A Few Thoughts on The Doctrine Behind John Mark Comer’s Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Part 2 of 2
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Ephesians 4:11-14
In the previous post (link to: part 1 of 2 ), I attempted to shine light on some of the aspects of the doctrine of Spiritual Formation that participating Christians might never consider the implications of. I called the post a “flare”, because I am trying to shine light on the subject, not to fire shots at an individual.
In this post, I’m sending up a flare over the practices that are prescribed in,
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. The question I’m still asking is: What happens when the shepherds and teachers begin to be tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine? The answer is, as I pointed out previously: “As go the leaders, so goes the church.” (Pg 5 REOH) but why?
How can someone be blown about and carried away by a Christian doctrine if Christian doctrine is meant to ground us in Scripture? First, there is a difference between general doctrine and Christian doctrine. A definition of Christian Doctrine is: (1)“The body of teachings of the Christian faith concerning its central beliefs. Doctrine is grounded in Scripture and aims to maintain the integrity of Christianity by distinguishing it from non-Christian beliefs. Doctrine is of central importance in Christian preaching and teaching in that it equips the people of God for effective and faithful service in his world.” A general definition of doctrine (like this one from Wikipedia) is: (2)“Doctrine (from Latin: doctrina, meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymological Greek analogue is 'catechism'.”
As Christians we need to be able to discern between what is a Christian Doctrine, rightly grounded in Christ and in His Word, and one that is not. A Christian doctrine is unshakable because its foundation is Christ; It will ground its practitioners in Christ and His Word. A doctrine of any other kind will move in whatever direction its founding principles and teachings move, and whoever holds to that doctrine will be moved with it. This is why I have said, and I will say again:
A Christian profession based on the doctrine of Spiritual Formation is more solidly rooted on the scaffolding of philosophy and psychology and spiritual practice that built up the movement than in the solid foundation of obedience to Christ and His Word.
And so it is that if the shepherds and teachers of a church body hold to the doctrine of Spiritual Formation, they will be tossed to and fro by the philosophy, psychology and spiritual practice that make up that doctrine… and so will the Church.
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:15-16
I am writing this, to reveal the truth to you, in love, to urge you to consider the following: If the Christian profession is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, then why are we so eager to find new ways (or as in this case, revive old ways) of drawing closer to the LORD. We may at times feel that we wish we felt closer to the LORD, but during those times, what we need is to REMEMBER that His (3) promises to us in His word are true. If we don’t know what His promises to us are, then we need to go to scripture and read His words to us again. If we feel that we are not close enough to the Lord then we are forgetful of the fact that He promised never to leave us, and also He gave us His indwelling Spirit to be our comforter. Therefore, we do not need practices to modify our feelings, we need God’s Word to be at work in us to modify our thinking.
Practices, however, are what make up 50% of REOH. JMC promotes and teaches practices that he describes as being the “easy yoke” that Christ offers to those who come to Him (Matthew 11:29-30). But as it is true that the weary soul finds freedom in the easy yoke of the completed work of Christ, the ones who choose to continue to work for their own righteousness, will find themselves enslaved to work. Even so, JMC describes these spiritual practices as what we must do if we desire to authentically follow Jesus and live as He lived.
“they (the practices of Jesus) are how we open our minds and bodies to a power far beyond our own and effect change.” (pg108 REOH)
“Here’s Dallas Willard’s definition of a spiritual discipline: ‘The disciplines are activities of mind and body purposefully undertaken, to bring our personality and total being into effective cooperation with the divine order. They enable us more and more to live in a power that is, strictly speaking, beyond us, deriving from the spiritual realm itself.’” (pg111 REOH)
After reading that last quote are you wondering what I’m wondering?
…What does it mean to be in “effective cooperation with the divine order”?
Well, if you weren’t you might be now, and if you’re not, well we’re going to talk about it anyway. Here are my 2 big thoughts where “cooperation with the divine order” is concerned.
