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25.01.2022 If it is true (as I suspect) that many Christians live in a "spiritual flatland" and struggle to find God, I wonder how widespread this experience really is? I mean, is it half of the church, or more? It should matter if people feel that God is distant and silent, with sluggish souls, and a gnawing sense of boredom about the things that turned Jesus on. It is tragic when Christ’s followers struggle to find their own stories to tell of God's goodness in the here and now. High participation in Christian activities is not enough to enliven our souls and the church, unless these activities really help us find God!

25.01.2022 What one inner attitude or quality did you choose? "Love" is tempting, as is humility - the soil of all the virtues. Both enrich our life with God, but not as much as the attitude of readiness for God (ie. "barefoot") because this underpins the pulsing core of a vital spiritual life with God - discerning God's voice and willingly doing what is appropriate in his presence. The spiritual power of this attitude is captured in Oswald Chamber's comment (below). I suspect that today we often assume this attitude of readiness when it isn't there, and hide its lack under church hyper-activity.

25.01.2022 "The presence of God is here!" the pastor announced. What was meant by this was that God was doing things by the Holy Spirit. Bring it on, I say. BUT for many people attending churches, watching this from a distance is the sum of what being in God's presence means. I came across this beautiful insight from King David about those who honour God: "You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues." (Psalm 31:20, NLT) For him God's presence was the relational reality of being in God's love in a way that secures our souls and brings peace.

20.01.2022 "He who follows the Lamb in His way comes at last to where the Lamb Himself is" - G. Steinberger, "In the Footprints of the Lamb". This little book is a delectable journey into the holiness and way of Jesus for the hungry soul. Such books challenge our conscience not just our intellect - something essential for a spiritual journey towards God.

20.01.2022 Having a "thin" spiritual life doesn't make us bad people - it just means that we will struggle to find God. And when the buzz of church activity masks this reality, it does us a disservice in kingdom terms.

19.01.2022 DID YOU MISS WATCHING THIS AMAZING VIDEO OF DANCERS ON A HILLSIDE WHEN I POSTED IT EARLIER? The point: the mere IDEA of a revolution is not enough to ignite it. My true participation and yours makes the difference.

19.01.2022 God's presence is not a place - its about how we relate to God. He was always there, but now he is there to YOU. Your heart is home -at rest, secure, accepted, soothed by healing words of love, free, called to change and be more alive. Appreciation for this sort of encounter of the transcendence of God like daily bread seems to have been lost amidst the flatland of our spiritual lives. Instead we might seek a miracle like surfers after the perfect wave, but this is not enough for a vital spiritual life.

19.01.2022 True religion is always mystical because it gives us some conscious experience of union with God rather than just pointing out moral hurdles to jump. Jesus clearly envisioned a spiritual journey for his followers that would lead them into oneness with God (John 17:21). Talk about mystical!

18.01.2022 Whatever gives our life with God genuine energy (our next question), a critical mass of Jesus-followers must find it if we are to ignite the subversive, love-fuelled revolution Jesus intended. This is because, as this video reinforces, unless followers participate in a real way, there is no movementor revolution. The mere IDEA of a revolution bandied around in our churches is not enough to ignite it. My true participation and yours makes the difference.

18.01.2022 Many Christians resign themselves to a spiritual flatland because they balk at the idea that Christian Spirituality is "mystical". They process ideas about God intellectually and religiously do what they must, but don't go "on line" with God who is Spirit and love. What do I mean by "mystical"?: The inward exercise of our souls towards God's love, and the resulting expression of that love in and through our lives (to others and back to God).

18.01.2022 When Moses removed his sandals at the burning bush - a mark in ancient times of respect and submission when visiting a host - this barefoot gesture displayed an attitude toward God that is fundamental to life with him. To be "barefoot" is having a heart attitude of readiness and availability for God (ie. abandonment to his will) because we have some knowledge or higher consciousness of God. This explains why a stuttering goat-herder fomented revolution for God against the most powerful leader of the time. It is also proposes a cogent strategy for the church to incite a God-inspired revolution in the twenty-first century.

17.01.2022 We must be on a learning curve to acquire relevant skills for the spiritual journey towards God. Effective use of spiritual practices must train our souls to engage consistently at a heart level with God and his love, and to elicit an ongoing positive responsiveness to what he says. Whether we lack a spiritual life, or it has stalled in "adolescence" before hitting its stride, we will end up in a spiritual flatland. And if many Christians are trapped there, communities of Christ’s followers will struggle to bring the subversive love-fueled revolution their Master intended.

17.01.2022 If the way to spiritual vitality is a proper test-drive of life with God, the key role of pastors and leaders is not to "run" successful churches, but to help their people actually apply the teaching of Jesus and the Bible to their lives in a consistent way. If this happened for a critical mass of the church, we would see a Jesus-revolution (Matt. 28:18-20).

