Spiritual Health
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Posted on January 10, 2012, 4:54 am
Topics: Getting Started, Spiritual Health
How do you start your deacon meetings? Would you be interested in devotions that explore your calling to this role, while helping you understand the charge to deacons? Diaconal Ministries of Canada has provided deacons with another great resource - Devotions for Deacons!
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Posted on December 19, 2011, 2:48 am
Topics: Spiritual Health
It's been said that 90% of life is just showing up. I realized this week that HOW we show up is important. I think many of us (myself included) need to take a good hard look at the attitudes we are bringing to the table when we enter a particular situation, because it affects waaaaaay more than just ourselves.
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Posted on November 29, 2011, 3:11 am | 1 comment
Topics: Roles, Spiritual Health
If God is present in each conversation we are having, can we allow his voice to be heard? Or are we too busy inputting our own opinions and advice to actually allow the Spirit to speak. What might happen if we became people who actually let God say what needs to be said...?
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Posted on November 1, 2011, 2:24 am | 3 comments
Topics: Spiritual Health
When we're running on empty, in overdrive, going from commitment to commitment, we barely seem to have time to sleep, let alone rest or take Sabbath time... but that's exactly what we need to do. We have to stop, and take a moment to ponder "is what I'm thinking, saying and doing WORTH thinking saying and doing?"
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Posted on September 20, 2011, 4:00 am
Topics: Roles, Spiritual Health
You're a nurturer, but are you being nurtured? Our culture tells us we need to be productive and efficient. Usually that means every minute of our day has to be filled with some commitment. The reality is that's not healthy, truthful, or the gospel.
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Posted on August 2, 2011, 10:35 am | 1 comment
Topics: Spiritual Health
We eagerly enter into diaconal ministry, thinking our eyes are wide open. Often we are surprised to realize how much work a deacon does! As the tasks find their way onto our plates, we try to create space for them. But what is being sacrificed for “the work of the church”?
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Posted on July 18, 2011, 10:50 am | 1 comment
Topics: Congregation, Spiritual Health
I know our journey to wholeness in Christ is a refining process; being purified in thought, word, deed and heart. But what if we find ourselves spinning our wheels in the mud of sin, not able to move forward? There are many people who are in this very situation. People who lay their burdens down, only to
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Posted on July 4, 2011, 9:38 pm | 4 comments
Topics: Community, Spiritual Health
Everything in our being craves shalom. This is why when we see people hurting, we want them to be free of their pain. We know it's not right. It's not what God intended. So, we try to rescue them, perhaps we even try to be their saviour... but is that what we're called to?
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Posted on June 1, 2010, 8:21 am
Topics: Spiritual Health
Is there any regular and routine setting in which the deacons are asked HOW they have ministered to the poor, and to the wealthy during the past month? Is the congregation regularly encouraged to tell stories about how they’ve lived out diaconal service? Are worship services planned regularly with references to diaconal messages, functions, roles, office? Is there a story to tell?
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Posted on May 17, 2010, 4:53 pm | 7 comments
Topics: Spiritual Health
Would it be possible for two deacons to agree to meet regularly for prayer, for study of diaconal Bible themes, and for mutual encouragement? I wonder what God would do
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Posted on January 26, 2010, 1:10 pm
Topics: Spiritual Health
Prayer and Bible study – of course! But time management? Setting boundaries? Staying healthy spiritually and emotionally is vital for those who serve. Here’s brief but golden advice to help you with this top priority in your diaconal life.
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Posted on November 24, 2009, 2:00 am
Topics: Spiritual Health
Oh my aching comfort zone! This morning my file folder ripped and a bunch of stuff filed out onto the floor. There was an article by Plantinga on how do we know if we are REALLY -- I mean REALLY -- real followers of Jesus. What it comes down to is whether I'm willing to pay the COST. Do my "good deeds" COST me something?
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Posted on September 1, 2009, 2:00 am
Topics: Spiritual Health
"We are always on the road..." John Calvin. That's a Calvin quote from the Christianity Today of September 2009. When I read Meehan's book on Calvin, I was surprised to discover that Calvin had lived a chunk of his life on the run, fearing persecution, worshipping in caves sometimes.
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Posted on August 3, 2009, 2:00 am
Topics: Spiritual Health
Could this be the moment? I get a little uneasy when I hear people talking so glibly about "kairos moments". So I hesitate to even suggest one may be upon us, BUT....Consider this cluster of stuff that has sort of congealed in my consciousness recently: there's the employment and foreclosure crisis as background to remind us of...
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