1. The blood of Christ is the ONLY thing that enables us to be in communion with the Father. Without the Blood of Christ, activities of the mind and body can do nothing to win us cooperation with the Lord (if this is what he means by “divine order”). Tragically the Blood is never mentioned as the means or the foundation for transformation in this book nor any other Spiritual Formation/ Contemplative text that I have encountered. I think it’s because, the allure of the spiritual life blinds them to the efficacy of the blood of Christ. As far as the enemy of our souls is concerned, this distraction is a win.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 2:13 & 18
“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. …Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…” 1 Peter 1:18-19,22
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:19-23
2. As Christians, our cooperation with the spiritual realm (i.e. the divine) begins and ends in abiding in Christ. However, I think we take for granted that there could be overlap between our intentions to cooperate with Jesus and the myriad of ways that the fallen spiritual realm seeks to cooperate with us.
Think of it this way: When Adam and Eve were created, they had a physical and spiritual awareness that connected them to God and to His creation. The best analogy I can come up with for this is that their spirits operated like our phones operate in 5G, they were connected to everything. When they (and all human generations after them) sinned we were stripped of our holiness and our wholeness and we were left with let’s say, dial-up spiritual perception. The spiritual realm in our world (principalities and powers that the New Testament authors talk often about: demons angels and the like) exists on something like broadband, in our current state, they are beyond our perception but they are not equal with Heaven which is still 5G. Just like the antennaed TVs of bygone days, our minds are capable (with a little tweaking) of accessing the broadband existence. But we cannot of our own power, operate in 5G. So, our spiritual enemies will try and sell us short by teaching us how to access their realm and calling it “heaven”. We, being by nature (for now) almost entirely analogue, might never know the difference, except for the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In Jesus we operate in 5G. In Jesus we have access to His throne, whenever, wherever we are. But we have to be IN Him to reach Him. And being IN Him means abiding in/ knowing and being obedient to His word that He has given us.
This means that intention does not equal obedience. When we are in Christ, The Holy Spirit is our guide and our guardrail in our interactions with the spiritual realm, however, should we choose to stray from obedience to the Word and engage with the spiritual realm on our own terms, at best we are our own guides in a world where we do not belong and are not equipped to navigate, and at worst we engage a counterfeit Holy Spirit.
(I’ve talked about this before, but Paul is clear in 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 that there are false holy spirits that we, if we are not in line with the word of God, would be inclined to believe are the true Holy Spirit. As an example, the Mormon church has “the holy spirit” when they yield themselves to “the truth” of the book of Mormon. They receive a “burning in the bosom” that is a confirmation in their spirit about what they believe, their experience is real but their holy spirit is false because ultimately their spirit does not confess that Jesus Christ is the One true God/ the Most High, in the flesh (1 John 4:1-6). They simply confess that Jesus Christ is the God of earth (or something to that effect. If you have a better grasp on this, leave me a message, I’d love to be able to explain it better.)
Certainly you (dear friend who endures my long-winded explanations) have heard whispers of the growing appetite for the psychiatric benefits of psychedelic mushrooms like psilocybin, and the other-worldly wisdom that is imparted to those who are willing to surrender themselves to an ayahuasca experience. For most Christians, these things are an obvious no-go. It is apparent that these things catapult the user’s mind into a realm where they do not belong. What if I told you that different forms of “prayer” can do just the same thing? You may not believe that the enemies of God would have the audacity to interrupt a prayer offered to Him by His own child. But, what if the “prayer” you’ve been taught, the one that postures you in the spirit to meet with Jesus where He is, is really no prayer at all but a diving board into that same realm where a human mind does not belong? When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He simply addressed His words to the Father, the same as He addressed His words to the people that were in the room with Him. He did not instruct His disciples to first clear their minds or do a breathing exercise or repeat His name or another sacred word until the distractions of the world fall away. No, He just demonstrated that talking to God is like talking to your Father or even like talking to a friend. Keep this in mind as you read about the practices prescribed below, and if it makes sense to you, keep in mind the 5G analogy. One last thing: if you feel as if I am shortening the Hand of God by saying He does not exist on this middle spiritual plane (the broadband one) I am not saying He cannot go there, does not go there, cannot be reached there, I believe that He can and does do whatever He pleases. What I am trying to highlight is that the Holy Spirits job is to shepherd you to the throne room of the Most High and through the blood of Jesus Christ we have direct access, there is no need for us to traverse the spiritual realm in search of Jesus. So there’s really no need from Him to take us there, can He if He sees fit to? Absolutely! but this seems to me to be the exception and not the rule. Just something to keep in mind. Now, finally *deep sigh of relief for everyone* … here we go:
The following are the 4 Practices/ Disciplines that JMC describes in REOH (Pg 108) as the “practices of Jesus” (as if Jesus is the initiator of these things) and claims that “they are how we open our minds and bodies to a power far beyond our own and effect change.”
