Home Archive by category "Spiritual Growth" (Page 13)

Category: Spiritual Growth

Why I am returning to Yosemite – by Pat

Guest Blogger, Patrick McWhorter Why go back to Yosemite? I prayed about the opportunity and tossed it around for a while. Would this year match the experience I had last year? Would it be better? Would it not be as good? There were so many reasons to go back and really no reason to not go. The number one reason to go back – I know that I need the time away. I love what I do, don’t get me wrong. But throughout the year, the emotional stress can wear you out. The “normal” people issues that come up can wear on your soul, especially when the people are not just bodies in the congregation but are your friends, your family, your brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that I need the time away to leave the work of ministry behind, to leave the daily tasks behind, and to focus on ultimately what is most important, my own personal relationship with Christ. Words cannot describe the feeling you have when you are 8,000+ feet up, looking over God’s awesome creation and it is just you, Him and His Word. God revealed things to me during the week at Yosemite…

Continue reading

That’s a Lot of Agains!

I’m doing the final editing for the next DiscipleTown unit, “How to Make Good Choices” due out March 15th. Hard to believe I’ve written six of these! (and that I have 18 more to go!) I always marvel how each and every unit convicts me and how each unit seems to be exactly what I needed to review in my own walk with God and how much I enjoy developing a four week spiritual journey for children to explore as so that they can grow closer to Jesus and become better disciples. Let me share one of my favorite elements from lesson three, it is a routine I use with my puppet, Gus. Of course, in the curriculum Gus’ name gets dropped (Sorry Gus!) so that teacher’s can replace him with their own puppet, I remember this routine fondly for both the humor and yet the poignant impact this routine has made many times on children. It’s a description, not a script, but you’ll get the idea: Puppet has a black eye, a broken arm, and bandages all over his body. Leader asks what is wrong and says, “I hope you didn’t try to fight sin to the death like…

Continue reading

The Fellowship of the King

Are you a guy in any capacity of children’s ministry who lives in the Denver area? Then READ ON! You are invited to be a part of the Fellowship of the King! “The Fellowship” is simply a group of children’s pastors and ministry leaders I am gathering who desire to periodically disconnect from the busyness of life and ministry to spend time with God in His creation and fellowship with others who share in their passion for children’s ministry. There is no cost. It is simply a list of guys who I will invite on day hikes.There is no obligation to attend any or all – I know that only a few may be able to make each hike – the Fellowship simply makes up the list of those who want to know when the hikes are so they can be invited to join us. They will be planned all over the state during all seasons. Most will be one day hikes, leave early in the morning and head home when the sun sets. The first will be Thursday, April 1st. For more information contact me. NOTE: If you REALLY want to get away and enjoy creation, join me in…

Continue reading

To Know God? – Yes I Do!

Before I continue my series of posts on my solo sabbatical in Yosemite, I want to follow up on my last post, Giving Up on Knowing God. I think I freaked a few people out by some of the private e-mails I got of concerned people who thought I was denying my faith! I let it hang there for awhile because I put a challenge in there for anyone who knew God to e-mail me and tell me what that looked like. I was seriously hoping someone would. Well, last night while at Chipotle with my son, I got the e-mail from a guy named Kirk saying bluntly “I know God!”, and it made my day. Reprinted with the writer’s permission, here it is: I know God! Like you, I started by knowing about Him, and then gradually getting to know Him more and more.  

Finally, I set my mind to get to know Him “personally.”  This itself was the light bulb moment – it was when I DECIDED that I was going to relentlessly pursue this.  And then I found Him, just as He promises us.  

He’s there in the stories of the bible … the things that make…

Continue reading

Giving Up On Knowing God

Note: Click on any image to view much larger These are images and journal entries from my Solo Sabbatical to Yosemite in January 2010. (Pictures are all from Day One, two more days yet to come.) Day 1 – February 1, 2010 Knowing God. Started thinking about this topic this morning – so been mulling it around all morning as I snow shoed around the base of El Capitan and Merced River taking pictures today. (Love snow shoeing by the way.) Really thought it would be a lot more laborious than it is, it’s easy and enjoyable. But anyway, “knowing God” – isn’t that the promise of the Christian life? We can know God! I gave away my Badger Pass ski lift passes each morning (also included tour bus passes and other perks) at breakfast that came with my Lodge “all inclusive deal” because I didn’t need them, the meal vouchers were all I needed. I’m here just to hike and take pictures. I was offered money each time and just said nope, “they’re as free as God’s salvation.” I almost added, “I hope you’ll get to know Him like I do.” That’s what got me thinking about this. How…

Continue reading