Practice Makes Perfect

Posted on February 18, 2012 by David

Andres Segovia was one of the best classical guitarists of all times. One of his students wrote an interesting article about how Segovia practiced:

This is what he taught me and told me was his method. Practice in setsof fifteen minutes, divided into two sets of seven to eight minutes with ashort break between. At the end of each fifteen minutes, take a 3 minutebreak, stand up, get a glass of water, stretch, etc. but be sure to take amoment to focus your eyes on something far away to relax your eyes from the close work of the page and the fret board and to clear your mind. Startagain and do three fifteen minute sets, totaling 45 minutes of intensepractice. This time at the end of the third set take a real break ofabout fifteen minutes. Repeat this 3-set practice routine for a total of five times. At that point you will have spent around five and a half hours.

via Classical Guitar – Segovia’s Advice About Practicing | Eric Henderson Blog.

Five and a half hours of practice? On top of this, he would do the same routine in the afternoon, and I believe also in the evening. I wonder if the reason why I don’t play better, is because I don’t spend much time practicing. I really don’t have fifteen or so hours to practice a day. Some days, I don’t practice at all. I’m sure that if I spent even one hour a day in practice I’d play guitar much, much, better. Practice transforms me and my ability to play. Continue reading →

Driving Out Vice

Posted on February 14, 2012 by David

From St. Francis of Assisi

How Virtue Drives Out Vice

1. Where there is charity (love) and wisdom,

       there is neither fear nor ignorance.

2. Where there is patience and humility,

       there is neither anger nor disturbance.

3. Where there is poverty with joy,

       there is neither covetousness nor avarice (greed).

4. Where there is inner peace and meditation,

      there is neither anxiousness nor dissipation.

5. Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the house (cf. Lk 11:21),

      there the enemy cannot gain entry.

6. Where there is mercy and discernment,

     there is neither excess nor hardness of heart.

Continue reading →

God Alone is Enough

Posted on February 6, 2012 by David

Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes
God never changes
Patience obtains all
Whoever has God wants for nothing
God alone is enough.

~~ St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa was an amazing woman and Christian. Her passion for Jesus is inspiring. Someday I hope that I can truly say that God alone is enough.

Like a Plant…

Posted on August 9, 2008 by David

“The spiritual life is like a plant growing in a garden” – Dr. Susan Muto

I’m not much of a gardener myself. My daughter wanted a garden when she was about eight years old. She wanted to use her birthday money to purchase seeds. So, as any good parents would do, we let her purchase seeds. It was then that I realized that a garden doesn’t just “happen.” A garden takes work. It takes a lot of work.

First I had to prepare the ground since we never had a garden before. This meant buying dirt (which I think is completely wrong…paying for dirt!) to add to the sandy soil we have. Then came the planting, the watering, the weeding, the watching, putting up a fence to keep our dog out…etc. To be honest, we are not real good at gardening because we want the garden to just grow. We didn’t weed that often and it was hard to remember to water it.

What was the outcome? Some plants grew and others didn’t. The corn never came up. Neither did the green peppers. We did have some beans and jalapeno peppers though. It was kind of a hit and miss garden I guess.

I think Dr. Muto is correct. Our spiritual life is like a plant in a garden. John Wesley talked about the change that happens when we are regenerated. That is as if God is planting a seed into the soil of our soul (soil he prepared through prevenient grace). There is a good chance that the seed will grow, but there is a chance that it won’t grow.

Wesley talked about the importance of keeping the ordinances of God. He felt prayer (private and public), scripture reading (private and public), attending the Lord’s supper, community and other such acts were vital to one’s spiritual life. For me, these things are the weeding and watering of the spiritual life. Keep in mind that we don’t ’cause’ the growth because of what we do. God is the one who provides the growth all through grace. What the disciplines (ordinances) do is put us in a position where we might receive that grace. After all, Wesley called them the “means” of grace. They are avenues in which God’s grace can flow into our lives. By neglecting them, we neglect the very things that can help our spiritual garden be a beautiful garden.

On Humility

Posted on December 12, 2005 by David

If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.

- Thomas, à Kempis

Humility is the path to spiritual fulfillment. It seems so easy, yet, humility is one of the difficult qualities to develop. Even when I seem humble, I may not be. My lack of humility usually comes when I’m stressed. Sometimes it looks like impatience, because, after all, I’m too important to have to wait. If I could develop true humility, I would find peace.

