John Eldredge's Blog, page 6

River of Life

I’m sitting in a hotel room waiting to visit some extended family. Stasi and I flew here for a memorial service. Gosh, I hate these occasions. So awkward. So painful. Death was never meant to be part of the human experience, and we reel when it strikes. You learn so quickly who has hope, and who doesn’t. Hard as it is, it is also a tender opportunity to bring Jesus, but a delicate one as all of you know who have walked others through loss.

I was already thinking about this letter before we got the call, before the hard news. This seems like a confirmation of what I wanted to share with you. So here goes…

I think most of you understand we are living in a very late hour; that these could very fairly be called the last days. If Paul thought his hour was getting late, then think how much later ours is!! This is a hard time for the saints on this earth, because such dark forces have been set loose. One of those rampaging is Death. Not just physical death (though have you noticed how many out-of-the-blue deaths have been taking place in your world?!). But “the end” of things, like relationships, fellowships, dreams, projects, etc.

If you want to thrive at this moment, you can—but you’ve got to lean into and draw upon the greater resources of the Kingdom of God. He always has provision for us. And that’s what I want to talk about: The Life of God made available to us.

One of the most compelling images in the Old Testament is the picture Ezekiel gave us of the river that flows from the throne of God:

I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:1-5)

The imagery speaks of the abundance of God, his unending, unceasing, inextinguishable LIFE, pouring forth from his Presence. The image is repeated in Revelation, where it makes clear this river is the River of Life:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)

The Life of God, for his people, flowing as a river, but also as a tree and its fruit. I can’t wait to drink from that water, taste that glorious fruit! God doesn’t keep his life to himself; he pours it forth for all creation, and especially his sons and daughters. We know Jesus wants us to draw upon this life, for he said he came that we might have his Life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Scripture says we are meant to “reign in life” through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

O how we need more of the Life of God in us, particularly in these days.

So I've been compelled recently to pray that the River of Life would flow through our lives, renewing us, bringing us the Life of God in greater measure. That the River would also flow through the work of Ransomed Heart.

I think you will find this very, very helpful—to be calling upon the River of Life into your lives, your households, your “kingdoms.” I offer this prayer as a help, or model, for you to adapt to your situation, and to pray right along with us...

"Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit—we love you God! We worship you! We give our hearts and lives to you in every way. You are our Life, Father, and there is no other. Jesus, you came that we might have Life. Romans says we reign in life through your Life, Lord. And so we present our lives to you in a fresh way, to be filled with your magnificent Life! We pray that the River of Life, the very Life of God, would flow through our lives in abundance. We pray the River of Life would flow through our homes and families; our work; our kingdoms. We pray that the River of Life would flow through the team and the work of Ransomed Heart in the world. Fill us, fill this mission, with your inextinguishable Life, God! May your abundant Life sweep away all death, and destruction, and everything set against us. We call forth Life—more life in us; more life in Ransomed Heart; more of the River of Life flowing through this work in the world. In the mighty Name of Life Himself, Jesus Christ, the risen Lord! All praise and glory to him! Amen."

Offered in love,

John

Download the Ransomed Heart March 2019 newsletter here.

Reminders of the God We Love

Dear Friends,

I received a text the other day from a friend of mine. It began as a surprising intrusion of joy, which grew into a rescue of my soul.

First came simply a photo, taken from the window of a bush plane somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness. At first glance, I couldn’t quite make out what I was looking at. All I could see was a massive mountain slope, angling down towards a river. The impression was something far North and exotic. There are no trees in the photo, only tundra in autumn colors. The picture was taken from probably 17,000 feet and something is dappling the surface of the tundra on both sides of the river. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was looking at a massive assembly of living creatures, something out of Eden. While my mind tried to take in and sort out what I was beholding, the second text followed: “90,000 caribou stacked up for a river crossing.” It filled my heart with joy—not only because I love wildness, and massive animal migrations, but because it reminded me of the God I love.

And O, how good it is to be reminded of the God we love—what he’s really like, how generous his heart.

I had a similar experience a few evenings later when Stasi and I were watching a BBC nature series on the oceans of our planet. Richly filmed in high definition, intimate and epic, the vast, colorful beauty of the seas, coasts and coral lagoons saturating this planet was enough to evoke worship every time. This particular episode was shot in the open ocean (utterly breathtaking) when a massive pod of dolphins began to fill the screen. Fifty...one hundred...a thousand dolphins all racing along in the open sea, twisting, leaping, diving in a sort of organized, whimsical chaos, racing along in pure dolphin happiness. The narrator explained we were watching a “super pod” of Atlantic dolphins five thousand strong. I was speechless; such things exist?! That encounter, that revelation was so holy it removed in the moment every doubt I had in the goodness of God. Right. This is the God I love, I thought to myself. And my heart came back to him in tender hopefulness and affection.

We need more of God. I assure you nothing, absolutely nothing, will bring you more of him than loving him. Turning our hearts toward God in love opens our being to receive him like no other practice. And it is a practice, something we consciously and actively engage in, in the moments of our day-to-day.

Life has a way of eroding our confidence in the goodness of God. What a ridiculous understatement; let me try again. Life is a savage assault, striking at random, poisoning our heart’s assurance that God is good, or at least, good towards us. It’s this that makes it so hard to find more of God, receive him in fresh and wonderful ways into our being. So it’s here we must seek healing, and now is a good time to do so.

