Teaching
Reflection Sunday
As we arrive at Reflection Week in our Solitude Practice, I want to share a quote from Trevor Hudson, spiritual formation pastor, Fuller Seminary professor, and author.
God
In this remarkable passage you see that Jesus got up before dawn and before anyone else was awake to be in solitude with God the Father. Jesus was in such a remote location that His disciples had to look for him and when they find him what Jesus says to them is something that requires pause and reflection on what happens when you enter solitude to commune with God.
Quiet Place
We begin the second in our series of spiritual disciplines of Jesus in 2025 we call Practicing the Way. Solitude is intentional time in the Quiet with yourself and God. Our four week progression goes like this:
We begin our journey in the Quiet Place.
Easter 2025
What is the Resurrection? Easter is a global celebration when Christians around the world rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus overcoming death is at the core of the Christian faith. Jesus’ death is significant because it became the death of all of humanity’s sins and ungodliness.
Reflection
Practicing the Sabbath, as with all the other spiritual disciplines we call the Practices of Jesus, a.k.a. “Practicing the Way,” is part of a continuous journey of spiritual formation. It’s nearly impossible to go from your current state living in a frenetic world with too many things to do in not enough time in the day to spending a full day to worship God.
Stop
As we begin our “liturgy” of spiritual disciplines--a regular and intentional walking through of the nine Practices of Jesus throughout the year--it’s helpful to reflect on the wisdom of M. Robert Mulholland, an esteemed Asbury Theological Seminary professor known for his work on spiritual formation and discipleship.
Why Spiritual Disciplines Matter
I’m very excited for this portion of our journey together in 2025. Starting next Sunday, March 16th we once again embark on the spiritual disciplines we call “Practices of the Way.” These Practices are habits based on the lifestyle of Jesus that create time and space for us to access the presence and power of God and be transformed by the power of the Spirit.
Choosing Wisely
In our final week of the Sermon on the Mount series (Matthew 7:13-27), Jesus reminds us that, as free-willed beings, we each face choices every day. The Narrow Road: At first, following God’s laws might feel constraining, but we come to see that this path is the road to true freedom.
Empathizing
In Week 8 of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7: 1-12) Jesus begins this part of his teaching concerning our relationships with others. Here’s what he says:
Do not judge. Instead, whenever we feel like judging someone else, use it as an opportunity to reflect on your own shortcomings. (Matthew 7: 1-5)
Prioritizing Eternal Wealth
In Week 7 of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear that there is an eternal difference between Earthly Wealth and Heavenly Wealth. In order to make space for Heavenly Wealth we must give up the over-pursuit of Earthly Wealth. They cannot co-exist.
The Lordʻs Prayer
In Week 6 of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to pray through what we now know as The Lord’s Prayer. Within it, we find four key themes: Entering God’s Kingdom – When we love God and love others, as commanded in the Greatest Commandment, we step into the reality of God’s kingdom.
Eliminating Hypocrisy
In Week 5 of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the issue of hypocrisy that can sometimes arise within the Church. He provides three examples: drawing attention to one’s giving to the needy, praying in a way that seeks the admiration of others, and fasting in a manner that invites public recognition.
Fostering Peace
In Week 4 of the Sermon on the Mount, we review three more case studies of Jesus explaining the Torah and the Prophets in terms of oaths, justice, and enemies. In the morality that persists in God’s Kingdom, Jesus speaks to your core desires and the motivation behind how you treat others.
Honoring Others
In this section of the Sermon on the Mount (Week 3: Honoring Others) Jesus provides us three case studies of applying the Torah to its fundamental meaning defined by God. The first one is Murder which is equivalent to not treating someone as the image of God when someone’s existence is, in itself, the image of God that deserves respect.
Accessing Godʻs Wisdom
Jesus came to rescue us from the world that we’ve created out of selfishness and contempt for others. Jesus came to deliver us into communities of love and respect through righteousness, defined as doing right by God and others.
Guide to the Good Life
This week we start our new Sermon on the Mount series beginning with the “Beatitudes” (Matthew 5: 3-12) in which Jesus explains who experiences The Good Life or blessed life. By the poor in spirit, those who mourn, and the meek, Jesus draws a contrast to the powerful, comfortable.
2024 Reflection
Every year I say the same thing, “This year went by really fast!” I have this theory that time moves faster in the tails of your life: as a parent, aunty or uncle, or grandparent, you marvel at how fast the children in your life grow and when you’re in a mature stage of life as I’ve personally witnessed caring for kupuna, you experience how quickly the kupuna in your life age.
Practice
“The supernatural is something you are. It is something that should be natural.” Pastor Dean Fujishima. And there it is yet again: James 4: 7-10.
Power
“Be a people who are unafraid to engage in the spiritual realm, the truth is: Satan is much more fearful of you than you should be of him.” Pastor Shea Takazono
Worldview
“The spiritual realm is real. It powerfully affects us.” Pastor Cal Chinen. The spiritual realm has superiority and an eternal nature over the physical world with a profound influence on a particular situation or person.
Destroying
The definition of a stronghold that we’re using from Dr. Ed Silvoso is: “Mindset
impregnated with hopelessness that forces us to accept as unchangeable situations we know are contrary to the will of God.”
Identifying
The definition of a stronghold that we’re using is: “Mindset impregnated with hopelessness that forces us to accept as unchangeable situations we know are contrary to the will of God.”
Defining
Welcome to our new series “Recognizing & Destroying Strongholds.” The content of this series we credit to Dr. Ed Silvoso, a man of God who has poured so much into our local denomination and who we owe a great debt for sharing his time and God-inspired wisdom with us.
Reflection Sunday
This is the final leg of our Camino de Santiago. We take a bus from Santiago to Finisterre and Muxia on the Western coast of Spain. Finisterre is the location of the 0.00km marker and Muxia is where land meets the ocean.
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