Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 51

Referencing: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 22, 2024

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on the Self-Referencing Problem. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Referencing: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 22, 2024
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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Other-Reference Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Most Merciful Father,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you care for us personally and lead us step-by-step where you want us to journey.

Forgive the sins of our youth, when we sinned unknowingly and did so even out of spite.

Thank you for your son, our savior, Jesus Christ, who helps us look beyond our selves to see you and the life that you have in store for us.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us the sense to learn from our mistakes and to grow to learn from other people’s mistakes.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Other-Reference Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Turn_Jan24 ,  Signup
 

 

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The Self-Referencing Problem

 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

A key principle in ontology—the study of existence or being—starts with the realization that everyone has a religion. A religion provides an explanation as to how things knowable and unknowable come together systematically. Ignoring the problem is another option, but it carries the price of increasing anxiety and eventually leads to an existential crisis—a self-implosion—because uncertainty and risk pose real problems that can be delayed, but not ignored.

Self-Referencing Problem

At the heart of the existential crisis is a mathematic principle known as Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem. Kurt Gödel (1931), a Czech mathematician, who was born in 1906, educated in Vienna, and taught at Princeton University. His theorem states that stability in any closed, logical system requires that at least one assumption be taken from outside that system. If creation is a closed, logical system (as having only one set of physical laws suggests that it is) and exhibits stability, then it too must contain at least one external assumption (Smith 2001, 89). This is why computers cannot program themselves and why depressed people are advised to get out of the house and do something outside their normal routine. The stability of the universe depends on the assumption that God exists because he created it.

The Incompleteness Theorem is a system requirement for stability. When a system only references itself, it is inherently unstable. Any perturbation (disturbance) of the system renders the system dynamically unstable, which is a self-referencing problem. Any reference outside the system offers stability to the entire system.

An example of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem can be taken from economics. Stable, international trade provides an external reference point that stabilizes prices within a particular country’s economy. When international trade becomes unstable, this instability is immediately transmitted within the country’s price structure. The same effect is present when a bank fails—the financial status of depositors is immediately undermined and panic ensues. This is why banking regulators are quick to intervene and provide liquidity. The self-referencing problem is real and immediately destabilizing when change occurs.

Religion Not Optional

Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem suggests why religion is not optional. It is foundational to everything that we think or feel. Having no religion—claiming none—is not an ontological option unless one is willing to accept anxiety, depression, and/or medication. The frequent assertion that religion is a preference, not a requirement,  is an ill-informed position.

A better position is to consider one’s options. If one has a problem with Christianity, then what options are available be used to replace it? Claiming none is to put one ontologically at risk of self-implosion—an existential crisis—this is why narcissists are at high risk of suicide. A substitute should be better option, not one that places one at risk.

Augustine’s Confessions

One person who seriously considered the options was Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), whose confessions pictured God as interested in the well-being of individuals and is believed by some to have initiated Western Civilization.

Augustine came to faith at the age of thirty-two having struggled with sin and gave up his career as a teacher of rhetoric and his betrothal to a younger woman so that he could be ordained as priest. His conversion to Christianity is remarkable, not only because of the things that he gave up, but also because he actively considered the Manichean philosophy and because of the active influence of his Catholic mother, Monica.

Augustine’s struggle with sexual passions caused him great anguish before his conversion and the story of the conversion of Victorinus, a fellow professor of rhetoric in Rome weighed heavily on him. Augustine writes:

“Now when this man of Yours, Simplicianus had told me the story of Victorinus, I was on fire to imitate him: which indeed was why he had told me. He added that in the time of the Emperor Julian, when a law was made prohibiting Christians from teaching Literature and Rhetoric, Victorinus had obeyed the law, preferring to give up his own school of words rather than Your word, by which You make eloquent the tongues of babes.” (Foley 2006, 142, 147)

These are not the words of a stoic philosopher. Augustine writes like a man in chains to his sin saying: “Thus I was sick at heart and in torment, accusing myself with new intensity of bitterness, twisting and turning in my chain in the hope that it might be utterly broken, for what held me was so small a thing.” (Foley 2006, 167).

