Are you addicted to the highs of your spiritual life? Do you run from church to church, conference to camp, looking for another hit? Do you find yourself longing for those surreal experiences again? Does your quest for spiritual ecstasy drive you to reject friends and close out the world around you, even your own family?
If so, then the cure for you is spiritual dryness. It is the mundane disciplines of the spiritual life: prayer and fasting, the study and meditation of Scripture, faith-filled day-in-day-out (mundane) obedience. This is the only way to properly detox and get back into life as a disciple of (and not just a junkie for) Jesus. The ecstasies of life in Christ were never intended as the day-to-day (who can endure a life of highs in ANYTHING). The day-to-day is where one learns the genuine life of following Christ (even as occasional moments of ecstasy occur). So join the greats of spiritual dryness in a life of discipline.
___________________
* Daryl Climenhaga (Associate Professor of Global Studies at Providence Theological Seminary) credits Ed Neufeld (Professor of Biblical Studies – Providence Theological Seminary) and the desert fathers for the thought. Ed and Daryl always seems to offer the best quotes. 🙂
Pages
-
Recent Posts
- Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28: Could It Be Satan? A Couple of Responses November 8, 2024
- Four Reading Tips for Graduate Students August 23, 2024
- Four Reasons I Embrace Online Instruction as a Theological Educator July 7, 2024
- Five Reasons Pentecostals Should Read Karl Barth July 6, 2024
- A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets: A Pentecostal Perspective (Audio Summary Presentation and Q&A) April 12, 2024
Tag Cloud
- baptism in the Holy Spirit
- Bible
- Biblical hermeneutics
- Biblical Interpretation
- books
- Christ
- Christ Jesus
- Church
- creation
- David
- God
- Hebrew
- Hermeneutics
- history
- Holy Spirit
- Humor
- Jesus
- Judges
- Kings
- Life
- Literary
- literary interpretation
- literature
- Lord
- Love
- Matthew
- Missions
- Old Testament
- pastor
- Paul
- Pentecostal
- Pentecostalism
- pneumatology
- Preaching
- Psalms
- Samuel
- Saul
- Sermon
- Society for Pentecostal Studies
- Spirit
- Theology
- translations
- Trinity Bible College
- women
- women in ministry
Archives
Categories
Meta
Thanks, Rick. I need this reminder!
Excellent.