Strengthening the Soul retreats -

 

Strengthening the Soul - a package of seasonal day retreats to empower, anchor and enrichen your daily living     "Who wants to live a shallow, hollow existence on the surface of things? We downsize our souls to achieve a safer bottom line of religious acceptability... to open up our souls and discover the fullness of who we are in the stream of God's love has not ever been an option for many Christians." ~Jeff Imbach     And it is an option now!   Introducing Strengthening the Soul - a series of 4 day retreats over the period of a year designed to open your soul to discover the fullness of who you are in the stream of God's love.   Over the last 3 1/2 years of facilitating people toward God's love I've noticed there is something about pulling away with an intentional focus on God in a “spacious and unhurried place” that unsticks and empowers people in a way “normal” spiritual habits cannot... I've witnessed it over and over again in profound, whether subtle or overtly miraculous, ways. I've heard many speak of longing to participate in such a time, but because of either cost, time, or our all too commonly overstuffed lives, it continues to be something "I'll get to one of these days.” Well, one of these days is now here. How about investing in yourself by committing to 4 Saturdays over the period of a year where you might build a regular rhythm of caring for and strengthening the "you" that longs to live a full, rich, gutsy, and perhaps even messy but meaningful, life?   These four Strengthening the Soul day retreats (1 per season over the year) meet a need for something in between an occasional day retreat and the more intensive 2 year commitment to the ACT Journey Strengthening the Soul - That's right - it's a quad of day retreats - a package deal - a "let's intentionally pursue soul care and soul strength this year with other people who long to do the same" type of thing. The dates: Once every 3 months over a year. Sept 27th,  Dec 3, 2011 & March 17, June 23, 2012 Each retreat will run from 9am-3:30p on a Saturday.   The Cost: Only $149 for all four retreats - this includes lunch! That's only $37.25/retreat!   To put this in perspective: a "normal" day reFresh is $65. Though steep for some people, many of us still find the time and money to pay for a gym membership at $40+/month, and counseling...and massage...and sports tickets...and cable/satellite TV... Bottom line: we will invest in the things we think are important! What are you investing in your soul?   The Place:The Table Community Church campus out in the beautiful rolling hills of Stafford, OR (Wilsonville). The church is an historic, white-steepled sanctuary with room to roam or cozy up in a corner.   For more info and to register go click here.   If you are a member of the Table, GracePoint Fellowship, or Cru and want to participate, please email me Special Offer   The first five people to register and pay in full will receive a $25 refund. That amounts to $31 per retreat! What a deal!   These five spots are likely to go fast... there are only 15-20 spots available. Please feel free to forward this to friends!   The next day reFresh is around the corner!   Sept. 17th at the exquisite DreamGiver's Inn (only 2 spots left)   Fall dates for a day reFresh @ the wonderful DreamGiver's Inn    Oct 12th Nov 19th (Sat) Nov 30th (Advent)   ACT Journey III Want to discover, recover or deepen your intimacy with Christ? Consider the 2012-2014 2-year ACT Journey. More info here.   Next weekend reFresh Nov 11-13, 2011 Consider coming together as a small group to enter the holidays with God's guidance! More info here.       I'd love to journey with you in this upcoming year of day retreats designed to Strengthen Your Soul...   ~paula Soul Artisan   creating unhurried spaces to help others discover the art of living courageously and authentically in the stream of God's love

"Success" in ministry

This is reprinted from the metamorpha blog.
It is really great food for thought re: our criteria for "success" in church planting/ church leadership. What do you think?

What You Need

by Jamin Goggin

I recently came across an interview with a pastor at an influential church in the United States talking about church planting.  The two prongs of the discussion basically covered successes and failures in church planting.  A large portion of the interview was focused on challenges in church planting and conversely what is needed to "succeed" in planting a church.  The pastor gave a list of three things that are clearly needed for success-(1) charismatic leader, (2) leader who can communicate well, and (3) leader who is adept at strategic thinking.

What I first found interesting was the complete collapse of needs into the Senior Pastor.  A gifted person is what is needed most.  Of course, how one defines "success" plays a large role in these perceived needs.  If we are defining success as gathering the most people as quickly as possible to the church then of course a more pragmatic turn is liable to be taken.  Don't get me wrong I understand that if the pastor cannot communicate, is terribly awkward with people or is not a strategic thinker then the church will face challenges.  My problem is not that the pragmatic is considered, but rather that is the sole concern. 

