Beyond Words Archives

“We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.” Meister Eckhart In the fourth week of Advent we begin to move beyond…

“The house of my soul is too narrow for Thee to come in; let it be enlarged by Thee. It is in ruins. Do Thou restore it.” -Augustine In this…

“The word of God came to John in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As…

“God comes to us like the sun in the morning…when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not the…

Part II “We are formed together as we learn to pray together. Ancient Jews and Christians uttered sacred prayers together. They did this every day—together. These prayers established sacred rhythms…

“Without solitude it is impossible to have a spiritual life.” –Henri Nouwen It is a wonderful thing to be invited. Not coerced or manipulated but truly invited. To the home…

“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Psalm 138:3 This week I went to a funeral with my daughter, Haley. It was the…

“Stay together, friends, don’t scatter and sleep. Our friendship is made of being awake.” Rumi In her book Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris comments that in a monastery, Holy Week is…

“While the truth that we cannot escape God’s all-seeing eye may weigh us down at times, it is finally the only remedy for our uneasiness. Only under God’s steady gaze…

“Yet even now, says the Lord, repent and return to me with all your heart.” Joel 2:13 Today is Ash Wednesday—the beginning of the Church’s observance of the Lenten season.…

women sitting contemplatively next to a bench, facing water reflecting golden sunlight.

Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm…

morning sun shining into dark room. Light gently illuminating face of woman pensively looking out window.

“Discernment in its fullness takes a practiced heart, fine-tuned to hear the word of God and the single-mindedness to follow that word in love. It is truly a gift from…

“No one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:4 The seasons of the…

silhouette of a group of people in front of a blue night sky

“Christian community is founded solely on Jesus Christ and in fact, it already exists in Christ. It is not an ideal which we must realize, it is rather a reality…

“Calls are essentially questions. They aren’t questions you necessarily need to answer outright; they are questions to which you need to respond, expose yourself, and kneel before. You don’t want…

“For what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26 (NLT) I want to talk…

“It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well- trained, eager to help their fellow humans…the central question is, Are the leaders…

“When the wise men saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt…

“When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Matthew 1:1825 “Sooner or later, if we follow Christ we have to risk everything in…

“Waiting is the hidden preparation through which God puts his ministers. We neglect it to our own peril.” –Richard Foster The seasons of the church year are meant to teach…

“Spiritual leadership springs forth in grace from our very desire for God’s presence. This does not take effort or striving. It takes courage, a kind of showing up, attentiveness.” –Gerald…

“I didn’t want to be the leader because the leader always gets voted off the island.” Gary Hogeboom Survivor Guatemala A couple of years ago, our family watched a season…

“I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh…

Then Jesus came to his disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray…” Matthew…

Oh God, let something essential happen to me, something more than interesting or entertaining or thoughtful. Oh God, let something essential happen to me, something awesome, something real. Speak to…

Editor’s Note: The heart of the Transforming Center’s mission and ministry is the two- year Transforming Community experience in which pastors and ministry leaders enter into a rhythm of eight…

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed…

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women…

“As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘One…

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee…during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,…

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among the nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the wave.…

Editors Note: The poems of Pastor Ted Loder have accompanied us on many Transforming Center retreats, guiding us into moments of quiet reflection. During this Thanksgiving season, we offer you…

Editor’s Note: Rory Noland is a composer and songwriter who has joined the Transforming Center team to help us continue to cultivate worship experiences that open us to God’s transforming…

Editor’s note: The following article is adapted from Dallas Willard’s forward to Invitation to Solitude and Silence (Ruth Haley Barton, 2004). In it he identifies solitude and silence as the…

“Lent is a time of returning to God. It is a time to confess how we keep looking for joy, peace, and satisfaction in the many people and things surrounding…

Editor’s Note: The Transforming Center takes very seriously its mission to equip leaders to guide their churches in becoming spiritually transforming communities. If you are like most pastors and Christian…

“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?” —Jesus Recently, I made a comment to a friend that surprised us both. In…

Solitude: A Place for Your Soul to Come Out

Solitude may be one of the greatest challenges for Christian leaders because we have this sense that everyone is waiting for us to come in and do what we can do. Solitude offers leaders a concrete way that God can come and do what only God can do—in our lives personally and also in our ministries.

Today is the day when the Christian church celebrates epiphany—the “showing forth” or “the revelation” of Christ in the world. Epiphany takes its themes from the journey of the wise…

God comes like the sun in the morning—when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not creator. We must…

“And they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23 As we emerge from Thanksgiving week and enter into the Advent season, I am aware that…

“Because we do not rest we lose our way. Poisoned by this hypnotic belief that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort, we can never truly rest. …

Spiritual transformation has become quite the buzzword in Christian circles today. The good news is that it speaks to our desire for more in the spiritual life: more than just…

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