Augustine wrote this account of his conversion:

“Such things I said, weeping in the most bitter sorrow of my heart. And suddenly I hear a voice from some nearby house, a boy’s voice or a girl’s voice, I do not know, but it was a sort of sing-song, repeated again and again, ‘Take and read, take and read.’” (Foley 2006, 169)

Augustine borrowed a book of scriptures from his friend, Alypius, and opened it randomly coming to this verse: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Rom 13:13) Convicted of his sexual sin, he took this passage as a word from God to him personally and went to his mother to announce that he was a Christian (Foley 2006, 160).

Augustine’s biographer Peter Brown (2000, 157) writes: 

“The Confessions…is not a book of reminiscences. They are an anxious turning to the past. The note of urgency is unmistakable. [Augustine writes} Allow me, I beseech You, grant me to wind round and round in my present memory the spirals of my errors…It is also a poignant book. In it, one constantly senses the tension between the ‘then’ of the young man and the ‘now’ of the bishop.”

Augustine’s influence on the church has been enormous. He not only started one of the first monasteries, his student, Martin Luther, helped start the Protestant Reformation about a thousand years later.

References

Brown, Peter. 2000. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (Orig pub 1967). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Foley, Michael P. [editor] 2006. Augustine Confessions (Orig Pub 397 AD). 2nd Edition. Translated by F. J. Sheed (1942). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Smith, Houston. 2001. Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief. San Francisco: Harper.

The Self-Referencing Problem

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Turn_Jan24 ,  Signup

 

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Nouwen: Make Space for Self, Others, and God

Henri J. M. Nouwen. 1975. Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. New York: DoubleDay.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra, Author of Simple Faith and other books available online.

A ministry friend once distinguished problems from polarities. He argued that problems, unlike polarities, have solutions while polarities can only be managed. For example,  an umbrella manages our response to rain, but does not solve the problem posed by rain;  having an umbrella simply makes rain more tolerable. Ministry would be more tolerable, my friend advised, if I learned to manage polarities rather than treating them as problems to be solved. Because unsolvable polarities are everywhere in life and ministry, I never forgot my friend’s advice.

Three Polarities

Three polarities lie at the heart of our spiritual life says Henri Nouwen. In his book, Reaching Out, he describes them as: an inner movement from loneliness to solitude, an outward movement from hostility to hospitality, and an upward movement from illusion to prayer (20). These movements each potentially involve progress—hence, the term, movement—but for Nouwen this progress is tentative and subject to lifelong tension (39). He writes: “the spiritual life is that constant movement between the poles of loneliness and solitude, hostility and hospitality, illusion and prayer.” (20) Tension suggests a struggle with polarity both in heart and mind.

Spirituality

This struggle with both head and mind components distinguishes writing in spirituality from theology where the logic of the mind is more narrowly the focus. Nouwen focuses immediately on the question—“What does it mean to live a life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ?”—and links this question to one Jesus himself poses: “Some say. . .others say. . .but what do you say?” (16-17) What we say is immediately pertinent. Nouwen sees spirituality discussions as intensely personal. In this setting or any other, “we have to face and explore directly our inner restlessness, our mixed feelings towards others, and our deep-seated suspicions about the absence of God.” (17). In these three movements, Nouwen is clearly inviting us into his spiritual struggles and the tone of the book is captured in its title.

Outline of Book

The title, Reaching Out, captures Nouwen’s sense of the three movements, around which he structures the book (17) into 9 chapters, preceded by a foreword and introduction, and followed by a conclusion and notes:

Foreword

Introduction

  REACHING OUT TO OUR INNERMOST SELF—The First Movement From Loneliness To Solitude

A Suffocating Loneliness
A Receptive Solitude
A Creative Response

  REACH OUT TO OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS—The Second Movement From Hostility To Hospitality

Creating Space for Strangers
Forms of Hospitality
Hospitality and the Host

  REACHING OUT TO OUR GOD—The Third Movement From Illusion To Prayer

Prayer and Mortality
The Prayer of the Heart
Community and Prayer

  Conclusion

Notes (15)

Who is Nouwen?

In addition to being a prodigious author, Nouwen was a Catholic priest and longtime academic who went to live and work in the L’Arche-Daybreak Community (of special needs individuals) in Toronto, Canada, laying down the academic life much like Jesus laid his clothes aside to wash the disciple’s feet (John 13:4-5).

Three Movements

Let me turn aside now to focus on the three movements.