I do not seek to explore my concerns from an ecclesiological perspective.  I have many.  Rather, I want to approach this issue with a spiritual formation lense.  In that vain, what is striking to me is that while the needs of the "successful" church plant are solely wrapped up in a person, the Senior Pastor, the reasons are not spiritually oriented what so over, but rather are purely founded in natural ability.  Meaning what is needed in the leader most is as skill-set not holiness.  It is shocking to me that of the top three things listed the spiritual health and maturity of the pastor is not even mentioned.  So, what are your thoughts?  This impacts other areas.  For example, what do churches look for when they hire a new pastor?  How do we gauge the value and leadership ability of our pastors?

What three things are needed for "success" in ministry?

1. Love - (1 Cor 13: 1-8, 13; Rev 2: 1-4; Matt 22: 36-40)
2. Humility (John 13: 12-17) - remember Jesus said, "I will build my church" (Matt 16:18)
3. Doing what the Father is doing (John 5:19) (resulting in fruits which seems to be revealed through abiding - John 15: 4,16-17)

What do you think? How might we develop Love, Humility/Servanthood and Abiding in ourselves? Who do you know that walks in love, humility and an abiding lifestyle? Follow her! Follow him!

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Take a listen: Wendell Berry, "How to be a Poet"

I love the first words of Berry's poem : "Make a place to sit down...sit down...."

So make a place to sit down, sit down and take a listen to Wendell Berry's poem on "How to be a poet" 

• Listen to it several times...what words or phrases stand out to you?
• Ask God, "What in this poem do you want me to pay attention to?"
• How might you respond in action to God's (via Berry's) invitation?

 Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Are you skimming your life?

Jean Wise, in her blog, writes about how skimming info on the internet is affecting her skimming life at a more shallow level:

Multitasking. Busyness. Noise.  All modern hassles that I often simply accept, don’t fight, and let rule my life. Part of my survival mechanism, I guess.

But lately I have noticing my reading, listening and even prayer is lacking depth – I am skimming in all areas of my life.

Skimming makes me look like I have it all together and am on top of things, yet something is missing. I am not taking the time to develop deep roots – roots that will nourish me through dry periods and hold me steady during the storms of life.

Pete Scazzero wrote, “Skimming is the way many of us cope with multiple demands, constant pressure, and overloaded schedules. We cover a lot of ground superficially without being fully engaged.”

 Are you fully engaged? Do you actually live life, or just skim it?
How might the internet be affecting your depth of life/living/relationships?


Click Here  to read (not skim, but read and reflect deeply, of course) the blog post in full - a great reflection on living a shallow life, vs deeply connected.

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

The dis-ease of Pastoral Soul Care

A great article, by Annie Dilenschneider, that goes beyond surface "fixes" of the problems of helping pastors maintain health (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual) in ministry. Here's a snippet of the article:

"Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls," or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story. The first step in this work was the pastor's own attention to her or his soul-care through an intentional focus on her or his personal relationship with the Holy...  My data, largely about United Methodist pastors, confirms your learnings that our pastors in large part are not praying people. They do not practice the historic spiritual disciplines and therefore it is impossible for them to help those of us who look to them for guidance in the church to be praying people seeking God and love of neighbor.

"Daily time and space for this inner work are essential for the health of clergy and congregations. As Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser wrote in Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving Others, a congregation

will not journey beyond the pastor; the congregation will not venture where the pastor is not leading. This is a hard saying. It would be more comfortable to work like the traffic cop -- to give a map or a few verbal instructions -- but spiritual formation is a case where only those who have eyes to see can lead. (p. 126)

Click here to read the article in whole.
In short, the author is describing how we have switched the First and Second great commands. The Second command, loving others, is deemed "ministry" and is more measureable than the first - after all, how do you measure love in terms of effectiveness, productive, useful, growth...

Do you need to developing this inner work of intimacy with God and self? Are you interested in a companion for your journey. reFresh offers spiritual direction and retreats to help foster unhurried, intimate space for you to linger in God's love and leading as the source of your life and ministry. Contact me for more info

Have a blessed day lingering in God's love

www.mysoulrefresh.com

True Self/False Self

Okay - I AM on a digital sabbatical, but did prepare some advance postings for your perusal and reflections.