Silence and Solitude:
“Pretty much the only place we can be alone with our thoughts anymore is in the shower, and it’s only a matter of time until our devices are waterproof, which, in turn, will trigger the apocalypse.” (Pg 121 REOH)
This statement is both hilarious and tragic. He’s right. We don’t give ourselves the dignity of sitting with our own thoughts anymore, let alone setting aside real time to pray, to worship, to repent and be renewed, and to present our requests to the Lord. We need moments of solitary quiet. We need them more than we even know. BUT. But. but! The words Silence and Solitude within the Spiritual Formation doctrine are the two most laden with meaning. For when a true contemplative refers to Silence and Solitude they are not referring to finding a quiet corner in a coffee shop or a park bench by a quiet stream. They are referring to an altered (4)state of consciousness. Essentially this is where the natural thoughts of the mind are silenced and the quiet mind is open to interaction with the spiritual realm.
Therefore, practicing silence, in its truest form is not being alone with one’s thoughts, but it is attempting to altogether bypass one’s thoughts and connect directly with God. These methods are most often referred to as: Practicing the Presence, Silent Prayer, Contemplative Prayer, Imaginative Prayer, and others… it doesn’t matter what it’s called, if it is prompting you to relax or loosen your mind in order to receive, connect, deepen awareness etc… this is enacting this altered state. Sometimes the explanation looks something like this:
(5)“Prayer, then, begins by an intellectual adjustment. By thinking of God earnestly and humbly to the exclusion of other objects of thought, by deliberately surrendering the mind to spiritual things, by preparing the consciousness for the inflow of new life. ... The intellect is an essentially static thing: we cannot think our way along the royal road which leads to heaven.”
-Evelyn Underhill
Why is this a problem? God is Spirit, and doesn’t He tell us in Colossians 3:2 and Romans 8:5 to keep our minds on spiritual things? Yes you (hypothetical question asker) are right, He is and He does; but that does not settle the matter. Think critically with me over this. While it is true that we are meant to keep our minds on spiritual realities and not be tied up in the temptation and trials we are steeped in; we are meant to do so WITH our minds. Most simply said: in order to keep your mind on spiritual things, you must first and foremost keep your mind.
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38
“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” 1 Peter 4:7
I hope you see this: our God commands us to be sober minded so that our prayers can be effective, therefore it cannot be true that we don’t experience true prayer unless we let go of our minds.
The spiritual significance of keeping in our sober mind is immeasurable.
(6) “the most powerful position for us in the body of Christ is being in our body, where Christ dwells, is the most powerful position for us in spiritual warfare. He gave us a body. That’s what it says in Hebrews, when Christ said that ‘a body you gave me’ He’s speaking to the Father. So therefore, the body is important for us to be in it rather than up in the spiritual realm, we are to be here, where Christ dwells in our heart, in the body is where we are the most human. We have our emotions, our thoughts, we have our will and our choices in our body, and that is what darkness is most scared about. When we understand our identity in Christ in our body and who we are, they can’t touch that! That’s why there’s such a push to get out of your body, not be human, be trans-human, be above that, be spiritually above that.” -Audrey
*see the footnotes if you’re curious about who this Audrey is.
