A Sojourner’s Thoughts

Posted on

White Space

White space is the unused area around text. To much white space and your words look lonely or maybe important, to little white space and you have textual overload. I run into this when I read the comics, if there is to much text in the panels I just skip over it. White space in itself is neither good nor bad, it’s all a balancing act.

In my own life I think I have just come out of a time of not enough spiritual white space, I was functioning in a time of God overload (if that is even possible I don’t know), there was to much “text” and not enough time to process. Now my spiritual life seem like there is way to much white space, or maybe I am just at a point where I can rest in the Lord and process the things that I have been taking in. My thoughts are few, but they seem to really stand out – community, spiritual formation, serving others, and the digital culture. I need to put these things into a cohesive document to turn in for my DMin work, but the words have not yet fully formed in my mind.
I really don’t know where this was going yesterday when I started writing, so I think I will simply release it into the blogosphere and see what happens.
Posted on

Setting Christ Apart

I am enjoying the first morning of my month long study break. I am setting aside this time to work on my doctoral studies and recharge my batteries. I don’t know what all will come out of this time but I am looking forward to it.

The tone for my study break was set yesterday in the sermon I listened to and reconfirmed in our small group study last night. Jason Strand (no relation) a teaching pastor at Eagle Brook Church spoke on Jesus as the “Bread of Life” out of the Gospel of John and last night our small group was looking at 1 Peter 3 and how we are to set Christ apart in our hearts. The key to both these messages was the idea of setting Christ apart, making Him the priority in our day to day life. For me this means e-mails and Facebook updates will have to wait a couple of hours. Focusing on Christ first can set the tone for your whole day. In 1 Peter we see that it will help calm our fears and is will tune our heart so that when we are asked about the hope we have we will be prepared to give a defense.
What can you do or perhaps delay doing to set apart Christ each day?
Posted on

Renovare Reflection, Day 4

The final day, entered with mixed feelings. Sad that the time went so quickly, but anticipation growing about returning home to wife and family (knowing there was a 2000 mile drive ahead of me). To be honest, my mind really wasn’t set to engage to deeply, but I still picked up a few nuggets for John Ortberg in the morning general session. To sum up his conversation in a few words it would be “Don’t quench the Spirit.” It was through the Spirit that Jesus was baptized, it was through the Spirit the Jesus ministered, and it was the Spirit who Jesus sent for us. Another person at the conference described the work of the Spirit as “happening in the back ground.” We don’t always see the work, but we benefit greatly from the results.

As I think about this I would say that I am guilty of quenching the Spirit at times. The business of life, unwillingness to respond, or thinking I know better. I wonder about the things that I may have missed as a result of my inaction. I need to be more diligent about responding to the Spirits promptings.
I was blessed by following what may have been one of these encounters on my way home. My goal on this trip was not to venture more than about a mile off of I-35. This interstate highway connects Minneapolis to San Antonio, so I didn’t have to veer much off the path. On the way home after stopping at a Kansas rest stop I picked up some material about the Flint Hills region of Kansas. The material was for a future return trip, remember I had my sights set on home. The gal at the information desk then mentions something about a tall grass prairie preserve in this area, I knew I had to go. This 3 hour side trip was quite the blessing, the drive was beautiful, so relaxing and refreshing. The preserve itself was an old ranch built in the mid to late 1800’s. I took about an hour walk through the prairie and experience the wonders of God in His creation. Leading by the Spirit, I don’t know for sure, but God met me on this road.
How has your response to the Spirit been lately?