by Doug Hammack | Nov 21, 2010 | Message Audio, Thanksgiving
A few years ago, our family stopped sharing around the Thanksgiving table the things we were grateful for. Our kids were getting older, the crowd at the table was getting larger, and it started feeling contrived, so I stopped bringing it up (I think everybody has...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 14, 2010 | Individual Lesson, Message Audio
We pause between these lessons, to review an important spiritual principle in our community’s history… “The Central Organizing Principle of Life in God is the Indwelling Spirit.” Now if you come from the Charismatic tradition and think you know...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 7, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Self
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...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 31, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Self
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...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 24, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Self
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...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 17, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Self
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...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 10, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Stuff
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...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 3, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Stuff
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...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 25, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Stuff
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...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 19, 2010 | Message Audio, The Suffocating Power of Stuff
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...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 13, 2010 | Message Audio, Revenge and Forgiveness
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...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 5, 2010 | Message Audio, Revenge and Forgiveness
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...
by Doug Hammack | Aug 29, 2010 | Community Meeting, Message Audio
Listen in to our 2010 community meeting and found out the vision I have for the future of NRCC. Have a listen Doug https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2010/08-29-10_Meeting.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Doug Hammack | Aug 22, 2010 | Message Audio, Reconsidering Prayer
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...
by Robin Camu | Aug 8, 2010 | Guest Speaker, Message Audio
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...
by Doug Hammack | Aug 1, 2010 | Message Audio, Reconsidering Prayer
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...
by Doug Hammack | Jul 25, 2010 | Message Audio, Reconsidering Prayer
“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 ...
by Doug Hammack | Jul 18, 2010 | Message Audio, Reconsidering Prayer
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...
by Doug Hammack | Jul 11, 2010 | Message Audio, Reconsidering Prayer
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...
by Doug Hammack | Jul 4, 2010 | Individual Lesson, Message Audio
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...
