Over time, interspersed midst the mundane, the magic of souls bonded together in soul friendship transpired. Jesus and the twelve became true friends—a soul-level network made strong in their diversity, shared experience, candid confession, and soul-searching reliance upon each other.

The spiritual disciplines, the spiritual practices, are the path that places you in position to realize your heart’s desire. The disciplines are not onerous burdens of religious requirement. They are the means to a desired end.

My FB views and shares plummeted to less than .5% of normal—for anything I posted.

Our outside reputation is that we are identified with a political party, not as the people of God. We are a voting block, not lights in the dark sea of humanity. Our spiritual leaders endorse political candidates as opposed to advancing the cause of Christ to address the existential questions of humanity.

The goal you hope to realize in practicing the discipline of solitude is an extended conversation with God about your life, your relationship with God, and His vantage point regarding your life together.

This spiritual practice cuts both directions. You trust God in silence, but is God close enough to you, confident enough in you as His friend, to trust you with His silence?

Thus, when I rest after my labors and reflect, I am clear about what I’m celebrating and empowered to relinquish—to rest from—what is not part of success as defined by God. In this way, my rest is regenerative, restorative, replenishing, and fuels my recovery from a hard labor.

Fasting creates leverage, acts like a bridge, and provides the incentive necessary to seize the day, gain momentum, or produce the clarity our faith needs to take the next step of trust. The discipline of fasting, like any form of discipline, produces congruity—synthesis—between our spirit, soul, and body.

As fellow travelers in the journey of life, men and women serve one another by submitting ourselves to each other.

Confession and self-examination infuses into your soul the power of personal declaration and genuine humility that is reflective of what is true.

The more of your senses you incorporate into your study, the greater your retention and comprehension will be.

In your heart of hearts, you desire to delve deeply into Scripture on a regular basis because it acquaints you with God and proceeds to build a vibrant relationship between Him and you.

The church must return to her spiritual fundamentals. Now is not the time for a study on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, as interesting as that might be.

Our heavenly Father invites us to pray, encourages us to join Him, and instructs us to pray prayers of intercession. I encourage you to pray.

You can’t fix a spiritual problem with intellectual discourse. You fix a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution.

When the church fails to influence society, it is due to the fact that the church has cheapened God’s grace by not disciplining itself to distribute a magnificent grace effectively.

The gods of Facebook and MailChimp would tell you their blockage is cultural. I disagree.

Do not aim to stop what is wrong. Aim to create momentum that not only stops what is wrong but advances what is right.

That we are voicing our discontent in absolute terms like systemic racism indicates that we are absolutely desperate.

The man sitting next to her was the business type with a starched shirt and the Wall Street Journal. I was afraid he wouldn’t notice her, or care.