Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith

Often our most desperate hours are marked by a fundamental sense of disorientation. Beyond the direct emotions of fear, sorrow, even anger…is the larger feeling that world as we once knew it has been overturned. We no longer know which way is up or where to find a port in the storm. It is in these moments – perhaps more […]

Doubt is a part of every intimate relationship. No matter how confident we are in the love of another, there are times when we wonder if that love endures (if it was every really there at all). It happens in friendships, families, marriages…and in our relationship with God. We ought not be surprised by this or […]

We’ve all heard of the “foxhole prayer” – pleading with God in our most desperate hour. It’s an experience we’ve all had, and one that often comes with a tinge of guilt: Will God be angry that we turn to prayer only when we are overcome with fear? Take heart, then, to know that the […]

The great gift of the psalms is that they give us the words to pray from the depth of our soul, to give words to our experience. We pray them not because they are the “approved” prayers of the church, but because they help us articulate (and thus feel) what is most true about ourselves […]

Prayer is not a duty. It is not the means of gaining favor with God or demonstrating devotion. Rather, prayer is the means of making genuine contact with the Father who loves us. And the ultimate fruit of prayer is…happiness.  (Note that the opening word of the Psalms is “Happy!”) In this continuing look at […]

What if I told you, you could build a life of meaningful connection to God in a matter of minutes a day?  Really!  I know it sounds like a cheap hook for a diet pill, but it happens in this case to be true.  You can build a habit of prayer in minutes a day by using […]

 Jesus said the way to be first is to be last; the way to life abundantly is to die to self; and the way to maturity is to become like a little child. In this episode we examine the Fifth Rule of the Spiritual Life: Let God be Your Father. One of the greatest challenges […]

Ever since Plato, it has been tempting to equate “spiritual” with “ideal” – to imagine that spiritual growth is a way out of the pains and sufferings and frustrations of life. And many a well-intentioned person has taken up the life of prayer in the hope of transcendence (escape?). But perfection does not belong to […]

Here we continue our look at the classical tradition of Christian spiritual formation by examining the Benedictine vow of stability – the commitment to stay put, to stay engaged in our most valuable relationships and to work out the discipline of love within them. Our 21st century culture is more mobile and virtual than ever, […]

This is an episode about the commitment to endurance and its essential role in the process of our spiritual formation. Classically, we are warned that one of the most deadly poisons to the spiritual life is despair.  And by despair we don’t mean depression, sadness, frustration…even very serious doubt. Despair is surrender.  As Martin Thornton […]