Start with something you love. The laughter of your child. Sunlight on the ocean. Your beloved dog. A favorite song; music itself. Perhaps a photo, like my caribou. A favorite spot—your garden, the cliffs at the sea, the family cabin. Someone dear to you. We begin with the things we love; this is the way back, the path home. For we don’t always draw the connection—God made these specifically for you, and gave you the heart to love them. You’ll be out for a bike ride in the very early morning, cool breeze in your face, all the sweet, fresh aromas it brings, the exhilaration of speed, and your heart spontaneously sings, I love this! The next step is to say, So does God. He made this moment; he made these things. He is the creator of everything I love. Your heart will naturally respond by opening towards him.

It’s like throwing your faith a life-line: Every wonderful thing in your life is a gift from God, an expression of his heart towards you. All your precious memories, each and every one—your eighth birthday when you got that little red bike that awakened your love of riding, which carried right on into your adult life. That perfect powder day, when you and your fiance skied run after run, then warmed up by the fire in the lodge. The vacation you still think about, how fun it was, how carefree you felt. Your wedding reception; the dancing; the inextinguishable joy of it all. Every moment you have ever been happy, thrilled, comforted, hopeful...that was God loving you. Such gifts come from no other source. “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing,” “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (Psalm 145:16; James 1:17).

No other act will bring you a greater measure of God than loving him, actively engaging your heart and soul in loving him. Because as we do, the flower of our being opens up to the sunshine of his presence, and all the goodness he longs to breathe into us. The best way to get there is to think upon the things we love, and remind ourselves, “This is from God; this is his true heart.”

Reminding yourself that God is the one who brought into existence the very things you love is a wonderful reminder to your soul of the intimacy between God's heart and yours. You love the same things! Did you know that? Close friends love the same things; lovers love the same things. Go on and think of something else that delights your heart—laughter, beauty, your favorite things in nature, a childhood fairytale. Beginning with the things we love is the way back towards God.  

In loving him, we are able to receive him. As we receive him, we realize again how wonderful he truly is. Our heart enlarges for him, our union is strengthened, and we can receive more of him.

Love,

John

Download the Ransomed Heart February 2019 Newsletter here. 

A very Happy Advent Season to you!

Last month I reached out to you to ask your help meeting our budget by the end of the year, and I wanted to thank all of you who are able to send in a financial gift! We are so grateful for your generosity! 

And now all of us are, one way or another, navigating the coming holidays.

I don't like the pace that I'm running at this morning. I didn't sleep well last night, and so when I finally did conk out, I overslept, woke up late, and ever since I’ve felt behind on everything. I rushed through breakfast, dashed out the door to get to some meetings, and now I'm rattled. I don't like the feeling of being rattled. And I don't like the consequences of it. When I'm rattled I'm too easily irritated and frustrated with people. I don't have the patience to listen to what my wife was trying to say this morning. I find it hard to hear from God when I’m rattled, and I don’t like feeling untethered from him either. 

I notice now in my rattled state that I want to eat something fatty and sugary; I want something that is going to make me feel better. And it’s the holidays, so there is fatty, sugary stuff everywhere. (Nobody sends out boxes of carrots or alfalfa sprouts as Christmas gifts.) When we are rattled, it’s human nature to seek some sense of equilibrium, a sense of stability, and I wonder—how many addictions begin here, just wanting to feel a little bit better? Soothe ourselves. 

The fruits of being rattled are not good, but honestly—I think most people live in a state from “slightly rattled” to “fried” as their operating norm. 

And so we who would want to find a better life in God would want to make it a practice to avoid living rattled. 

Which is especially difficult around the holiday season. 

Late morning, I finally do what I should have done from the beginning—I pause. I get quiet, settle down. I give myself some breathing room to come back to myself and to God. My breathing returns to normal. A little bit of space begins to clear around me, and in that space I know I can find God. Suddenly, somewhere outside, someone has just fired up a leaf blower— one of the great pariahs of the human race, the enemy of all domestic tranquility. My body tenses, the stress is returning, and because I am paying attention I can see that  the constant stimulation causes us to  live in a state of hypervigilance. And thus we look to all our “comforters” to calm down.

But I know my salvation is not in the eggnog frappuccino, nor the peppermint fudge.

So I close the window against the screams of the leaf blower, and return to a practice that has become an absolute lifesaver for me: The One Minute Pause. (I mentioned this briefly back in March, but maybe you’ve forgotten it since then.) I simply take sixty seconds to let everything go, and be still. 

As I enter the pause, I begin with release. I let it all go—the meetings, what I know is coming next, the fact I’m totally behind on Christmas shopping, all ot it. I simply let it go. I practice “benevolent detachment” as I pray, Jesus,I give everyone and everything to you. You’ll know in the moment what to give to God—a person, a conversation, a project, the world. I give everyone and everything to you. I keep repeating it until I feel like I am actually releasing and detaching. 

And then I ask for more of God: Jesus, I need more of you; fill me with more of you, God. Restore our union; fill me with your life. We all need more of God. Whatever our circumstance may be, if we had more of God in our life right now, I guarantee you things would turn out better. It follows that if we can receive the grace God is providing us for the restoring and renewing of our souls, we will both enjoy the fruits of happy souls (which are many and wonderful) and also be in a place to receive more of God (which is even more wonderful). We would find the vibrancy and resiliency we crave as human beings. 

