Author Archives: NRCC
The Third Leg of the Journey to Oneness (3)
If we don’t think about the end of a thing, we rarely get the beginning or middle right. If we don’t think about where a journey is going, we rarely point ourselves in the right direction.
A lot of words are said in the our religion. A lot of energies are focused. A lot of interpretations of what is the right and true way to be Christian. But if we say those words, focus those energies, or make those interpretations without reference to the whole point of the spiritual life, odds are we won’t get them right.
And look around, good Christian. We’re not getting much right these days.
So in today’s lesson, let’s think together, a bit, about the point of this whole journey. Continue reading
Posted in The Journey to Oneness
Tagged Repairers of the earth, selflessness, service, virtue
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The Third Leg of the Journey to Oneness (2)
History is a funny thing. People tend to remain the same, but cultures don’t. As Christians, we have missed an important part of our history. We started in a Middle-Eastern, Hebrew worldview, but around 325 AD, we migrated into a Greco-Roman one.
And scriptures written in one worldview, don’t always translate well into the other.
In this lesson, I suggest that Jesus’ story about the sheep and goats didn’t translate well at all. Since it has been so influential in the way we Christians see our world, we ought to have a second look at it. Continue reading
Posted in The Journey to Oneness
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The Third Leg of the Journey to Oneness (1)
We long for a world (albeit an impractical one) where everyone gets along and there are no wars or suffering. We comfort ourselves about not having this as our reality by turning Jesus into a “poet”. His words are often interpreted almost as if they were dreams or lofty goals.
When Jesus describes “eternal life”, we think of it in a similar manner as being something supernatural and not available in the present. But the phrase “eternal life” should actually be translated as “life that springs from the eternal” and part of this is the journey from two-ness to one-ness. Jesus prays in John 17 that we “would be one with the Father”. The oneness with God is the deepest dimension of each of us. Continue reading
Posted in The Journey to Oneness
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I’ve Been on a Walk
I have been on a 16-day long walk along the MST. The purpose was solitude, quiet and prayer. I tell my story of my walk and the few people I met along the way to the kids at NRCC. by … Continue reading
Posted in Individual Lesson
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Sermon 4/21
NRCC Sermon for April 21 by Scott Shackleton [Download mp3]
Posted in Individual Lesson
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Sermon 4/14
Belonging in the Dance by George Fuller [Download mp3]
Posted in Dancing With the Divine, Individual Lesson
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On Solitude and The Journey to Oneness
I’m going on a walk. (details). The purpose of the walk is the ancient practice of solitude. It is one of the contemplative practices we talk about that works with the deconstructive process that is part of the Journey to … Continue reading
Posted in The Journey to Oneness
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, oneness, silence, solitude, spiritual journey
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Easter 2013
John 12:24
“Timeless truth I speak to you: Unless a grain of wheat falls and dies in the ground, it remains alone, but if it dies, it yields much fruit.”
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Posted in Easter
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The Journey to Oneness (7): Prepare for the Great Unraveling!
If the death to ego-as-self is an inevitable part of the spiritual journey, is there a way we could work with it, instead of resisting it when it comes?
I think so. Continue reading
Posted in The Journey to Oneness
Tagged consumerism, fear, oneness, pain/suffering, Resurrection, true/false self, virtue, wilderness
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NRCC Spring 2013 Community Meeting
Doug Hammack, George Fuller and Scott Shackleton give us some insight into where we are currently and where we plan to be going as a community. [Download mp3]
Posted in Community Meeting
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