spiritual disciplines

i have been reading a book by dallas willard called "the spirit of the disciplines." it is a great book that basically states that if you want to be the clutch player like Jesus was when he performed all his miracles, you have to do what Jesus did when he wasn't in the lime light. so often the scriptures say that he stole away when he could to spend time in prayer. he had a hard time getting away from people, so he would spend the night in prayer only to be interrupted by needy followers. he even spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting before he started his ministry. that makes me wonder if i should spend 40 days in prayer and fasting before i start any ministry i do. the cool thing is that this was not a time that made him weak. ok, ok, physically probably, but not spiritually! the Spirit lead him into the wilderness, and when he was at a peak of strength spiritually, that is when the devil showed up to tempt him. sometimes, maybe satan shows up when we are at our strongest because he sees that we are giving ourselves more and more to God and he realizes that if he can make us fall then, we will think we haven't gone anywhere at all. yeah, he'll tempt you when you are weak, but really, when are you most dangerous? just a thought.

a place to vent

it's funny how much time blogs seem to take me. i just spent the last hour trying to add a pic to my profile. pretty sad, huh? oh well. i realized today that we all need to vent. sometimes we vent to our spouses and sometimes about them to friends or family. but there is one problem to this whole need to vent. we get rid of our frustrations and discouragement, but only by placing them on someone else's shoulders. now, a good xian (that's christian only faster to spell) would say that i simply vent to God and then feel better, but honestly, that would just be a load of crap. do i tell God that i am frustrated and pissed? yes. and does he listen and comfort me? of course. but this way, the internet acts as a catch-all, where others can read what is going on and encourage me or tell me to man up and quit whining. the more i do ministry, the more i understand our need for community. this space lets me vent while at the same time lets my community (even from afar) do what it was made to do - remind me of why i do what i do in the first place. i find i learn best through discussion, so most of the stuff you will see on this site will be thoughts on theology and life, but occasionally, you may just catch the venting of a frustrated man, husband, father, or church planter - whatever roll i may be in at the time.