Tag Archives: Advent
Advent 2010: Home for Christmas
At Christmas time, being home is a value for many. But what is “home?” We long for it, but it’s a moving target. The people and things we associate with “home” are always changing, so “home” never stays the same. We long for something that is always evaporating away.
So how do we live? Continue reading
Advent 2010: On Roosters and Readiness
One of the most moving stories I’ve read comes from a memoir of a minister who lived about the time I was born. It involves a rooster and his great shame.
It also involves a call to us for readiness and redemption.
Continue reading
Good Power vs. Bad: Insiders and Outsiders
Continuing our look at good and bad power, we turn to how one comes to be a user of the former. How do we become good-power people? Jesus had a lot to say about power, and critical to his teaching was an understanding that successful people, in-group people, tend to become so inwardly focused, they miss the big issues, and trip into the use of bad power. Continue reading
Posted in Good Power vs. Bad
Tagged Advent, comfort, discernment, humility, Love, Mission, power, tolerance, transformation
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Good Power vs. Bad: Humility
In this second installment of our lesson on Good Power, we look first at how necessary humility is to exercising good power, and second, how we develop humility in our souls. Continue reading
Good Power vs. Bad: Definitions
s we’ve been looking at the ancient pathways that tend the soul’s well-being, we’ve seen that many of those practices involve interacting with other people. Consequently, the issue of power comes into play. In these Advent lessons, we take a side excursion into thinking about good power and bad, and in this lesson in particular, we define what good and bad power are (in spiritual terms). Continue reading
Posted in Good Power vs. Bad
Tagged Advent, discernment, Mission, power, transformation
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Why We Train Our Souls
We’ve been talking about a series of soul-training practices all Fall. In this lesson we pause from these content-dense lessons, to reflect on why we want to train our souls in the first place. I determined to teach this lesson to myself as I focus my soul this Advent, and decided to let everyone else listen in. Continue reading
Advent 2008: A Late and Hurried Advent Message (with apologies)
This year, we’ve been more inattentive to the meaningful season of Advent than usual. Here, this last week of Advent, in a hurried attempt to make up for lost time, we talk about why the season matters. It’s a very old practice, setting aside these weeks leading up to the Feast of Christmas. What is Advent? Why should we include it in the Christmas season? What does it do for our souls? Continue reading
Advent 2007: On Hope and Selective Seeing (part 2)
by Doug Hammack Add synopsis [Download MP3]
Advent 2007: On Hope and Selective Seeing (part 1)
by Doug Hammack Add synopsis [Download MP3]
Advent 2005: Week 4 – Home for Christmas
by Doug Hammack Add synopsis [Download MP3]