Don’t miss this: The principalities and powers of darkness, with whom we are at war, want us to separate our mind from our bodies so that we lose our position of strength against them! Ephesians 6 tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, and that we are to put on the armor of God and to stand firm. Our position in battle is to be whole: flesh and blood and mind, equipped with this spiritual armor.
Sabbath:
It’s true, American Christians have lost their way with the 4th Commandment. There is no rest in the West. This chapter is a good wake up call for our apathetic and sleepy hearts. There’s an unnecessary and curious deflection from Buddhism in this chapter (and the next two, keep reading, you’ll see.), but generally, I’ve got no argument against a reminder to obey the 4th Commandment.
Simplicity:
Americans have also lost their way with possessions. There are almost as many storage units as there are homes in the city where I live. We have too much stuff.
Simplicity is obviously an issue in our society, and love of material things can easily skew our perception of Gods provision and sully our contentment. The rub here is that JMC, after astutely identifying a real problem, takes this subject as an opportunity to deflect the growing Buddhist undertones in his teaching. JMC assures his readers that “Contentment isn’t some Buddhist-like negation of all desire;” (REOH Pg 216). We hear you John Mark, … but the more you make effort to convince us that what you’re teaching has no ties to Buddhism, the more we have to consider if it’s true. Especially considering what you offer to us in the next chapter. Also because of this: (this section is short, so I’ll go ahead and make it longer by dropping this here): There is a workbook that is a companion to The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry called, How to Unhurry. (It’s advertised by having a pg of its own between the “Thanks” section and the “Notes” sections at the very end of REOH.) This workbook lays out the steps to take to begin practicing the four disciplines. Pg 5 is Exercise #1: Breathing Prayer. After a step-by-step description JMC makes an attempt to disassociate once again “This isn’t new age, hypnosis, or magic; it’s just a way of resting in God’s love, being present to him, slowing down to let Jesus set the pace and agenda of our day.” Ironically (or not) The steps he sets forth are almost identical with a New Age/ Buddhist description of the same practice. *CLICK HERE to see the two practices described side by side.
Slowing:
“‘Slowing.’ Ortberg defined it as ‘cultivating patience by deliberately choosing to place ourselves in positions where we simply have to wait.’” (REOH Pg 221)
There’s some really good suggestions in here for how to pause a fast-paced schedule and allow for lessons in patience to run their course, rather than feeding our inclination to speed up even more to try and avoid the inconvenience. We all need to be willing to practice patience with the people and situations around us. The teaching of slowing down is not the issue; it’s that there is an advocacy here, a continued persuasion to embrace practices that facilitate that altered state of mind:
Nestled into 20 ways to practice slowing JMC tells his readers to “experiment with Mindfulness and meditation” (REOH Pg 239)
“Even better than practicing mindfulness is the next step into meditation, another ancient Christian word that’s been co-opted by the New Age renaissance. But don’t think namaste; think Psalm 1: “Blessed is the one…who meditates on his law, day and night.” In meditation of the Hebrew/Jesus variety, you don’t just empty your mind (of the noise, chaos, anxiety, etc.), but you fill your mind with Scripture, with truth, with the voice of the Holy Spirit.” (REOH Pg 240)
His explanation of meditation sounds right. Yes the word “Meditation” is in the Bible. Mostly in the Psalms where the writers are talking about how they meditate on scripture. This is an activity of an active and sober mind. The Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself, he does not instruct us to be sober minded, but also now and then, shut our minds off so we can hear from Him better. Biblical meditation and mindfulness meditation are not synonymous, they are the antithesis of each other. None of the Vedic religions that put a heavy emphasis on meditation empty their minds to remain in emptiness, they are making themselves an open vessel so that they might attain something, and that something is their version of Divinity. So, for a Christian to follow these same steps but fill in the blanks with bits of Scripture, names of Jesus, etc., … they are not taking a pagan practice and redeeming it for worship to the Almighty God, they are in fact disobeying the Almighty’s command not to worship Him in the ways that other people worship their gods.