So I practice the pause a few times each day. I begin with release. Jesus, I give everyone and everything to you. I keep repeating it until I feel like I really am releasing. Then I ask for more of God: Jesus, I need more of you; fill me with more of you, God. Restore our union; fill me with your life. Honestly, you can do this in a fairly simple pause—in your car, on the train, before and after you get on your phone. Especially after Christmas shopping. And the fruit of it will be wonderful!

I could have written about Christmastide, or the Incarnation, the faith of Mary and Joseph, the joy of the shepherds. But I know that what will prove far more helpful to you this month is to set before you again The One Minute pause. Because it will rescue you, and bring you back to your own soul and to God. From there, you’ll be much better situated to navigate the holidays.

May I also suggest making time this December to listen to our Advent podcast series? It’s one of my favorites from years past—with Craig McConnell and I sharing the disruptive, holy invitation of God in this season.

On behalf of the entire team, a very Merry Christmas to you, friends. We love being partners with you in this great hour!

Love,

John

Download the Ransomed Heart December Newsletter here.

Our Mission Statement

On the wall of our Outpost is our mission statement. The first three sentences read:

Recover the Lost Treasure of the Gospel

Transform the Lives of Men and Women as Men and Women

Teach them to Live in the Kingdom of God

So much in such simple sentences. Allow me to unpack it a bit…

The Gospel is the most exquisite treasure chest in any story or fairytale, ever. The dignity and power of femininity and masculinity; the essential place of the human heart; hearing God’s voice for yourself; the war all around us; the power of Jesus to actually heal hearts, souls, memories; the hope we have in the Renewal of All Things. Treasures that get lost, and stolen. And we are treasure hunters.

Transforming lives is so different than merely inspiring, or motivating. Transformation is deep and lasting; transformation means the recovery of the original glory God intended for men and women, the glory he meant for each unique son and daughter. Restoration would be an appropriate synonym. The treasures of the Gospel transform, restore, release. Jesus is all about transformation!

Third, the Kingdom of God is something we learn to live in; but there are so few teachers to show the way. How prayer actually works; how to practice stillness, the role of beauty; how to use the victory of Christ to break soul ties, curses, dark strongholds; the difference between wounds and brokenness, and how to re-integrate shattered places in our personality; how each member of the Trinity has a unique role in our lives; on and on we could go.

Oh, I wish you could read the mail we get, hear the stories of restoration taking place all around the world. Let me share a few with you now…

“I was reluctant to engage in a men’s retreat but once I arrived the invitation turned into a four day flood. Agreements and lies being named and broken. God spoke and I filled a journal. On the last night, my soul was restored and I was given an intimate name from God. I’d never known the longing in my heart to hear that… Since that weekend the message and resources of Ransomed Heart have been at the forefront of my relationship with God, my wife, my daughters, and my ministry to others.”

“Absolutely blown away by the impact it had and is having on me. For the first time in 20 years, you gave me permission to be the man I am designed to be. What enormous freedom!”

“I will be forever grateful for Beautiful Outlaw. As a Christian counselor I recommend this book over and over and it continues to transform everything about how my clients see Jesus! I mean...AMAZING freedom and breaking of bondage for so many people!”

“Last Fall my husband of 18 years left me for no clear reason and I’ve been dealing with all kinds of difficult emotions. The Holy Spirit has been using your book Captivating to propel me into a new and beautiful place with Jesus. I couldn’t read it fast enough. :-) And, when I got to the very end I cried.”

“Prior to Wild at Heart, I was controlling, striving, driven, selfish, living for the world, critical of others. I was a hard man to be around. I had so many wounds pressed down, and buried under years of striving, posing, and controlling. God has healed so many areas of my heart, has literally changed me as a leader in my company, it has saved my marriage and it has set me on a wonderful path to raise a son who loves Jesus."

“I came to the retreat a profoundly wounded woman. Molested as a child. Abusive husband. Drug addiction. I did not think there was anything good about being a woman; I did not think there was anything good about men. My life and my relationship with God have changed forever because of the retreat! Praise God he never stops restoring lives!”

Oh friends—it is working. IT IS WORKING!! With such glory and power, in such far-reaching ways we can hardly take in the beauty.

And we need your help.

None of this takes place without your love, your prayers, and your financial support. We are a non-profit; part of our budget is met by our income through conferences and resources. Part of it comes through the generosity of our friends. And you have been so generous! So faithful!

We need to raise over a million dollars by the end of the year. I’m not worried; God is faithful. I simply want to ask if you would consider a gift to us in the next few weeks. I know if we all do what we can do, Jesus will take care of our needs and the mission will carry on!

Thank you. Thank you for all your love, and prayers, and generosity. Together we are recovering the lost treasure of the Gospel, transforming the lives of men and women, and teaching them how to live in the Kingdom of God.

What better thing could we partner in than that???!

With love, and thanksgiving for you,

John

Download the November 2018 Newsletter here. 

Low Power Mode

Dear Summertime Friends,

I confess it—I have an iPhone. A love-hate relationship with my iPhone. Love the photo and video quality. Love a few of the apps (particularly the FIFA World Cup app this summer). Hate the fact that I feel tied to it as do most people in the world today. The expectation now is that we are available anytime, anywhere, all the time, and we should respond within moments. 

There used to be something called a “land line;” these were the only phones, and when you weren’t near one, no one could reach you, text you, find you, ask anything of you. It was wonderful. We actually had down time between work and home, travel and play. 

