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My denomination is engaged in a difficult conversation. But aren’t we all, and more often than we think? We’re always dancing around possible difficult conversations – with bosses and pastors, tough-to-love family members, obnoxious small group members, pestering employees, unhelpful custom service reps, and more. As I prepare to facilitate a time to consider how … Continue reading thoughts on how to have difficult conversations

God is our homeland, Augustine once said. It's we who are not home. God in Jesus and through the Spirit has taken up residence in our "interior castle," and yet we're often away, scattered here and there, far from home. Even amidst our religious practices, we might be distant from home. Our busyness - spiritual, … Continue reading ENTERING THE SEVENTH MANSION: HOME

This is a guest post by my friend and former student at Western Theological Seminary (www.westernsem.edu, @westernsem), Adam Lorenz. Here is how Adam describes himself: Adam Lorenz is a mut of the Church currently looking to find a home. If he had to paint himself into a corner you could label him as a Lutheran-Non-Denom-Baptist-Charismatic-Fundy-Progressive-Emergent-Reformed-Anglican. Social media … Continue reading FOG by Adam Lorenz

As we travel into the depth of the interior castle, I find myself out of my depths. I long to know the experiential intimacy that Teresa speaks of, but I spend the bulk of my life ambivalently living with one foot outside of the castle and one foot in the first mansion. If I've stuck my pinky … Continue reading Entering the Sixth Mansion: Suffering Love

My friend and colleague Kristen Johnson has co-authored a wonderful new book entitled The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perserverance (with Bethany Hoang). The book has been endorsed by a broad array of great folks – Mark Labberton, Brenda Salter McNeill, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Dan Allender, and more. What I love, particularly as someone passionate about forming … Continue reading An Excerpt from THE JUSTICE CALLING

Enter union. Don't just think about it. Don't just theologize about it. Experience it. If St. Teresa was living today, she might say this very thing. If she could scan the bookshelves and see the many books written on union with God, she might say, "Oh, how wonderful. But are you experiencing it?!" If you've been … Continue reading Entering the Fifth Mansion: Transformed for Union

Living a life of grace can be so exhausting. Can you imagine hearing this? I heard this from an older man who'd lived a very devoted Christian life, who'd served as an elder and volunteered to serve and taught a Bible study. He knew an awful lot about grace. His categories were clear, his convinctions … Continue reading Entering the Fourth Mansion: Grace is always flowing

Humility, I say! Humility is the ointment for our wounds _____________________________________________________ Some years into my Christian life - most likely in high school - I discovered the mind's power in theological argumentation. This was no fault of my teachers and pastors. It was my own propensity to take beautiful things - like God's bigness and … Continue reading ENTERING THE THIRD MANSION | FACING OUR ‘CONTROL STRATEGIES’

If you've joined me for this journey thus far, we find ourselves today (on the Feast Day of St. Teresa!) now in the doorway of the Second Mansion. At times, I've viewed the Second Mansion as Teresa's gracious "recovery room" after navigating the "addiction treatment center" of the First Mansion. If you recall, the First … Continue reading Resources for the Journey | The Second Mansion

"The soul is like a castle made exclusively of diamond or some other very clear crystal. In this castle, there are a multitude of dwellings just as in heaven there are many mansions." St. Teresa of Avila At first, Teresa's description of an "interior castle" with many dwellings sounds like esoteric mumbo-jumbo. Because we live … Continue reading Entering the Journey | St. Teresa’s First Mansion