(7) Deuteronomy 12:2-4, 29-31b)
What am I saying here? Please don’t go experiment with mindfulness and meditation like JMC suggests. There are just too many variables for that to be wise advice. Yes, read the Word of God slowly and deliberately, take the time to understand what it is you are reading, don’t be hasty about reading the Word or with prayer, but reject the idea that you need to be in a specific mind state in order to benefit from one or the other.
Christians, do not be distracted by the scientific evidence of the effectiveness of meditative practice, of course there will be an effectiveness to it. How else would it gain traction? However, it’s a trap. A human, whose mind is disconnected from their body is not an honorable position. In actual society, if your mind and your body are disconnected, you would be deemed to be insane. In order to get around this we engage in these mind splitting practices in designated places: in the privacy of our own homes, or in the company of others who are participating in the same action, i.e. mindfulness retreats, meditation sessions. Our Lord would never require that we put ourselves in a place of insanity in order to be at peace or to commune with Him. …But His enemies would (think of the 5G analogy here). Look how easy and accessible, and socially acceptable these practices have become! And Christians are gladly participating. Look at this quote from Phileena Heuertz (a Christian author and teacher)
(8)“Contemplative spirituality, Christian or otherwise, helps us embody our beliefs and values, especially when life gets challenging. Contemplative practice helps us cope with life. One very popular expression of contemplative spirituality is mindfulness. Everywhere we turn these days, it seems, this meditation practice has gained traction. Rooted in Buddhism but packaged as secular, mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to what is arising in the present moment. By practicing mindfulness, we deepen our awareness and perception. But it doesn’t require faith to engage in it.”
My generation has been taught that our freedom in Christ makes way for us to pocket what looks beneficial from anywhere we can find it. To spiritually, “chew up the meat and spit out the bones” of whatever we are served. That (9)“all wisdom is God’s wisdom” so we need not worry from where we collect that wisdom from. Church, hear me, these are carefully curated lies. Yes, we do have to use discernment, all day every day we should be asking the Lord to give us wisdom to make distinctions between what we will call good and what we will call bad. What we cannot do, however, is take something that is spiritually “beneficial” without Jesus in it, put Jesus into it, and then call it good. The world and its rulers offer us their brand of “wisdom” at every turn, and we must learn to be able to discern the counterfeit from the true before we give our yes to it. It is not the grown-ups who put everything into their mouths to see if its food or not, babies do that. It’s time to grow up.
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14 (KJV)
How do we grow up then? We start with reading the Word of God for ourselves. Read it and think about it, as if our lives depend upon it. (Because well… they do.) Then, when we are familiar with what it says, we respond in humble obedience to what it says. The more familiar we are with His word, the more we will be able to discern. Submission to His will at the cost of laying down our own is where maturity begins.
This humble obedience is fearing the Lord, it is abiding in Him, it is how we begin to be (if I may) in Awe of Him. (10)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It’s all right there in His word. With the (11)help of His Holy Spirit, His Word is (12)all we need for life and godliness, and spiritual maturity.
As for the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: I hope you take seriously the effect that a rushed and anxious lifestyle has on your soul. John Mark Comer’s message is not unnecessary. The disconnected and chaotic nature of our society is a problem that needs to be remedied; however, I hope that you see now that we have had the remedy at our fingertips all along. There is no new or ancient ritual or practice that can offer us more purity of heart than being washed by the Word of God. Christians, Jesus Christ gave himself up for us, that He might sanctify us, having cleansed us by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present us to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that we might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)
May you see the truth for yourself. May you walk in wisdom and bypass the doorways to empty spirituality. May you hold fast to what is good and grow up strong in Christ; filled with Awe and Wonder of who He is. May you be ready and willing to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints.