Most folks don’t even know that down time is a thing. We are constantly “on.” So hard on the heart and soul, not to mention the body.

The iPhone is a clever device; among its many features it has one called “Low Power Mode.” If I’ve run down the battery shooting videos of my grandchildren or watching the recap of the semifinals (sorry, England), or more likely I’ve simply forgotten to charge it, the phone asks me if I want to go into Low Power Mode. In which case it operates on a subsistence diet, trying to conserve the last remaining power. According to Apple support,

“Low Power Mode reduces the amount of power that your iPhone uses when the battery gets low…When Low Power Mode is on, your iPhone will last longer before you need to charge it, but some features might take longer to update or complete.”

When it happened again this week I thought, If only our souls had this feature. Some regular reminder to us that says, “Hey Dan, Susie, Jack—your battery is running low. Shut down all unnecessary activity. Don’t drain yourself any further. Go plug yourself back into the Source.”

You’ll notice that human beings have a certain amount of capacity; we all have a “battery,” and it is limited. Not unlimited, as we would like, but extremely limited. You have to sleep, every night. You have to literally shut down your systems for six to eight hours every single day of your life. I recognize some people have difficulties with that, and some people seem to be able to get by with less (seem to), but this is the way God made human bodies and souls.

We need to go into Low Power Mode on a regular basis, and summer is the perfect time to do it. There is even a kind of cultural permission to do so (if we needed it).

What I wanted to put before you this month is the very simple question: Have you asked Jesus, What is the rhythm you want for me right now, Lord? He might have some things he’d like to say to you about that. Not in the negative sense, but in lovely directions towards life.

It was another hot day the other day (Colorado has been scorching this summer), and I was inside waiting till things cooled off to go tend to our horses. Jesus whispered, You should go now. “Now?” Yes—now. So I got up, and went. I noticed cumulus clouds building overhead (I love those great summer clouds) and soon as I got to the barn it began to rain. So I slipped under an overhang, and spent the next thirty minutes simply watching the wind in the tall grasses and the rain falling across the valley. It was absolutely lovely, and so restoring. I would have missed it all had I not listened.

The rain let up, I tended our horses, and Jesus said, You should head back now. I didn’t want to go back; but I obeyed. Soon as I got back to house, a real gully-washer let loose.

A simple story. Nothing dramatic. But a beautiful picture of how God really does want to lead us into rest, beauty, and restoration.

You can’t just live “on” all the time. When is your Low Power Mode time?

So while summer is still here, and the park is gorgeous and flowers are blooming and the river is perfect temperature for swimming—or whatever your joy is—my goodness, go on Low Power Mode for heaven’s sake. Ask Jesus what he has for you. Go plug yourself back into renewal by letting him lead you to what he has for you.

Offered in love, and now I’m going on Low Power Mode,

John

Download the July 2018 newsletter here. 

 

Kindness

I’ve been enjoying something from Ephesians lately, and wanted to share it with you. Allow me to begin with a passage from the opening of the letter…

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:3-8)

Now, there is SO much in this opening passage I can’t possible address it all here. Chosen. Made holy. Every spiritual blessing. Can’t take it all in right now. What I would like to point out is the use of the word “kindness” twice in the last two verses—God is rich is kindness, and he has showered kindness on us. This is so lovely and life-giving, we need to pause and reflect on it.

Kindness is such a simple virtue, it often seems to take a back seat to more dramatic qualities like bravery or holiness or love (kindness sort of feels like the younger sibling to love). And yet, kindness is such a wonderful thing to receive.

Don’t you love it when people are kind to you?

I sure do. In a world that seems increasingly angry and hostile, a little bit of kindness can make your day. You’re trying to merge into busy traffic and instead of cutting you off, the driver ahead pauses and waves you in. You’re returning some item to the store and after waiting your turn behind several customers, you get to the counter only to realize you forgot the receipt. “No worries,” the clerk says, “we can take care of this.” Such simple gestures can totally change your day. Or how about this one—you are in a hurry to get home because you promised some friends you’d take care of their dog and you get pulled over for speeding; the officer hears your story and says, “I understand. How about you take it slow the rest of the way,” and doesn’t give you the ticket she could have. 

Kindness is simply wonderful.

Now, the place I want to take us in this reflection is actually even more overlooked than offering kindness to one another—I am struck by the power of offering kindness to ourselves.

I’m working on a deck project this week. Specifically, I am installing some deck railing. We haven't had any for years, but now Stasi and I are grandparents (2 little girls entering full-on toddlerhood, and a new little grandson), and suddenly I realize we need deck railing so that our little adventurers don’t take a plunge.

Anyhow, I’m out there for hours this morning trying to get one particular rail in place. It’s not going well. I’m getting frustrated. But I’m kind of a push-through-it guy, and even though the temperature on the deck is in the upper 80s, I keep at it another hour. No success. Finally, I realize what is needed—I need to walk away. I need to let it go. I need to come in and cool off and have lunch. I am learning to practice simple kindness towards myself. The fruit of it is really good on my soul; the ripple effects are good on everyone else around me.

A friend was in town last week. I felt I ought to invite them to come over. But before I sent the text, I paused and asked Jesus. Not a good call, he said. You are utterly exhausted. And it’s true—I was wiped out from a week of meetings and mission and work and I was about to spend my only evening off on further giving, had Jesus not intervened. His counsel didn’t come as a command; it came in the gentle spirit of kindness. Don’t do that to yourself.

