I have been spending some time over the past year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity of Marion County. Almost a year ago, a went to one of their informational meetings with one of the guys from church. Turns out that he and his wife met the criteria to get a house. Once they got accepted into the program, another guy and I started putting in hours to help them get their house. Continue Reading »

Have a happy thanksgiving. It is a great time to spend with family and remember all that God has done for each of us.

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

One of the themes that I want to explore on this blog is worship in real life. I can’t talk about worship in the context of music, the only instrument that I play is the CD. However, I can talk about silence as worship. I did one or two Retreats of Silence while I was in college. These were fairly short affairs, usually lasting less than a whole day. More recently, I have tried a couple of longer retreats of silence.

A couple of years ago, I needed a mental break and a spiritual retreat. I took a weekend off and went to a state park in Clermont and camped for the weekend. It was just me, the tent, my Bible, and my bike. It was only two nights away, but was a great chance to recharge. It was also probably the starting point for my Eschatologue series.
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One of the passages that impacted me the most during my Retreat of Silence last weekend was the Sermon on the Mount as recounted by Matthew. What probably struck me the most from this passage was the discussion in Matthew 5:17-48 about God’s standards and the Law. The standard that Jesus sets for His followers is not simply to obey the Law. That was the standard that the Jewish leaders of the day set. They made it difficult by creating a system of laws and rules that was nearly impossible to know and understand.
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So the big camping trip (see the prior entry) was centered around a retreat of silence. It was, in short, a chance for me to get away from normal life, meditate, study, and pray. Now, in my case, as a Christian, I studied the Bible for quite a long time. Several hours Saturday morning. Another hour or so in the afternoon, and then a little while longer in the evening.

On top of the study time, I spent time in prayer and meditation, especially on Friday night, and a little on Saturday morning.
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