"Discovering our true selves requires that we discover God’s love. And that requires facing how many things our false self clings to as more valuable than God. If we learn to be quiet in the Spirit’s presence, we realize that’s what he’s doing. He’s robbing us of peace from every source other than God." ~Larry Crabb in Conversations Issue 1.2, fall 2003, 5

How has experiencing God's love helped you to discover your true self?

How are you doing learning to be quiet in the Spirit's presence? Do you fill "quiet time" with words (written and spoken), or are you leaning in for His whispers?

If you are daring, ask God to reveal to you one false thing you cling to this week...the key here is to ask him, not have your own conscience make the decision of what is false. To do this - take a few deep breaths - then imagine sitting with Jesus, the One in whom there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1) and who is for you and not against you (Rom 8:31-35)  in one of your most peaceful places - a spacious field of wildflowers, a mountain top vista, by a babbling brook, sitting across from you while you drink your morning coffee, in a sanctuary surrounded by stained glass windows, staring into a star-filled sky  - and in that place invite Him to lead you toward His higher, deeper, wider, broader love. (Eph 3:18-21). Every time you feel your mind wandering off to another topic, gently repeat a phrase such as "Lord, lead me into your deeper love"

• As you imagine Him near you/with you/by you - how do you feel?
• Look into His face - what do his eyes express to you?
• Does He have any words for you? Any invitations?
• How do His words, expressions or invitations make you feel?
• How do you want to respond to His invitations?

Sanctification - this un-ning of false self and becoming transformed into the image of Christ - is the process where the real God reveals His real self (not who I fear, imagine or want Him to be) to my real self (not who I fear, imagine or want myself to be.) The more He reveals His real self and my real self, the less ego I have - i.e. less need I feel to be defensive, competitive, right, first, noticed... in fact, quite often those latter things are what flag to me that I am not living in love/my true self found in His love.

May you find His peace and sweet invitations toward His transforming love today

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Advent: Take Time, Slow Down, Open Up

www.paulagamble.com

Starved for Mystery...intimacy...rest...quiet...

"We are a very busy, wordy and heady faith tradition.
Yet we are desperate to find ways
to open ourselves to our God
who is, in the end,
beyond all of our human constructs and human agendas.
With all of our emphasis on theology and Word, cognition and service
- and as important as these are -
we are starved for mystery,
to know this God as the One who is totally Other
and to experience reverence in his presence.
We are starved for intimacy,
to see and feel and know God in the very cells of our being.
We are starved for rest,
to know God beyond what we can do for him.
We are starved for quiet,
to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God himself."

(Ruth Haley Barton, Invitation to Solitude and Silence, 21)

Sit quietly with the Lord today and ask him, "Lord, what am I most starved for?" Listen for His invitations toward himself and his love.

www.paulagamble.com

Backsliding or invitation to more?

I just spent the past 10 days with a whole lot of really great people - people who have invested their lives in vocational ministry as church planters, campus ministers, and lovers of God and people. But I also had a half dozen conversations with these seasoned folks who felt like God had "disappeared" from them. In an effort to try to get God to come closer each person described how he/she prayed more, memorized more scripture and even fasted. None of these are bad things, but I was saddened that these dear people were trying to lure God out of hiding with their righteous deeds.

As I listened to this over and over again, I was able to share with them a larger vision of spiritual maturity - our goal is not to merely be organized, efficient and dutiful disciples; Our goal is to be lovers - letting ourselves be loved by Him and letting that well up and out toward others. (Think first and second greatest commands - all about love). Many of the great saints that have preceded us (Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Bernard of Clairvaux) actually speak of this awkward latter season of faith. It is a time where there is a deep inward draw toward intimacy with God, but also sometimes a seeming absence of Him. Thomas Dubay, a modern day Jesuit, has said that some of greatest spiritual growth is often discerned as backsliding. And indeed, these people felt like they were backsliding and had to come up with a horrendous self-effort to get back into God's graces.

Does that strike anyone else as odd? (This working really hard to get into God's graces which are unearned and generous gifts?)

Our longing for more is the best thing about us - perhaps the most sure thing about us. It is God drawing us into greater heights, depths, widths and breadths of His love that surpasses our understanding. This is the most wondrously precarious journey of faith we can be on.

Take courage friends - God is with us always, a neighbor to your fears and longings and unafraid.

www.paulagamble.com