17.01.2022 It is not a given that all Christians have a "spiritual life" - a spiritual journey towards God using spiritual/contemplative practices that train our souls to engage consistently at a heart level with God, and to elicit an on-going positive responsiveness to what he says.

16.01.2022 I heard the story recently of a woman who sang in the choir for the Billy Graham crusades. She considered herself a Christian and for many years taught Sunday school as part of her consistent church involvement. At one of the crusades when the call was given she stepped out of her seat and "came" to Jesus. I wonder how many Christians are in church but are yet to "come" to Jesus or to engage in a real, on-going correspondence with God? Imagine the possibilities!

16.01.2022 Extraordinary encounters like Paul’s Damascus Road experience can happen, but most of the time, our lives with God have genuine energy when we are on a spiritual journey toward him. It is a soul adventure that entails progression from our sin-limited consciousness about things toward Christ’s higher one. The journey is not automatic for Christians, and is much more contemplative than we imagine.

16.01.2022 The church I lead operates a street BBQ every Friday in a housing commission estate in Western Sydney. Two weeks ago I felt urged to text the team to be intentional about sharing the Good News about Jesus with someone. I sensed an urgency about it. I ended up speaking at length with a young single mum who came regularly to the BBQ with her three little boys. We talked about the power of Christ's resurrection over death, the need to trust in Him, and the invitation to have a saving relationship with God rather than just jumping through religious hoops. Two days later she was dead - apparently murdered in her home! I believe that God spoke specifically to us (imparting a sense of urgency about the Gospel) and worked through our simple obedience. That's mystical.

15.01.2022 "Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." (Matt.15:18) Jesus' point: we live our lives from the inside out - from the heart.

14.01.2022 If the statement below is true, the way out of the spiritual flatland and toward God is not to find a Christianity that is more appealing or relevant, or a church system that "works" more effectively. It is to engage the humble task of learning how to truly test-drive life with God by developing skills for a real and consistent spiritual life.

14.01.2022 Israelites would have understood, from the symbolic role of the temple, that we experience being with God when we can relate to him appropriately by discerning his voice and obeying it. Israel’s temple symbolized the residence of God at the center of their national life. Think about a town hall in the middle of a country town. The people of the town set their watches to the town hall clock and check the bulletin board for activities. In a similar way, Israel was to calibrate ...to the rhythm of God’s heart, to make him their reference point, priority, and passiontheir center. All of the elements of lifetheir marriages, children, work, relationships, possessions, time, and planswere to be the subject of an ongoing correspondence with God. As they included and were present with God by hearing his word and obeying it, they were in his presence, and this is the nucleus of Christian spirituality. See more

14.01.2022 German theologian, philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart wrote: "The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great." Somehow we must do work in the non-physical part of us, which includes the heart or will (around which the whole self is directed and organised), mind, soul and spirit. This inward part of us is where: love and truth register, we know things spiritually, desire is forged, choices are made, freedom is found, attitudes and character are shaped. It is what is true about us - what God knows and looks at when he looks at us. When church culture pivots around outward appearances we risk missing the kingdom because spiritual substance is found inwardly. The question is: "How"?

13.01.2022 Assuming that we will naturally hear and respond to God when he speaks is spiritually dangerous. I mean, if God manifested himself stunningly in burning-bush fashion, would we discern him speaking or call the fire brigade? Would we obey? Do we discern God speaking to us through our Bibles and then do what it says? The assumption is fraught with danger because these are not givens at allthey don’t come naturally to sinful humanity.

13.01.2022 To be honest I am often too busy to continually "come" to Jesus - I'm just too distracted, and I feel the barrenness of it too. At those points a lack of daily bread for my soul and sparse true kingdom participation makes for a dull spiritual ride! But I am learning. :) Pastors are first spiritual leaders, and rather than celebrate our busyness as a mark of our importance, we should get un-busy as quickly as we can and "come" to Jesus daily as the foundation of our spiritual leadership.

13.01.2022 The colours and capacities of the heart are mysterious but we must recover the art of using our heart if we want to hear God. Hearing God is more than coming to believe in the sense of "hearing" the Good News. The Bible teaches that we can have an on-going correspondence with God which facilitates the expression of God's love and power in and through our lives.