Grace & Peace,
Christie Matta
*Footnotes*
* The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry – John Mark Comer (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2019)
* All scripture references quoted from the ESV (unless specifically noted)
1 Doctrine- “The body of teachings of the Christian faith concerning its central beliefs. Doctrine is grounded in Scripture and aims to maintain the integrity of Christianity by distinguishing it from non-Christian beliefs. Doctrine is of central importance in Christian preaching and teaching in that it equips the people of God for effective and faithful service in his world.” - Exported from Logos Bible Study, 10:04 AM January 8, 2025.
2 Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine
3 His promises to us: here are a few: “for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”Hebrews 13:5; “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:4-7; “Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” John 20:29
4 State of Consciousness- I talk about this altered state of consciousness in Part 1 of this post : “When we bypass the sober mind, we enter an altered state of consciousness. This is spiritual territory.” and in An Open Letter to the Church: “It should be noted that all of these prayer practices are intended to result in an altered state of consciousness in the practitioner. This altered state is the opening of one’s mind to interact with the spiritual realm, its known as the alpha state. It doesn’t matter that your intent is to draw close to Christ, your mind ends up in the same place as those who alter their consciousness under any other intention. This is why Peter tells the church to be self- controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers (1 Peter 4:7).”
Quote from Richard Rohr linking silence and consciousness:
“Silence is not the absence of being, but it is a kind of being itself. It is not something distant or obscure, of which only ascetics are capable. Rather, you may have already experienced deep silence, and now you must feed it, and allow it to become light within you. We do not hear silence (precisely!), but it is that by which we do hear. We cannot capture silence. It captures us. Silence is a kind of thinking that is not thinking. It is a kind of thinking which sees (contemplata means “to see”). Silence, then, is an alternative consciousness. It is a form of intelligence, a form of knowing beyond bodily reacting, which is what we normally call emotion. It is a form of knowing beyond mental anylysis, which is what we usually call thinking.” – Richard Rohr, Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation : Franciscan Media, Cincinnati Ohio, 2014, 2023 (Pg4) (bold emphasis mine)
*Richard Rohr is a Franciscan Priest (Roman Catholic) however, he is not a Christian, he is a Contemplative, and therefore exemplifies the path that Contemplatives tread, away from the Doctrine of Christ and into universal ecumenicalism in the name of Christ Consciousness, or, The Cosmic Christ. As exemplified in this quote from Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation website:
“Most Christians know about Jesus of Nazareth, but very few know about the Christ, and even fewer were ever taught how to put the two together. Many still seem to think that Christ is Jesus’ last name. By proclaiming my faith in Jesus Christ, I have made two acts of faith, one in Jesus and another in Christ. The times are demanding this full Gospel of us now. Though it overlaps with many aspects of non-Christian mysticism—such as nature mysticism, Islamic Sufi mysticism (ecstasy and joy), Hindu mysticism (unitive consciousness and asceticism), Buddhism (non-violence and simplicity), and Jewish prophetic oracles—Franciscan mysticism is both deeply personal and cosmic/historical at the same time. …Franciscan mysticism is about an intuition of Jesus as both the Incarnate Human One and the Eternal Cosmic Christ at the same time.” https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-cosmic-christ-2015-11-05/
5 Evelyn Underhill – Devotional Classics (A Renovare Resourse for Spiritual Renewal)- Edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2005)-What Do We Mean by Prayer? Pg97
6 Blurry Creatures -Episode 292 Trauma Based Mind Control with Fern & Audrey – 25min:44sec
Fern & Audrey are two women who work with individuals who are seeking wholeness in Christ after having had their mind and body separated purposefully, through trauma, to make them controllable, i.e. trauma based mind control.
7 “You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,” “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”
Deuteronomy 12:2-4, 29-31b
8 Phileena Heuertz - Mindful Silence: the heart of Christian Contemplation (Lisle, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2018) pg 7
9 All wisdom is God’s wisdom- Scripture is very clear that there is a difference between Godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:20-25
10 Fear of the Lord- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.- Proverbs 9:10
See what else I wrote about the fear of the Lord, HERE.
11 Help of the holy spirit- “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:25-27
12 All we need for life and godliness- “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 1 Timothy 3:16