Now I have a week of vacation. (It’s summer, folks! Woo hoo!) But I am keenly aware that I also have a book due in September. I begin to make plans to work on the manuscript even as my vacation begins. I wouldn’t if I were you, my kind Lord says. You first need sabbath; then you can think about the book. Simple kindness.

What I wanted to put before you this month is the question, “What would practicing kindness towards yourself look like right now?” It might be in the way you talk to yourself—especially when you blow it. It might be in the pace you are currently living. It might be in expectations, or in the “to do” list you have for yourself this summer. Kindness.

Remember—the way you treat your own heart is the way you will end up treating everyone else’s. That’s not meant to be a shaming statement; it is another way of realizing that the practice of self-kindness will spill over into kindness towards those around you.

Okay. That’s really all I wanted to say. I could keep pressing on trying to come up with witty or powerful embellishments, but the truth is that wouldn't be kind to myself. After all, I’m on vacation. God is rich is kindness, and he has showered kindness on us. I want to live more into that. I want to receive it as he offers it; I want to practice it towards myself. I want to extend it to others more generously.

Kindness.

Offered in love,

John

Download the June 2018 Newsletter here.

 

Union With God

Dear Friends,

I write these letters, for the most part, to people who want to have a richer life with God. (A richer life period, which we know only flows out of a richer life with God.)

We want to draw closer and closer; it is the yearning and inclination of the soul that loves God. For “When Jesus is near,” wrote a Kempis, “all is well and nothing seems difficult. When He is absent, all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty, but if He says only a word, it brings great consolation.” Thus our soul yearns for nearness.

But I think it yearns for something more—we yearn for union with God.

He is the Vine, the source of all our life, and we are but branches aching and thirsting to be united with the Vine, so that Life itself might flow through us. In the introduction to Albert Magnus’ medieval classic, Union with God, the editor begins, “Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God.” My soul says, Yes and amen. The closest possible union.

Now, when I look at the popular books, podcasts, sermons and conferences being offered right now in Christendom, I’m struck by how infrequently the topic is union with God. Either they are things to do: “This is how to help your kids grow in their faith,” or, “Do this for your community to share the love of Christ,” or, “Take action to bring justice to the world.” Or they are inspiration: “Be a better you! Live a braver life! You too can overcome!” There is a place for these things, of course, but I think they are misleading, because something else is needed first. Our energy and vitality, our strength and endurance, all the virtues like patience, loving-kindness, and forgiveness—these all flow out of our union with God. When the soul tries to produce any of these things on its own, it tires very easily. “We are vessels of life,” wrote MacDonald, “not yet full of the wine of life; where the wine does not reach, there the clay cracks, and aches, and is distressed.” 

So you would think our primary goal—and thus topic of conversation—would be union with God.

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you…one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me.” (John 17:20-23) 

This is not quite the same thing as saying we believe in God, or that we are listening to God; not even that we are obeying God. Union, oneness, is something far higher and richer. I realize that in this abused age any sexual metaphor is potentially troubling, but the scripture uses it and therefore we should not abandon it. Referring directly to marriage Paul says,

For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies…she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man…you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:2-4 NASB)

And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. (NLT)

It’s simply helpful to differentiate: believing in God is not the same thing as union with God, doing various God-activities is not the same as union with God, obeying God isn’t necessarily union with God. These things can all be done while there is a kind of distance between our soul and God. You can read all about Italy but that is very different from actually living there. You can do things for your spouse but that’s not the same as being united with them.

Okay then. What I want to suggest is, that the basic things we do, the things that are at the top of our “To Do” lists, are things that help us find union with God. Step 1 is understanding that God wants union with you, that union is the purpose of your creation, and that it is the priority. That’s a good starting point. It is a massive re-orientation. Because it leads quickly to Step 2, which is presenting ourselves to God for union. I do this every day: “I present myself to You, God, for union with You.” We pray for union; we ask for it.

Step 3 (and this is not science, folks, it’s poetry; these “steps” are simply for clarity’s sake) is to release everything else that is taking up room in your soul. “I give everything and everyone to You for union with You.” And then, I have found it very important to ask God to heal my union with him: “Father—I pray you would heal our union. I pray your glory would fill our union.” This is critical because the enemy is always trying to harm our union with God, and it needs healing and repairing on a regular basis.

Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit—I give myself to you to be one with you in everything. I pray for union and I pray for oneness. I pray to be one heart and one mind, one will, one life. Restore me in you; restore our union. I give everything and everyone to you in order to have union with you. Heal our union, God; restore and renew our union. I pray your glory fills our union. I pray for a deeper union with you, a deeper and more complete oneness.

It is a very quiet and gentle thing. Sometimes dramatic, but maybe only about 5% of the time. Most of the time the union of our soul with God is something that is very gentle and life-giving. And therefore you have to be gentle and tuned-in to be aware of it. But I think you will love the fruit of this. So I thought it would be good to put this back in front of us as the priority for each day.

Offered in love,

John

PS. We are airing a two-part podcast series on union with God in June! Make sure you tune in!

Download the May 2018 newsletter here.

Choosing what is Real

My awakening began with two simple experiences. The first came through touching wet granite.

I am a writer by trade. Add to this occupation the average person’s basic online consumption, and the result is, I find myself in front of screens for long periods of my day. While finishing a recent book project, I kept wandering outside, simply to touch real things—stone, pinecones, the juniper bush. This wasn’t a cognitive decision; it was a compelling, something I felt I had to do in order to come out from a weird ether-space, come back to myself. Laying my hand on a wet boulder, feeling the cold, examining the granite crystals, I realized, I need reality.

