I just listened to a good interview with Fr. Robert Spitzer unpacking his new book “The Four Levels of Happiness: Your Path to Personal Flourishing.” I found his wisdom compelling and practical for charting the ultimate goal and diagnosing why so many of us get stuck in ruts that leave deep and enduring happiness elusive. Here’s a nice summary and overview. … More The Four Levels of Happiness
The Fifth Sunday in Lent reminds us of the necessity of enduring hardships for growth and maturity, both spiritually and in all aspects of life. Just as a diamond forms under pressure, Jesus’ suffering leads to glorification. We are called to embrace present challenges for future joy, allowing God to shape us into immortal diamonds through adversity. … More Crushed Bones into Spiritual Diamonds
While we may be foolhardy and fumble footed in our efforts to bear fruit, God wants to step into our weed-infested lives and dilapidated dreams to grow something in us! And if God can make a wrinkly 99 year old on viagra exceedingly fruitful, then imagine what kind of a beautiful garden he can make out of your life? … More Exceedingly Fruitful
If God is the true Sculptor and we are the clay, then we need to sit still on God’s workbench more often so he can do his job. Imagine old Geppetto trying to put the finishing touches on his masterpiece Pinocchio if he were already a living boy, jumping up and down and running around the room. That’s much of American Christian spirituality. We’re working too hard for God to work on us. We’re moving too fast for God to move in us. … More Sit Still, Pinocchio!
As I turned 44 years old this past week, I’ve been ruminating on this breathtaking quote from Saint Augustine’s Confessions: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you.” … More Better Late Than Never: 44th Birthday Reflection
In this video Ian Morgan Cron talks about the false narratives that we as individuals and as a culture are trained to believe, and what it looks like to connect instead with our true selves in the true stories of our lives. … More False Narratives & Finding Our True Selves
Keri and my oldest son, Peter, planted a garden this summer. Unfortunately, our garden is 500 feet away from our water spigot! By the time the water travels all that distance, it has lost most of its pressure. … More Water Buckets & Extension Hoses
In this MainStreet Soul Care Seminar, Pastor Bill Johnson helps us learn how to “take our thoughts captive” using the skills of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and 11 common “Cognitive Distortions” we all struggle with. Watch, grow, and share!
The secret storm raging within me is often greater than all the storms battering the world around me. If you think a global pandemic, racial unrest, and political divisiveness is a lot to handle, try living one day inside the soul of a person at war with themselves. … More Surfing on Grace, Restoring the Soul
Soon the soothing sounds of the gentle breeze and singing birds were drowned out by loud music coming from a vehicle parked ahead by the stream. DNR officials were taking water samples from the stream. The people called to protect the beauty and peacefulness of the natural habitat were checking the water for pollutants while polluting the air with noise. … More Seeking Still Waters Under a Waterfall (1 Peter 2:1-3)
Pastor Bill Johnson is leading us through a 4-part webinar on Friday nights. We are exploring Bill’s 4-part process for melting anxiety in our lives. If you missed or want to revisit the great teaching, here’s the audio for PART TWO. Join us next two Friday nights at 8PM for the final two sessions.
While the COVID-19 virus may be “novel,” 100% of the population has tested positive for another sinister virus of the soul. … More Daily Spark: “Spiritual Pandemic” (Jeremy)
Standing there by the shore, the ancient breeze tickling the back of my neck, I pointed to the other side. Seven words got them into the boat and seven miles got them across the sea to the heart of Jesus’ mission to save a life hanging in the balance. … More When Pigs Fly: 7 Words & 7 Miles
I want to share a new book and group study to consider offering “Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad.” We live in soul-scorching times. The 24-7 onslaught of contemporary life—with its never-ending feed of global tragedies, demands for our attention, and pressures of work, family, and friends—has left us feeling ragged, wrung-out, and emptied. … More Get Your Life Back
We all know the phrase, “Kids say the darnedest things.” It usually refers to an embarrassing remark a child utters in a public setting. But sometimes kids say the profoundest things. … More Kids Say the Profoundest Things
We shove all these disappointments and confusions into a spiritual junk drawer – we don’t know where else to put them. We tell ourselves, “I’ll deal with it later.” … More Junk Drawer Spirituality (Huddle Qs)
When I’m an old worn out pastor sitting on a porch drinking coffee, and my memory is all but gone, I’ll still remember those two words spoken over me in that church basement on plastic folding chairs with a flickering fluorescent light above… … More A Catalytic Mobilizer on a Plastic Chair
Images abound for our tendency to settle for less than the best. “Failure to launch.” “Cold feet.” “The boat is still in the harbor.” “She needs to spread her wings to fly”—and sometimes you need to kick them out of the nest before they’ll ever try. … More Learning to Swim in Your Faith
Instead of pushing a heavy boulder up a hill, what if spiritual growth was more like stepping into a river and being gradually swept along by God’s life-giving current? … More Boulders & Rivers
From Your Enneagram Coach: Finally, let’s explore Core Longing, or the central message each of our hearts is longing to hear. Each Type has a tendency to feel, think and act in certain ways in order to satisfy their Core Longing. But we forsake our Creator when we try to fulfill this unending craving in … More Enneagram: Core Longing
From Your Enneagram Coach: Let’s dive into Core Weakness or the issue that each Type struggles within everyday situations and interactions with others. Each Type has something that they are always wrestling with, an Achilles’ heel that remains with them for all their days on Earth. This is like the “thorn in my flesh” Paul … More Enneagram: Core Weakness
From Your Enneagram Coach: Today, we’ll take a look at Core Desire, identifying what each Type is constantly striving for, believing it will bring complete fulfillment. The way we each think, feel and behave are rooted in satisfying our Core Desire, and we become hurt, sad, frustrated, or angry when we can’t obtain it.⠀
We have been exploring the Enneagram personality typing system this fall at MainStreet. This powerful tool is helping us grow in self-awareness and compassion for others who perceive and experience the world in ways far different from us. For those who want to go deeper, or for those out there who want to jump in … More Enneagram: Core Fears
This is the final post in a 4 part series. Read part 1, part 2, and part 3. I’m writing this from a monastery where I am diving deeper into the writings of the ancient Desert Fathers and later mystics and spiritual masters such as Saint John of the Cross, Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen. … More Pastors as Spiritual Guides
The big box “church-as-business” model that arose in the last quarter of the 20th century was a complete (and short-lived) anomaly in the long 2,000 year history of Christian ministry. It rode the wave of American-styled capitalism and is grounded in the values of American consumerism and market driven strategies — not the New Testament … More From Big Box to Big Souls
Jeremy L. Berg 