Weekly Messages
The Suffocating Power of Self (part 4)
Last week, we made the outrageous claim that God's judgment is a good thing. Who knew? This week, we go further by asking how we can invite this judgment upon ourselves. Not only are we claiming to want God's good judgment, now we're paying a pretty steep price to...
The Suffocating Power of Self (part 3)
Ps. 98 says the the judgment of God is a good thing. Go figure! How could coming up short, and then hearing about it from God be good? In this lesson, we see that we've really misunderstood the whole idea of "the judgment of God." It's a gift, it's a treasure, and...
The Suffocating Power of Self (part 2)
We continue thinking about what we can learn from Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan, and his cryptic remarks about "eternal life." What is eternal life? How does one access it? Turns out, it has very little to do with the afterlife as so many assume. Have a listen....
The Suffocating Power of Self (part 1)
In the last lesson, we looked at "the suffocating power of stuff." An extension of the same thinking that went into that lesson applies to this one. In this lesson we look at how we orient ourselves to life by looking through the lens of what's good for me, what's...
The Suffocating Power of Stuff (4 of 4)
Today, we conclude this lesson on the suffocating power of stuff. We began the lesson with Jesus' teaching in Mt. 6 on stuff, and an analysis of why it is so difficult for us, living under the socio-economic system of consumerism, to heed Jesus' words. We conclude...
The Suffocating Power of Stuff (part 3)
That we are suffocated by stuff in a literal sense is not the biggest problem we face. Yes, it's true that possessing too many things stifles and loads us down, but the more dangerous form of suffocation, is the mindset, the heartset, that believes we'll find...
The Suffocating Power of Stuff (part 2)
Dumbing down grownups, capturing children early and indenturing them into the obligations of consumerism, and misrepresenting the utility of stuff... these are the lengths our economic system goes to sell us stuff. And in the face of that, Jesus tells us that stuff is...
The Suffocating Power of Stuff (part 1)
Jesus taught us a lot about how stuff, and our relationship to stuff can steal from us the freedom, vitality, and life that the spiritual journey affords us. However, we live in a society that is founded on consumerism. The powers at work to keep us spending and...
Revenge and Forgiveness (part 2)
Revenge and forgiveness, both natural parts of being human, both wired into our brain chemistry. However, ancient wisdom has taught us that we tend to over-exaggerate the former, and underestimate the power of the latter. So, how do we actually get our brains to move...
Revenge and Forgiveness (part 1)
So how's this for crazy? I'm standing up in church to say that revenge is a natural part of being human and shouldn't always be avoided! In fact, only when we recognize the natural part that it plays in the human experience, can we fully embrace Jesus' teaching...
Community Meeting – The Future of NRCC
Listen in to our 2010 community meeting and found out the vision I have for the future of NRCC. Have a listen Doug
Reconsidering Prayer (conclusion)
We conclude this lesson on prayer today. We've been looking at prayer from a different starting point. Instead of beseeching God to do things for us (even good, noble, selfless things), our starting point has been Jesus' teaching about Truth setting us free. From that...
Backing into Truth – Robin Camu
As co-creators, we can access the Agape Love of the indwelling Trinity by clinging, by patting blindfolded into the future and by backing into truth. When we do access this Agape Love, this indwelling Trinity, we sometimes experience energy, sometimes strength, and...
Reconsidering Prayer (part 6)
In this second-to-last week of this lesson reconsidered prayer we talk about what happens to us when we take on the soul-quieting, truth-seeking, freedom-finding, prayer practices we've been talking about. And sure enough... our souls find increased freedom.... we see...
Reconsidering Prayer (part 5)
"The discipline of casualness..." That sounds contradictory doesn't it? But it's the very foundation of this different kind of prayer we've been talking about. Have a listen. Doug
Reconsidering Prayer (part 4)
Today, as we continue our lesson rethinking prayer, we come to the mindset necessary for this "seeking-Truth" way of praying. Self-discipline is necessary to this new way, but that term falls on hard times for many Christians. We've tried and tried to be disciplined...
Reconsidering Prayer (part 3)
As we're rethinking prayer as opening ourselves to truth and freedom, we turn now to some of the foundations of the practice. We are easily distracted by small truths and by lesser concerns, to the point that we suffocate out the big thoughts, the life-making...
July 4th, 2010
Yes, we're in the middle of a lesson on rethinking prayer, but the 4th of July calls for some appropriate remarks. We're staying on the theme that will expand our understanding of prayer, but doing it in a 4th-of-July kind of way. God bless you. I pray your holiday...
Reconsidering Prayer (part 2)
We think of prayer as asking God to do something. That's not the kind of prayer we're going to be discussing. We're talking about prayer in light of Jesus' teaching that "we will know the Truth, and the Truth will set us free." It creates a very different perspective....
Reconsidering Prayer (part 1)
I thought about titling this message "Don't Waste Your Time Praying" (since I just did a lesson titled "Don't Waste Your Time Going To Church"), but that's not exactly what this lesson is about. When our images of God change as we progress on the spiritual journey,...
Love Isn’t Always Nice
Jesus gave two central commands on which to build the spiritual life. Love the Divine, pursue the Divine, prioritize the Divine with all your heart, and second, love people with the same passion you love yourself. In this lesson, we think together about what this...
The Great Upending: Toward a Better Earth
Listen to this prayer from Francis of Assisi. It sums up today's lesson. Have a listen. Doug. --- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; ...where there is injury, pardon; ...where there is doubt, faith; ...where there is...
Longings for God – by Robin Camu
by Robin Camu What Do We Really Want? The deepest longing of the human heart is to connect with God. Yet, many of us go through lives unconscious of this fact. When we feel the yearning for Divine companionship, we often misidentify the sensation and grab for our...
Don’t Waste Your Time Going to Church (part 1)
Notice, I did not title this lesson; "Don't go to church. It's a waste of time." No, a better title would have been, "When you go to church, don't waste your time." (But it's not nearly as catchy, is it?) The exercises many Christians do on Sunday mornings have an...