Crash-Proofing Your Life
Feb 15, 2008
By Lee Sherry

How’s your life? Do you feel like you’re doing well in life, like you know where you’re going? Do you feel like you have good instructions for how to live? These days we rush around a lot, not leaving much time for planning, for contemplating, frankly, for God.

Extreme Makeover
Jan 17, 2008
By Lee Sherry

Shortly after I came to faith, my Sunday school teacher said he was reading a little booklet entitled, My Heart—Christ’s Home. It is a beautiful allegory of how Jesus knocks at the door of our heart; when we open the door, He comes in to make a home. I experienced mystery when I invited Jesus into my heart. I could not define the mystery until later when my formal spiritual formation began, but initially there was a definite awareness of the beginning stages of transformation as Jesus took up residence within me. The booklet was helpful, because my male mind naturally compartmentalizes, and it was easy for me to envision my heart like a house filled with different rooms. As I begin this new year, I am once again asking myself, “Am I making a place in my heart for Jesus?”

Overcoming the Power of Distraction
Jan 7, 2008
By Jonathan Daugherty

I think we can all agree that life is full of distractions. And even if we can't agree that it is "full" of them, we can certainly agree that they are present in everyone's lives (to varying degrees). For those brave few who have ventured into the wilderness of pursuing sexual purity, the term full more than accurately describes the degree to which distractions exist.

Choosing and Being Chosen
Dec 14, 2007
By Lee Sherry

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Would anyone choose me?” One of the most important Advent messages we can embrace this Christmas season is that God loves us—that we are chosen as His Beloved. Last week I was jarred when I read John 15:16 - “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." I remember the evening I came to faith. I thought I chose God. Now all these years later I read, “Lee, you did not chose Me, but I chose you.”

Images & Symbols
Nov 19, 2007
By Lee Sherry

When I look at a photograph of my wife an image in my mind and heart is evoked. I feel the emotion of love in my heart and my mind is filled with an ocean of memories. I remember laughs we have shared over the years, but I also remember tears as we have navigated through difficult times. I feel joy for the laughter, but sadness for how my brokenness has caused her pain. A photograph is an example of an icon or form of symbol that fortifies reality for me. It is a form of symbol that connects me to something much larger than my own small self...

Early Morning Thoughts...
Nov 4, 2007
By Clint Fiore

What is man that you should be mindful of him?

The genesis of something very different is looming just beyond the horizon.

I look out my window and see the city lights twinkling. The early morning is thick with darkness. There’s a chill in the air and a quietness so thorough that each keystroke sounds like a jackhammer’s blow.

Sexual Insight
Oct 27, 2007
By Stephen Cervantes

One Saturday morning my buddy and myself were leading a men’s training series. We were speaking to a group of men on the topic of male sexuality. We had been going around to churches and speaking to men’s groups. Our mission was to challenge men to step up their lives in the area of personal sexual thought discipline. I had finished speaking and sat down when my co-leader,Jonathan Daugherty, stood up to speak.

Further Upward and Further Inward
Oct 23, 2007
By Lee Sherry

Life is a journey and sometimes a battle. Frequently, it seems life is both simultaneously. As I write this, I am still moving in my own personal journey of knowing God more intimately. Just as you do in your life, I struggle against the hectic daily demands of our post-modern contemporary society to make space for Him in contemplative prayer. There is always the challenge, perhaps temptation would be a better word, to coast back to knowing about God, rather than maturing in our relationship with Him.

Knowing God and Knowing About God
Oct 1, 2007
By Lee Sherry

This morning as I was praying, in my head I heard the music and the words of the praise song, “As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul panteth after Thee. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship Thee.” The composer of those lyrics was apparently inspired by Psalms 42:1. And so it happens that as we make space to come into the very healing presence of Jesus in contemplative prayer that we discover who we really are. In the quietness of that space, our identities become posited in the true self God created us to walk in. We no longer must wear the many faces of the false self we have accumulated from walking in a broken fallen world bent in opposition against knowing God. It is possible to know about God without really knowing God.

I Don't Know What I Am, Only Who I Am
Oct 1, 2007
By Clint Fiore

Ever heard:

"So what do you do for a living?"
"What do you do?"
"What church do you go to?"

They're simple questions designed to quantify a human being into a 2-dimensional image, a blurb, a soundbyte. And you're ready for them aren't you? I bet you can answer such questions in 1-2 sentences with robot-like precision in your sleep, most people can. I can't.

Men Need Good Men
Sep 20, 2007
By Stephen Cervantes

I would like to share some observations about men. First, have you noticed how some men have a healthy variety of adult males in their life? That is to say, some men have good male buddies. They spend time together. They periodically eat meals together. They may enjoy a guys-night-out occasionally. Those men talk, play and work together. As Christians, they may study their Bibles together. Even if they don’t read scriptures together, they still strive to spur each other on to good works. These relationships have quiet boundaries. Christian men have a sense of right and wrong. Relationships define who you are. When a man is in a relationship with a godly, Christian brother, they call each other to a higher level.

Contemplative Prayer
Aug 27, 2007
By Lee Sherry

When I was invited to write this column, I was a little bit intimidated about where to begin. Saints have written volumes about contemplative prayer. My wife can certainly tell you that I am no saint. But St. Augustine’s words, “My soul is restless until it rests in You O God,” penetrate to the deep passion of my heart. Prayer is a movement of response to our Creator who loves us and pursues us like the hounds of heaven. God is the consummate lover who wants to be in an intimate relationship with us as His created beings.

My Wedding Vows
Apr 7, 2007
By Clint Fiore

This is a day I've dreamt of for years.
I've always loved you, even long before I knew your name.
The night I met you my spirit leapt inside of me.
I knew right away you were the one I had been waiting for.

My Wife's Wedding Vows
Apr 7, 2007
By Clint Fiore

Here's Melissa's Vows to me:

The first time I saw you I knew you were something totally different. That same night my spirit fell in love with you. It was as if it was reunited with a long lost friend. I was stunned by your glittering blue eyes and your mysterious sincerity. That night is so dear to my heart, because that night God gave me my husband. The scary thing was that I knew it was you that first night.

C.S. Lewis Quote
Jun 14, 2006
By Clint Fiore

This quote just blew my mind and I thought I'd share it.

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." C.S Lewis