The second, far more startling, moment came when I stepped into a small, local bakery. 

Normally when we need a loaf, I do what nearly everyone else in the West does—I go to the store and choose something from the racks. There is no smell of bread; there is no oven nearby; you see only factory-made products neatly packed in colorful plastics. It is an entirely detached experience, and often what comes in that plastic bag is barely even a food product. That was my normal, and so stepping into an actual artisan bakery was a thunderbolt, like suddenly finding myself on the open ocean. Soon as I walked through the door, I was engulfed with the aromas of dough, baking bread, and burnt crust. I felt the hot ovens. Instead of plastic rectangles, I beheld racks of naked loaves in ordered disarray: baguettes, boules, ciabattas. It was so real, so sensual. I wanted to grab several loaves and a jug of wine, find a meadow, and take a two-hour lunch. I wanted to dive in a river and run through the forest and never, ever go back to my office. My soul was awakened by an encounter with the Real, and I found myself wondering, If this is how the human race dealt with something as basic as bread for thousands of years, what have I gotten used to?

What have we gotten used to? 

The average person now spends 93 percent of their life indoors (this includes your transportation time in car, bus, metro). Ninety-three percent—such a staggering piece of information that we should pause for a moment and let the tragedy sink in. 

You live nearly all your life in a fake world. 

Artificial lighting instead of the warmth of sunlight, the cool of moonlight, the darkness of night itself. Artificial climate created by the thermostat replaces the wild beauty of real weather; your world is always 68 degrees. All the surfaces you touch are things like plastic and faux leather instead of meadow, wood, and stream. The atmosphere you inhabit is now asphyxiated with artificial smells—mostly chemicals and “air fresheners”—instead of cut grass and wood smoke and salt air (is anyone weeping yet?). In place of the cry of the hawk, the thunder of waterfall, and the comfort of crickets, your world spews out artificial sounds—all the clicks and beeps and whir of technology, the hum of the HVAC. My God—even the plants in your little bubble are fake. They give no oxygen; instead, the plastic off-gases toxins, and if that is not a statement, I don’t know what is.

But the worst part of it all is this: We have come to prefer it that way. Like laboratory rats or the slaves still tied into The Matrix.

You live a bodily existence. The physical life, with all the glories of senses and appetites and passions—this is the life God meant for us. It is through our senses we learn most every important lesson. Even in spiritual acts of worship and prayer, we are standing or kneeling, engaging bodily. God put your soul in this amazing bodily life, and then put you in a world perfectly designed for that experience. He forever exalted the bodily life through the Incarnation, when God himself chose to dwell in a body. Forever.

The implications for young men are critical. As we have tried to articulate a thousand ways here at And Sons, the initiation of the masculine soul takes place through our training in the Real World. Thus the quote—variously attributed to Churchill, Will Rogers, and Reagan—that “The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse.” Because when the young man encounters the horse, he is thrust into a constant, dynamic encounter with the Real. It calls things out of him, not only fears, anger, and impatience to be overcome, but intuition and presence and a sort of firm kindness no Xbox game can ever replicate. There is no switch you can flip; you must engage. Reality shapes you.

I love March Madness. I can watch hours of it in a stretch. But I feel like crap afterwards. Just compare how you feel after binge-watching hours of screen anything—TV, video games, YouTube—with how you feel when you come off a mountain bike ride or a swim in the ocean. Living in an artificial world is like spending your life wrapped in plastic wrap. You wonder why you feel tired and numb and a little depressed, when the simple answer is you have a vitamin D deficiency; there is no sunlight in your life, literally or figuratively. Our body, soul, and spirit atrophy because we were made to inhabit a real world, to draw life and joy and strength from it. To be shaped by it, to relish in it.

The world we inhabit substitutes real community with artificial community through social media. Now, I do understand the benefits. But having a “friend” on Facebook is nothing like having beers with an actual human being, and eons from taking a road trip together. They’re not even in the same universe. No text, no post, no update can ever replace engaging a person in person. But we have come to prefer the quick text, even quicker emoji reply. Because of the convenience. Our ability to relate is atrophying by the hour.

The world tries to make up for its artificial hollowness through spectacle and hype, trying to make small stories seem like big stories. Watch any pro sports—the media surrounding it, the graphics, the pounding music, the “drama”—all trying to make it seem important, when the truth is, it’s inconsequential. Who cares who won the Superbowl last year? Thus we accept artificial meaning over a real life.

Is it any wonder that men now prefer artificial sex to a covenant relationship with a real woman? All the rest of their life has taught them to prefer the artificial, so they are sitting ducks when it comes to their sexuality. It’s quick; it’s easy; it requires absolutely no masculinity whatsoever. But it provides an artificial feeling of being a man. Junk food is easy, tasty, and addicting. It will also kill you (anyone seen Fast Food Nation?). It’s not real. Pornography is sexual junk food.

The artificial world lies and cheats. It seduces us with the worst of all lessons: that life is easy, and comfort is the goal. Thus it kills initiation at every turn. It cheats us of nourishment and strength and the very training we need. The answer is not only online filters. The answer is to choose a life where you prefer the Real over the artificial everywhere you possibly can. Reality was meant to shape us. The artificial is built almost entirely around our comfort and ease. Take back your soul. Re-engage the process of your initiation by choosing the Real everywhere you can.