12.01.2022 Dallas Willard made an important distinction between spiritual knowledge, belief, commitment and profession as the basis for Christian faith. And I think he may have been on to something in terms of the well-documented spiritual malaise in the western church. To know something involves truth and accuracy of representation. For example, because of what brain surgeons know, they don't use guesswork but can consistently act a certain way to address a specific problem. When we be...lieve something, we are ready to act on it, but we can believe what is false. Commitment is simply a choice to do something, whether or not there is belief or knowledge. And we can profess things without a shred of commitment. BUT FAITH IS COMMITMENT TO A RESPONSE TO GOD BASED ON KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIM. Mere profession, commitment or even belief are not the same, and will not provide an adequate foundation for the sort of life with God that we read about in the Bible. See more

11.01.2022 The spiritual life has a necessary outward expression, but its engine room is inward, where human consciousness is transformed and hunger for God germinates. Jack Hayford writes: "God welcomes those into his presence who want him. The quest may be one of desperation or of delight, of frantic need or of a loving hunger for fellowship, but the motivation is clear - and so is his pleasure with it." Somehow we must recover the art of using our heart.

11.01.2022 Tozer's thought (below) is scandalous to the modern western thinking that pervades much of church life, but the crux of biblical spirituality. Three chapters in my book look at the strategies of the Devil, man and God to win over our will. Here I simply make the point that the journey towards God, his love and his kingdom is also a journey towards his will (Matt. 6:10).

10.01.2022 Final editing on my book is in full swing now with my publisher (Elk Lake Publishing in the US). I will let you know when I get a firmer idea of the timing of publication.

09.01.2022 A few months ago a young man was powerfully freed of demonic oppression in one of our meetings. Annabel (not her real name) was excited about the un-hyped manifestation of God's power and presence. But as we talked further I was convinced that she would struggle to consistently LIVE in God's presence. Why? Because Annabel seemed to be rationalizing away some of things that (biblically) are clearly important to God - in her case aspects of witness and discipleship. Why might this be a barrier to living in God's presence? What do you think it says about what it means to live in God's presence?

08.01.2022 I heard the story recently of a woman who sang in the choir for the Billy Graham crusades. She considered herself a Christian and for many years taught Sunday school as part of her consistent church involvement. At one of the crusades when the call was given she stepped out of her seat and "came" to Jesus. I wonder how many Christians are in church but are yet to "come" to Jesus or to engage in a real, on-going correspondence with God? Imagine the possibilities!

08.01.2022 To be honest I am often too busy to continually "come" to Jesus - I'm just too distracted, and I feel the barrenness of it too. At those points a lack of daily bread for my soul and sparse true kingdom participation makes for a dull spiritual ride! But I am learning. :) Pastors are first spiritual leaders, and rather than celebrate our busyness as a mark of our importance, we should get un-busy as quickly as we can and "come" to Jesus daily as the foundation of our spiritual leadership.

08.01.2022 If someone doesn't believe they can fall in love, they boycott the possibility of it by the way they are in themselves - their disbelief suppresses the beauty in them that would be attractive to others. In the same way, if we don't believe that spiritual knowledge of God is possible, we are in ourselves (in our heart, our "knower") in such a way that it boycotts the possibility of it. Should we then just rationalize a Christianity that lacks transforming power as a result?

05.01.2022 Someone said to me recently with a sense of having arrived, "I came to Christ in 1998." That's great of course, but the saints and mystics give you the sense that they were continually "coming" to Christ - an on-going pursuit of grace to renew, cleanse, and inflame their hearts so that they didn't sink away from God in the pews!

03.01.2022 Psalm 34:7 makes us think about the meaning of living in God's presence: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him..."

03.01.2022 WHAT DOES THE VIDEO IN MY PREVIOUS POST HAVE TO DO WITH GOD'S PRESENCE? Take a few minutes to watch it - it is quite profound. It has inspired me to get in the photos with my children so that there is a record of the story of our lives together. It also speaks to me about the importance (if we want to live in God's presence) of getting ourselves in the picture with the Living God by being ready to let Him speak - not just in ministry times, but into our lives with defining and liberating authority. Only this way will we have a real, on-going story together.

03.01.2022 The story of the woman who died (last post) answers the question below with a yes! But, as Dallas Willard observed in his important book "Knowing Christ Today" (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009), followers of Jesus today along with everyone else are in danger of reserving the status of knowledge to mathematics and the sciences. But the biblical tradition is fundamentally about knowing God, and from the beginning Christianity transformed the world because its core teachings were presented and accepted as knowledge about what is real and right. The answer to this question makes the difference between knowing God (and his kingdom) or just knowing concepts about him.

01.01.2022 Finally I am on Facebook and ready to present the key ideas in my book as the basis for a journey towards God, his heart, and his cause in the world. Thanks for joining me! Your insights and questions are welcome to enrich this pilgrimage together. Make yourself at home in the interaction, and I pray that along the way you will find the sort of sacred life that makes your soul dance and God smile. To journey to a deeper and better place, we must first honestly identify where we are now - otherwise we have no starting point. It is true of individuals trying to find God, and of the church as a whole.