Living life with steps of faith

Days of Fire and Glory:The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community by Julia Duin My rating: 4 of 5 stars In a narrative style that is enriched with journalistic touches, Washington Times writer, Julia Duin writes about the birth of the 1960s charismatic movement in Houston, Texas and its growth all the way to its demise in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She writes of the power of community and the joys of life experienced through Holy Spirit inspired personal sacrifice. She also hints throughout the book to the dangers of such power not being held in check and warns of how leaders lacking accountability can lead to the demise of a community. She writes historically and she writes theologically. This book would be great for anyone who is interested in church history, movements of the Spirit, church leadership, or community living. I also encourage the reading of this book by anyone who has encountered the charismatic movement but has been left confused by this encounter. Good read. ...

Yesterday I finished my first book since graduating from seminary. Ahhh, refreshing! It feels good to read again just to read. No assignments, no papers, no exams, just personal pleasure and growth. It feels so good that I am back to my pre-seminary habit of reading more than one book at a time, each from a different genre. I'm reading Richard Foster's, "Celebration of Discipline" at about one or two pages a day, for my own spiritual growth. My husband and I are reading together Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," for the sure pleasure and shared laugh that Moore offers. And I just completed, Julia Duin's "Days of Fire and Glory: The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community." Julia actually sent me this book about a year ago and we finally met today to discuss it. I actually have several books on my "to-read" list that I have been given by authors. I've started several of...

I think it is interesting that only a little over 1/3 of women surveyed think abortions are morally acceptable, while about 70% of all people surveyed think divorce is acceptable. Why are the conservatives spending so much time fighting against homosexuality - shouldn't they be saying something about divorce?

As a pastor, one of my responsibilities, or should I say roles, is to help bring people back into communion or connection with God. Richard J. Foster in "Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth" writes, "The truth of the matter is that the great God of the universe, the Creator of all things desires our fellowship. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve talked with God and God talked with them--they were in communion. Then came the Fall, and in an important sense there was a rupture of the sense of perpetual communion, for Adam and Eve hid from God. But God continued to reach to his rebellious children, and in stories of such persons as Cain, Abel, Noah, and Abraham we see God speaking and acting, teaching and guiding."

29 Minutes for 29 Miners: Unplug to Remember Lives Lost Type: Causes - Rally Date: Thursday, April 29, 2010 Time: 7:00pm - 7:30pm Location: Everywhere and Anywhere Description At the end of every plug and light switch, thousands of hard workers are toiling away in the dark in order to keep our lights on. On April 29th remember the cherished lives of the 29 people who died in the April 5th Upper Big Branch mine disaster by powering down from 7 to 7:29 pm EST. Unplug electronics, switch off your lights, or turn off your cell phone. Let's honor those who provide the fuel for over half of our electricity! Please help me to promote this event by adding a similar post to your blog and encouraging others to do the same! Just one blog post - pretty simple! In January I went on an immersion study trip to eastern Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains. The team that I joined was made up of seminary students from across the country. We wanted to do something in response to the recent mine d...

This morning as I took a shower I dream about a sermon series I will do once I am the pastor of a church. It was a series that would take place in the summer and the theme would be bio-ethics. I thought about how I would start collecting information in different files for different possible sermon topics, speakers I would have come for an adult Sunday afternoon VBS, and a fun children's Sunday School/VBS curriculum that I could design. Switching between regions of the United States gives me access to whole new kind of resource. My current job has connected me with Christians who are experts in their fields and have learned how to integrate their faith with their work. There is a gift in this. But there is also a gift in my home region and that is a sense of stability and intimacy among a Christian community. In that region I imagine myself doing sermon series that go deeper into one's spiritual walk in a different way. I would still do a bioethics series, but it would probab...