Movement from Loneliness to Solitude

As an observant priest who suffered from same-sex attractions, Nouwen felt loneliness deeply, describing it as: “one of the most universal sources of human suffering today.” (25) Even in his suffering, Nouwen goes on to write:

“The movement from loneliness to solitude, however, is the beginning of any spiritual life because it is the movement from restless senses to the restful spirit, from the outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless play.” (34-35)

The key words here are a restful spirit (Sabbath), inward-reaching search (an attentive heart and mind), and play—play! Play usually distinguishes adults from children—a child of God must learn to play. For Nouwen, this play makes space in our life for others (40) because we are more rested, “alert and aware of the world around us” (50). Nouwen’s vision of solitude develops the inner resources that make hospitality to others possible (61-62).

Movement from Hostility to Hospitality

Much like solitude provides the inner space for admitting others, hospitality provides outward space for others. This is where “the stranger can enter and become a friend, instead of an enemy” (71). Nouwen (66-67) gives three biblical examples. These include Abraham’s hospitality to three strangers (Gen 18:1-15), the widow of Zarephath hospitality to Elijah in spite of her own poverty (1 Kgs 17:9-24), and the two travelers on the road to Emmaus who unknowingly offered hospitality to Jesus (Luke 24:13-35). In each case, Nouwen writes:

“When hostility is converted into hospitality then fearful strangers can become guests revealing to their hosts the promise they are carrying with them.” (67).

For Nouwen, hospitality accordingly offers the possibility of transforming strangers into friends who respond with their own gift, promise, and new life (67). This new life is instrumental in the case of parents offering space to children (81-84), teachers offering space to students (84-90), and healers offering space to patients (91-97). Hospitality is for Nouwen a primal concern.  Lonely people cannot offer much space, solitude is a key prerequisite for hospitality (101), which necessarily brings us to God.

Movement from Illusion to Prayer

No paths up the mountain lead to God; God must come down, as Nouwen relates:

“. . . the paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be received as a gift. We cannot plan, organize, or manipulate God; but without a careful discipline, we cannot receive him either.” (126)

Nouwen notes the problem of finding a spiritual guide. He finds wisdom in praying the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” (141) I was taught the Jesus prayer working in a Catholic hospital as a substitute for the negative self-talk often practiced by psychiatric patients. Because we all practice negative self-talk, the motivation to engage in continuous prayer (or to pray the Jesus prayer) is much the same. It makes space in our hearts for God, who grants us a capacity for both solitude and hospitality.

Assessment

Henri Nouwen’s Reaching Out has been a significant influence on my spiritual life since I first read in 2007 and it continues to influence my professional writing. Like all of Nouwen’s writing, this book reads well but requires reflection, like any classic in Christian spirituality. Christians serious about deepening their faith will want to spend some time with this book.

Footnotes

http://www.LArcheDaybreak.com.

Wil Hernandez, Henri Nouwen: A Spirituality of Imperfection, (New York: Paulist Press, 2006),page 126.

A somewhat longer breathe prayer was prayed by Nehemiah just before speaking to the king: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”  (Neh 1:11 ESV)

Nouwen: Make Space for Self, Others, and God
Also see:
Hernandez Explores the Polarities and Tension in Nouwen 
Books, Films, and Ministry
Other ways to engage online:

Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
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Hebrews: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 15, 2024

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on the Book of Hebrews. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Hebrews: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 15, 2024
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/X-mas-Dec23,  Signup
 

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Hebrew Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty Father,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you have given us a great high priest in the person of Jesus to mediate for us and with us when we are not in the room.

We confess that our vision is stymied and our hearing imperfect because we refuse to recognize the truth and are unwilling to listen to reason. Forgive us our limited vision and stopped-up ears.

We thank you for the gift of your Son, our savior, Jesus Christ who came to us in the usual way and lived among us despite our unfashionable dress and sinful behavior.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, incite in us a love for you and your church, in season and out, that we might grow closer to you each and every day.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Hebrew Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:

Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/X-mas-Dec23,  Signup

 

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Hebrews

 

For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, 

and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

how shall we escape [perdition] if we neglect such a great salvation?

(Heb 2:2-3)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The strongest statement of Christology—the theology of the person, nature, and role of Christ—in the New Testament is found in the Book of Hebrews. A focus on Christology makes sense because the new covenant in Christ is a person (Heb 7:22-24), not a treaty or a set of rules and regulations. It is accordingly important to understand what makes this person unique—their family, their upbringing, their habits, how they think, and what they feel. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of a child—a time in life when a person is most vulnerable, in total need of care and protection.