Post-protestant

Posted on August 11, 2005 by David

“Yes, post-Protestant churches see everything as spiritual formation — everything worth doing, that is. Public worship is an exercise in group spiritual formation through rituals like the Eucharist and preaching. Fellowship is exercise in the spiritual practices of community. The success of a church isn’t measured by the numbers who attend but by the formation of people as agents of the Kingdom of God…” – Brian McLaren’s – The Last Word and the Word after That

As I read this I realized how much I agreed with it. I also realized it is how I approach ministry and ecclesiology. I am also realizing that it is different from how others “do” church. There’s the rub.

Perhaps that is why I’m so turned off by the programmatic influence of church growth formulas. It is perhaps why I am so tired by ministry conferences that continue to say the same thing in different ways hoping that pastors, starving for validation, appreciation and recognition, continue to spend $$ and (more importantly time) to travel to the conferences to learn about the next big thing (NBT) that will transform their church, their ministries and their lives.

Ah…to be able to sit back, bask in God’s glory, experience his presence and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10)

the (re)blog: QUIET TIME

Posted on May 18, 2005 by David

the (re)blog: QUIET TIME Here’s a good post on the Quiet Time. I’ve had my own issues in the past. Now, I feel comfortable with what I’m doing to connect with God. That is the point, after all, connecting with God. However, far too often the QT can become a type of merit badge and instead of us connecting with God it causes us to move farther away. The kicker is….we don’t even know it.

I just finished reading Philip Yancey’s book “What…

Posted on May 21, 2004 by David

I just finished reading Philip Yancey’s book “What’s So Amazing About Grace.” I have to agree that the only thing the church can offer the world, that they don’t already have, is grace. I have been wondering what life would look like if I was able to truly live by the same grace that I have experienced through Jesus.

Dallas Willard asked the question in “The Divine conspiracy” (I believe that was the book), Why don’t we do what Jesus says? I’ve been thinking about this question in relation to Jesus “new” commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” To love as Jesus loved, I believe, is the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do. Perhaps, it is really the only commandment that I need to follow. Jesus has loved graciously, generously and sacrificially.

If I can get to the place of loving like Jesus loved, I believe my life would be grace-filled. I also believe that Jesus love would shine through everything that I did. I wonder what the church would look like (and the world) if those within the church decided that the only thing we have to offer is God’s grace through Jesus Christ and therefore decided to love as Jesus loved.

- Dave.

Right now, I’m reading a book on blogging, so, it …

Posted on January 21, 2004 by David

Right now, I’m reading a book on blogging, so, it inspired me to make an entry Nothing special…..

As I continue to try to get my life inline with what Jesus would want, I’m finding that many things that I hang onto, I should probably rid myself of. One of the things I’m trying to let go of is my many books. It is amazing really. I know I probably won’t read these books again, but I like having them around just the same. My hope is by summer to at least get rid of half of my books. Some of the books I have, I haven’t read yet, so I plan on reading them first. If they are good (meaning I can use them to help my sermon prep, I will keep them, otherwise, it would be best to get rid of them.

One of the things I’m finding is that it would be good if I spent more time on sermon prep. I find preaching fairly easy which is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t have to do that much prep, but God still deserves my best and if preaching is an area God has gifted me in, it would be best if I worked at that area.

I just bought a new Tungsten E palm. At some point, I might put on information about programs that I’m finding very helpful in sermon prep and scripture study.

Pastor as Spiritual Director

Posted on December 16, 2003 by David

I started thinking today about the pastor as spiritual director. I’ve seen many books that try to teach me how to be a CEO or something like that. I also get many invitations to conferences on church managment, growing large churches, etc. However, I’ve started to question the whole “grow the church large” mentality. I’ve also started to question how I pastor others.

One thing I’ve noticed is, when I don’t care about the bottom line (as far as the conference is concerned), I tend to do things differently. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to make people upset at all. However, in the past, I would care so much what people would think (because, if you made people made, they would leave and your year end reports would look bad) I would not always do what I thought was best.

For example, some pastors are reluctant to talk about money. However, money is one of the top topics in the Bible. I believe that the whole area of giving is a spiritual one. Basically, giving is a way to acknowlege (to yourself at least) that your trust is in God. What I long to want for my life is to be generous. Not with my excess, but with my very life. The only way I can do this is if my trust in God is so strong, I’m able to open my hands and let go.

Back to Pastor as Spiritual Director….I’m starting to feel that the stress on the church growing bigger, has hurt us growing deeper in our faith. What I would hope is, as we grow deeper, Christ is formed within us. We are able to become what He was. It isn’t that we are self-righteous, but rather from the core of our being the Love of God flows forth. I believe, when that happens, the church will grow and more importantly, people will be changed.

Enough for now….

Dave.

Fuzzythinking

Thoughts on John Wesley, UMC, life, faith, and anything else!

Tag Archives: Spiritual Formation