The Common Cup

Husband to Kristin.
Father to Rylee Kate.
Teacher of worship in and beyond church.

"We all go through periods of dryness in our prayers, don’t we? I doubt whether they are necessarily a bad symptom. I sometimes suspect that what we feel to be our best prayers are really our worst; that what we are enjoying is the satisfaction of apparent success, as in executing a dance or reciting a poem. Do our prayers sometimes go wrong because we insist on trying to talk to God when He wants to talk with us? Joy tells me that once, years ago, she was haunted one morning by a feeling that God wanted something of her, a persistent pressure like the nag of a neglected duty. And till mid-morning she kept on wondering what it was. But the moment she stopped worrying, the answer came through as plain as a spoken voice. It was “I don’t want you to do anything. I want to give you something”; and immediately her heart was peace and delight. St. Augustine says, “God gives where He finds empty hands.” A man whose hands are full of parcels can’t receive a gift. Perhaps these parcels are not always sins or earthly cares, but sometimes our own fussy attempts to worship Him in our way. Incidentally, what most often interrupts my own prayers is not great distractions but tiny ones-things one will have to do or avoid in the course of the next hour."

— C.S. Lewis

"Our worlds are filled with the noise of endless music, chatter, and busy schedules. In most homes there is a stereo in almost every room, in every car, in each office, in the elevator. When I dial a friend at his office I am offered music over the phone until he comes to answer my call. There are cell phones with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony theme for a ring, Walkmans with mega-bass, and MP3s, all invading the mind with noise. Pretty noise, most of the time. But nevertheless noise. With the intrusion of so much noise, when can we withdraw and monitor the still, small voice of God? We are so accustomed to noise that we grow restless without it. Worshipers in a congregation find it difficult to sit in quietness for more than a minute or two; we assume that something has gone wrong and someone has forgotten his assignment. Most of us would find it difficult to go even an hour without saying anything or hearing a word from someone."

— Gordon MacDonald.
Ordering Your Private World
(Kindle Locations 1454-1459). Kindle Edition.

Sabbath by Dan Allender & Phyllis Tickle

Book Description

To rest does not mean to cease all activity.

Bestselling author Dan Allender presents an insightful and fascinating look at the origins and purpose of Sabbath. Serving as volume three in The Ancient Practices series, Sabbath examines the key issues of this oft-misunderstood day of the week.

This “day of delight” as instituted by God has become a dirge for millions of believers. For many, it is simply a break from the busyness of the work week. So, what keeps us from properly understanding, sanctifying, and celebrating this important day? Allender looks at not only the history of this discipline, going all the way back to ancient Israel, but also at the modern manifestations and misunderstandings of its practice.

Allender bases his premise on the Hebrew word for rest, Menuha, which is best translated as “joyous repose, tranquility, or delight.” It is through this lens that he resurrects this lost definition of what it really means to rest.

A volume in the eight book classic series, The Ancient Practices, with a foreword by Phyllis Tickle, General Editor.

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Rest.
Something we all have trouble with and have no trouble doing.
Every single one of us craves rest. When we finally can slow down long enough from the routines of our lives for even just a few moments we soak it up.

One of my most favorite “resting times” was at a recent family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I was able to lay out on the beach during the day and simply read. I know that reading to some is the last thing they want to do to rest, but for me, sitting in the sun while listening to the waves and reading a good book is a veritable utopia. I’m pretty positive there is just such a beach in heaven where Jesus and I can sit for days reading together. I’m not sure what Jesus would read… since He knows everything to begin with, but I’d like to think He’d read with me just so we could be together. For the company and community of the relationship.

Yet, when we begin to think spiritually of the discipline of “sabbath” I’m not sure simply reclining on the beach with a good book is exactly what God had in mind.

Sabbath by Dan Allender is a book about the biblical spiritual discipline of sabbath rest. It’s the third in an eight volume set called The Ancient Pracitices. I’ve reviewed both The Sacred Meal and Tithing: Test Me In This from the series.

In Sabbath, Allender describes the Sabbath as “a festival that celebrates God’s
re-creative redemptive love.” Which involves four key components: Sensual Glory, Rhythmic Repetition, Communal Feasting, and Just Playfulness.

In each of these Allender unpacks a little more of what it means to exercise the Sabbath as a part of our worship to God. Allender sometimes write a little more lecture styled than conversation styled, which is to be expected from the president of Mars Hill Graduate School. He’s an older gentleman full of wisdom for life who is not afraid to stretch our boundaries of what is comfortable in worship and in sabbath.

Sabbath is an excellent edition to the Ancient Practices Series. Lovin’ it.

Thirsty | Day 23 - The Imitation Of Christ

Read John 10:27-30 & Ephesians 5:1-2

My central claim is that we can become like Christ by doing one thing: by following Him in the overall style of life that He chose for Himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that He knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities He engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities He Himself practiced to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of His Father.
- Dallas Willard

Disciplines of Abstinence:
Solitude
Fasting
Silence
Frugality
Chastity
Secrecy
Sacrifice

Disciplines of Engagement:
Study
Worship
Celebration
Service
Prayer
Fellowship
Confession
Submission

Taken from “The Spirit of the Disciplines,”Dallas Willard

One of the ways that we are able to draw near to God is by taking part in some of or all of (not at the same time) disciplines listed above. Abstaining from various things can help us to spend more time and give more focus to our relationships with God.

I did a study through The Celebration Of Discipline by Richard Foster not so very long ago. I’ve included below links to my former blog posts on the topics and my experiences in partaking in some of the disciplines of abstinence and engagement.

Spiritual Disciplines: An Introduction
Meditation Pt. 1
Meditation Pt. 2
Meditation Pt. 3
Fasting Pt. 1
Fasting Pt. 2
Fasting Pt. 3
A Change In Disciplines
Solitude Pt. 1
Solitude Pt. 2
Solitude Pt. 3
Study Pt. 1
Study Pt. 2
Study Pt. 3
Spiritual Disciplines: A Conclusion