The subtext in the nativity scene is that Jesus is one of us—complete with dirty diapers. Jesus entered the world in the usual way. His vulnerability being the product of an unwanted pregnancy underscores his humble origins. Being from a small village, not an urban center, gives his street credibility among ordinary people. Being an ethnic Jew means that he is likely mixed race (Num 12:1) because Israel stands between continents—land disputed among empires as longs as there have been any. Jesus’ language abilities are unrecorded, although he was likely fluent in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek based on various New Testament situations and citations. In America today, Jesus might appear most like a brown-eyed, kinky-haired, Pentecostal pastor from Central America who works in construction during the week and has the physique to prove it.

Origins of the Book of Hebrews

The Book of Hebrews is a sermon taken from the mid 60s AD written to what was probably a Jewish house church in the city of Rome. The author is unknown, but Martin Luther believed the author to have been Apollo—an educated Jew from Alexandria (Acts 18:24-28) who worked closely with the Apostle Paul. Others, such as Calvin, believed the author to have been Paul (Calvin 2007, 3).

The Book of Hebrews argues the superiority of Christ to angels, Moses, Aaron, and the prophets, which is an argument that appeals to biblical Jews. It exhorts its audience to remain true to the faith in the face of persecution (Guthrie 1998, 13-35). Hebrews cautions that many followed Moses out of Egypt, but few followed Joshua into the Promised Land (Heb 3:16-19).  For Christians, Jesus is the new Joshua who leads us out of sin and into the heavenly kingdom (Murray 1996, 157-158).

Great High Priest

A key verse in the Book of Hebrews is: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15) A priest serves as an intermediary between God and human beings. 

If the priest were merely divine, then the priest, not having any weakness, could not sympathize with mere human beings. If that priest were then also a judge, the judgments would likely be harsh untempered with an understanding of the limitations and temptations that human being face.

If the priest were merely human, then how could the priest have standing with God because God is immortal. The priest could only relate to God during a mortal life being a creature created by God himself—at best a plaything in the hands of immortal God.

Thus, author of Hebrews argues that the divine and human attributes coexisting in a holy person makes Christ Jesus a suitable candidate to being a great high priest, someone fitting and just and available. The Book of Hebrews therefore serves to grant us a better understanding of the role and provisions of our great high priest.

References

Calvin, John. 2007. Calvin’s Bible Commentaries: Hebrews (Orig pub 1847). Translated by John King. London, UK: Forgotten Books.

Guthrie, George H. 1998. The NIV Application Commentary: Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Murray, Andrew. 1996. The Holiest of All. Update Version. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House.

Hebrews

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/X-mas-Dec23,  Signup

 

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Lindsey Explains Isaiah’s Suffering Servant

Duane Lindsey. 1985. The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah. Chicago: Moody Press.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

In his farewell address, Moses prophesies in Deuteronomy 30:1-3 that Israel would sin, be enslaved, cry out to the Lord, and God would send a deliverer. Walter Brueggemann (2016, 59) describes this pattern as the Deuteronomic cycle, it is repeated throughout biblical history, but especially in the Book of Judges. The deliverer is most often a charismatic warrior who throws off those enslaving the people and restores the people’s freedom.

In contrast to this physical salvation, the Prophet Isaiah writes about a suffering servant who will restore God’s kingdom and atone for sin through

self-sacrifice. It is this suffering servant that we encounter in the New Testament in the person of Jesus. The importance of the atonement and the role of suffering in Jesus’ narrative is why the prophecies of Israel figure prominently in Christmas carols and readings during Advent.

Introduction

In his book, The Servant Songs, Duane Lindsey writes:

“This volume is written as an introduction to the problems and literature relating to the Servant Songs. It is hoped that pastors and Bible students will find herein a doorway for further study and exposition of the delightful prophecies of Isaiah.” (xii)

The servant songs refer to four passages in Isaiah: 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9, and 52:13-53:12 (3). Of these, the last passage is the best known.

Background and Organization

Franklin Duane Lindsey (1934-2022) graduated from Biola Bible College and earned a Master’s of Theology at Talbot Theological Seminary. His doctorate is in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary where he taught for twenty-four years.