Get outside, every day. If you work out in a gym, take it outside with a run, bike, swim, hike. Encounter the weather whenever you can. Walk around outside your office building every day. Turn off the A/C and roll down the windows in your car. Turn off your screens and do something with real things. Change a tire; change your own oil. Learn to sharpen a knife. Plant some vegetables. Eat real food. Cooking is a surprising access point to the real—an encounter with textures, with heat and cold and spices—and it shapes you. Brew your own beer. 

Have a look around your world; notice how much is artificial. Begin to choose against the comfort and ease of the fake for the bracing trueness of the Real. You will love it! 

I was on a two-week business trip recently; it began with an overnight flight, 10 hours in a tube. From there it was airports, hotels, cars—an entirely artificial existence. Everything was fake—weather, lighting, sounds. I found myself increasingly wanting to drink, eat chocolate, watch TV. The artificial was wearing me down, poisoning me, and my soul was looking for quick relief. On the last night, a massive thunderstorm let loose in the city. My car was parked two blocks away. Instead of trying to avoid the rain by calling a cab, or cringing and moping at the fact that I would get utterly soaked, I relished it. I rejoiced the entire two torrential blocks; I whooped and shouted and let the rain utterly douse me. After days upon days in the artificial, it was a cleansing baptism in the Real.

C. S. Lewis said, “[Christians], of all men, must not conceive spiritual joy and worth as things that need to be rescued or tenderly protected from time and place and matter and the senses. Their God is the God of corn and oil and wine. He is the glad Creator. He has become Himself incarnate. The sacraments have been instituted. Certain spiritual gifts are offered to us only on the condition that we perform certain bodily acts….To shrink back from all that can be called Nature into negative spirituality is as if we ran away from horses instead of learning to ride….Who will trust me with a spiritual body if I cannot control even an earthly body? These small and perishable bodies we now have were given to us as ponies are given to schoolboys. We must learn to manage: not that we may some day be free of horses altogether but that some day we may ride bare-back, confident and rejoicing, those greater mounts, those winged, shining and world-shaking horses which perhaps even now expect us with impatience, pawing and snorting in the King’s stables.”

The World

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about “The World” lately. 

Not the world as in planet earth; not meaning global affairs. Rather, The World as Scripture speaks of—The World it has some fairly strong words about. In fact, it was passages like these that really caught my attention:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. 1 John 2:15

Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4

Those are stark warnings; almost offensive, if they weren't from the God who gave his life for us. What is he so upset about? 

I think we have a pretty good idea how dangerous the devil can be; and we are only too familiar with the trouble our “flesh” or sin nature can get us into. But this thing called “The World”—what is it? That’s what got me thinking, and it led to a six-part podcast series we are starting this month. So I wanted to share a few highlights here with you.

Generations past have tried to define The World as things like dancing, card playing, drinking, going to movies, women wearing pants. Looking back, those seem absurd now. Sexual mores have always been the other prime target, and that is getting closer to the issue. But God is very specific when he warns about sexual immorality; here he is clearly turning our attention to this other thing called “The World.” 

The team began kicking this around in preparation for our series, and what we first noticed is that The World we have created is a world utterly committed to convenience. Why else would there be Starbucks on every corner? (A spoof in The Onion announced a new Starbucks opening in the restroom of an existing Starbucks). You can do all your banking, correspondence, appointments, travel arrangement—even turn the lights in your home on from your phone. Vegetables come bagged, ready for the microwave. The next level up appears to be self-driving cars. We can’t even drive our own cars anymore? What is with humanity’s craving for an easier way?

The trouble with this value system is that the soul is not shaped, nor is character ever formed, through comfort and convenience. Any parent knows this. “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). The Christian life requires strong and resilient souls; the soul is  compromised by a life of comfort and convenience. 

The World we now live in also constantly assaults our attention. Taxi cabs, elevators, airplane seats, gas pumps all have TVs in them now, spewing ads at a captive audience. Anytime you go online, Google knows your buying patterns and sends to your screen tailor-made videos and advertising. Push notifications, alerts, “click bait”—everything in our life is constantly trying to grab our attention. We barely have space to think. So much so that we have come to prefer distraction; people check their mobile devices more than 80 times a day. If you think I’m overstating this, just try putting your phone on “do not disturb” for a week; you’ll see how much you want to check it.

The outcome is further erosion of the soul; we have become so easily distracted. This is dangerous because scripture says our transformation depends on our ability to give lingering attention to God: “They looked to Him and were radiant” (Psalm 34:5); “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:20). As we look to him, Paul says, we become like him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Souls committed to comfort find it very uncomfortable to spend time with God; easily distracted souls simply cannot give God their lingering attention. Thus The World poisons us without it looking “immoral” or blatantly evil.

A third observation we made is that The World as we now have it prefers the Artificial to the Real. With medication, spas, and surgeries, a woman of 75 can now look 35—artificial youth. Social media creates a sense of connection (and hear me now—I do enjoy photos of my grandchildren). But it is artificial community, as is watching a church service on TV artificial church. We use emoticons—little cartoon images—instead of actually saying how we are feeling, or better, having an actual conversation with a real human being. We create artificial meaning by constantly trying to make small stories seem like big stories (witness the Super Bowl—such hoopla over nothing, really). Men fall prey to artificial sex.

