 10 is the 40th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death. There is a story that may best explain the influence and the place of Thomas Merton in contemporary society and spiritual development.
Once upon a time some disciples begged their [...]

Why is New Monasticism on the Rise?

November 20th, 2008, 8 Comments

Folks often ask me why I, a failed missional church planter who lives in a single family home in the exurbs with a low likelihood of moving into multifamily housing any time soon, is so profoundly struck by monasticism, both old and new.  I usually can’t answer the question in any other way than by [...]