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Friends for the Fray: The Lost Art of Confession (part 4)

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:00:36 +0000

We conclude looking at the art of confession with this lesson on two themes…
1. what is penance, and what is it’s value to our souls?
2. how do we receive a confession well?

Have a listen.
doug

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Friends for the Fray: The Lost Art of Confession (part 3)

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:54:48 +0000

So, after a few weeks championing the benefits confession affords our souls, we come today, to the practical “how-to’s” of this ancient practice.

We look at making a good confession in three parts,
1) self-awareness,
2) thoroughness, and
3) penance

(Only some beginning remarks on penance; just enough to let you know it is probably not what you think it is. We’ll finish up next week).

Have a listen.
Doug

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Friends for The Fray: The Lost Art of Confession (part 2)

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:54:18 +0000

After last week's digression to reinforce the importance of making for ourselves a healthy spiritual community, today we resume looking at the practicality of this ancient spiritual spiritual practice, confession. The themes of this lesson are very personal for me. The bulk of last week's digression-lesson was a personal story, and this week is too. It was embarrassing 15 years ago, now it is one of my most cherished memories. Continue reading →

Friends For The Fray: A Digression to Reinforce

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:33:12 +0000

In this lesson, we digress for a moment before addressing the practicalities of the ancient art of confession (next week).

This digression will expand what I said last week, and I’ll spend the lion’s share of our time telling you a story from my own life. It’s a story of love for people, and how without it, we cannot give our gifts to one another, and consequently, we fall short of our destinies.

Have a listen.
Doug

[Download MP3]

Friends for the Fray: The Lost Art of Confession (part 1)

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:29:58 +0000

The ancient art of confession is lost to most Christians today. It is a loss that causes great peril to our souls. In this lesson, we talk about the importance of this ancient practice, and some of the reasons we tend to resist it. Continue reading →

Friends for the Fray: An Imperative

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:52:34 +0000

As we've been talking about "The Big Three," pride, lust, and greed, we're seeing that we don't turn away their destructive powers in our lives very well alone. Though we've been schooled in individualism, and independence, these thoroughly American traits don't tend to serve us well on the spiritual journey. Today's lesson focuses on the imperative of hammering out for ourselves, a community of spiritual friends. The next few lessons will focus on how to do that; what it will look like when we do. Continue reading →

Friends for the Fray: Challenging Pride, Lust, and Greed

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:26:07 +0000

by Doug Hammack
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The “Big Three” temptations of life have a long and storied tradition. The ancients called them “the lust of the eyes,” “the lust of the flesh,” and “the pride of life.” We think of them as pride (an excessive focus on self), lust (an excessive focus on pleasure), and greed (an excessive focus on possessions). In this lesson and the next few, we’ll be thinking about how we can have greater internal freedom in the face of the “Big Three.”

A Living Letter: My Friend Jim Amundson

admin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:09:02 +0000

by Doug Hammack

This week, my dear friend and a fixture in our spiritual community died. Jim Amundson was a letter from God, written for us to read. In today’s lesson, I discuss Divine Grace, and my text will be Jim’s life.

Jim Amundson
1936-2009
A Living Letter Written by God

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Spiritual Allies for the Journey (part 2)

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:27:04 +0000

by Doug Hammack

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We continue our break from our 2-Views series of lessons, and revisit a central them of NRCC, spiritual friendships and community. We’re looking at the importance of having allies for the spiritual journey, and in this lesson, we look at how one acts as an ally, how one is a spiritual friend.

Spiritual Allies for the Journey (part 1)

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:54:13 +0000

by Doug Hammack

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We take a break from our series of lessons on Two Views to revisit a central them of our spiritual community. We’re looking at the importance of spiritual friendships, “allies for the spiritual journey.”

In this lesson, we look at how Jesus commissioned his followers generations ago, and how we are recipients of the same Mission, the same mandate to gather with others.

Have a listen.