There is so much more to say, but let me summarize it this way: The World as scripture warns of is mankind’s Flight from Reality. We run from God to create a world where (we think) we don’t need him. We deny reality and say “this is all there is,” so we are fixated on the present. We distract ourselves; we choose artificial meaning and community. We demand greater freedom and less responsibility. No wonder the Desert Fathers fled The World of their day! As Thomas Merton explains, The World “was regarded by them as a shipwreck” from which every person “had to swim for his life... they believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster.”

In this way, you can think of discipleship to Jesus as swimming lessons.

I’m sorry we’ve run out of space here; we do offer more insight and many practical suggestions to take your soul back from The World in our podcast series; I do hope you will tune in.

Offered for your soul’s welfare, with love,

John

 

Download the April 2018 newsletter here.

Pause

February turned out to be an especially busy month for us; among other things God is really increasing our reach internationally. But I am trying to practice a more sane life, a soul-friendly life. Those two things usually mix like oil and water—busyness and living a sane life. So, what I am learning to do is to let go what I can let go of during busy times, and in February the newsletter turned out to be one of those things.

 

Which actually leads me to what I’d like to share this month—living a sane life, a soul-friendly life. A few small choices that will make a big difference in our life with God.

 

We all need more of God. Every one of us. No matter what our circumstance may be, whether the current pressures are emotional, financial, career, health, relationships—if we had a greater measure of God in our life right now, I guarantee you things would turn out better. He is the source of all provision, healing, and life; all love and guidance and every other good thing we can think of or need. “More of God!” is the cry of every human soul.

 

Now, if that’s true—if more of God is what we most deeply need—you would think that we would be arranging our lives to do those things that allows our soul to find more of God. If you live in a desert, you plan your day around finding water.

 

So my question for you is simply this: What is it that you are doing on a regular basis to receive more of God?

 

An awkward question; the room often goes silent when you ask this question. Because most of us are waiting for God to invade our busy lives, rather than making room for him. If God is our deepest, most pressing need, you’d think we’d all be arranging our lives to do those things that bring us more of God on a daily basis. As our highest priority.

 

So—what I’d like to offer this month are a few things you can do to create some soul space, and find more of God. Things which are simple, accessible, and sustainable. (Because if they are not simple, accessible and sustainable, we won’t do them.) By way of example, let me offer The One Minute Pause…

 

I noticed that during my day I simply go from thing to thing to thing, without pause, from morning till night. (I am eating lunch at my desk as I write this letter.) I finish a phone call, and turn back to email. I finish this letter, and go find someone I need a meeting with. There is no pause in my day. No sacred space at all. So what I have begun to do is look for the One Minute Pause. After I finish a phone call, and before I start something else, I simply pause. When I pull into work in the morning and when I pull into my driveway in the evening, I pause. I literally lay my head down on my steering wheel and just pause, for one minute. It sounds rather simple to be a practice that brings me more of God, but it’s very effective. Because what it does is open up soul space, breathing room. And God is right there.

 

This pause has become so important to our life at Ransomed Heart that twice a day monastery “bells” ring out at 10:00 and 2:00 on our office sound system, reminding every team member to stop what they are doing for one minute and just make room for God. It’s simple; it’s accessible.

 

Here’s another—do not look at your phone, or any technology, first thing in the morning. Don’t check texts, or Facebook, or email. Push back all technology for a few waking moments, to just allow your soul some room. Pray a little. Play a worship song. Let God have the opening moments of your day, rather than letting the clamor of the world in.

 

Touch Nature. I’m serious—every day, your soul needs to engage Creation. Nature is the world your soul was made to live in, and for most of us, Nature is the first thing to go. We live in artificial environments, going from apartment or home to vehicle to workplace, and never even noticing what Nature is doing. But everyone can get outside, in some way; take a 5-minute walk around your building. Notice the weather; let the sun or rain or breeze touch your skin. Dear friends, technology drains us. Research is revealing a direct correspondence between rising levels of anxiety and depression, and time spent on social media. More and more data is emerging to say that “screen time” is not good for the brain, let alone the soul. Technology—where most people live their lives—is draining. Nature is healing. So reduce one and increase the other. You’ll find God there.

 

Now for a simple act that will transform your life (every one of these things is available in even the busiest life). We learn the practice of Release. Every night before I go to bed, one of the things I pray is, “Jesus—I give everyone and everything to you.” Everyone and everything. Your soul was never meant to carry it all, dear ones. If you want to make room in your soul for God, you have to let go of all the things that are currently filling your soul. You might be surprised by how much is filling your soul. So we give it all back to Him—we give everyone, and everything back to Jesus. The fruit of this practice has become so life giving, I do it now several times a day.

 

Now, yes—there are more substantive spiritual practices. Lingering prayer. Scripture. Times of private worship. Spending a day with God. But if you will begin with simple, accessible, and sustainable things, they will lead you on to other practices that create sacred space in your life, which allows you to find more of God. (If you’d like to hear more about this, and other practices that are readily available, listen to our February 26 and March 5 podcasts. You will love them!)

 

Friends, we cannot ignore our souls, let alone God, and then go on to try and make a life. God is the source of all life: “For with you is the fountain of life” (Ps 36:9). We need to turn there, often, for a good, deep drink. Therefore, what we need to do is to arrange our lives to make room for those things that bring us more of God.

 

Honestly—it’s that simple. And utterly life-changing.

John

(Download this, the March 2018 Newsletter here.)