Lindsey writes in six chapters organized around the four servant songs:

Introduction
The Call of the Servant: Isaiah 42:1-9
The Commission of the Servant: Isaiah 49:1-13
The Commitment of the Servant: Isaiah 50:4-11
The Career of the Servant: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Conclusion (v)

These chapters are preceded by a foreword and preface. They are followed by a bibliography, and several indices.

The Atonement Controversy

Lindsey (4) writes:

“Jesus summarized his mission by affirming that ‘even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

This citation suggests that Jesus was himself aware of the servant songs and identified with them.

Lindsey observes:

“Not only the teaching of Jesus but also the earliest apostolic doctrine clearly affirmed that Jesus’ death was substitutionary and redemptive in fulfillment of the Servant of Yahweh passages of Isaiah.”

The implication of being substitutionary is that Jesus died for our sins, which is also referred to as the atonement.

The doctrine of the atonement has come under attack because it requires that Jesus be divine because the penalty of sin came as a divine curse. Only if Jesus were divine could he provide an adequate substitution for sin. For those who refuse to believe in miracles, divinity is precluded. Consequently, the doctrine of the atonement is a flash point between evangelicals and liberals within the church

Call (Isaiah 42:1-9)

Isaiah writes: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” (Isa 1:1) This is approximately from 739 BC to 681 BC (17), which implies that Isaiah’s prophesy of the suffering servant is centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ.  The servant songs appear in the second half of the Book of Isaiah where the theme shifts from judgment (chapters 1-39) to comfort (chapters 40-66) (19). Isaiah died, according to tradition, being sawed in two (Heb 11:37).

The servant is empowered with three tasks: 1. effecting a new covenant for Israel, 2. being a light to the nations, and 3. delivering the spiritually blind (53, 55, 69). These three tasks would not necessarily appeal to an ethnic Jew because the special relationship between God and Israel would no longer be exclusive.

Lindsey notes that: “Yahweh proves that He controls history by demonstrating His ability to prophesy.” (35) If Jesus is indeed the suffering servant in view here, then the demonstration of Yahweh’s existence—divinity—and power would be clearly evident.

Isaiah accordingly stimulates controversy because (1) the atonement requires divinity that is defined not to exist in a material world, and (2) the new covenant with Israel is open to gentiles.

Commission (Isaiah 49:1-13)

The second servant song reinforces the first but does not forget Israel. Lindsey writes:

“Yahweh’s called and gifted Servant is rejected at first by His own people Israel, but in a future day of grace He will ultimately succeed not only in fulfilling an expanded mission to bring salvation to the Gentiles but also in restoring Israel both to the land (physically and politically) and to Yahweh (spiritually).” (77)

This statement suggests that Lindsey sees the re-establishment of the Israeli state as an answer to this prophecy, but the question of spiritual restoration remains an open-ended issue.

Commitment (Isaiah 50:4-11)

The third servant song “amplifies the suffering and patient endurance of the Servant.” (79) Isaiah writes: “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” (Isa 50:6)

The disgrace of the servant—the sacrificial lifestyle—is an important reason why many people cannot accept Christ.

Career (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

Lindsey sees the fourth servant song as the most important text in the Old Testament (97). A key verse is: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isa 53:5) This is a clear statement of the atonement.

Assessment

Duane Lindsey’s book, The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah, is an important read for students of the New Testament, pastors, and others interested in understanding prophecy concerning Jesus as messiah. Lindsey writes as an evangelical, which implies that he sticks closely to original text in Hebrew. Lindsey’s exposition increased my understanding of prophecy and the source of the New Testament’s strong assertion of the atonement.

References

Brueggemann, Walter. 2016. Money and Possessions. Interpretation series. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

https://obits.dallasnews.com/us/obitu....

Lindsey Explains Isaiah’s Suffering Servant
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Gospel: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 8, 2024

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on the Gospels. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Gospel: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 8, 2024
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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Gospel Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Blessed Lord Jesus,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours, because you come to us in the person of Jesus, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, a three dimensional image of God as a living, human being.

Forgive our indifference, our self-absorption, our narcissism in the face of miracle after miracle and blessing after blessing. Turn out attention to you alone.

Thank you for the person of Jesus, who lived a holy, sacrificial life that we might be forgiven and saved from our own obsessions.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to look up at the Father’s creation and adore you for what you have done for us.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Gospel Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:

Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/X-mas-Dec23,  Signup



 

 

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