Tag: Religion and Spirituality

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motivation Running

Running as a Form of Prayer Step-by-step

Running as a form of prayer title image: Scottsdale sunrise

Mornings are my favorite time to run. As I head out the door, the new day has yet to take shape. There are so many possibilities. An early morning run is an excellent time to begin the day in prayer. Indeed, I’ve found running to be a form of prayer. I agree with the ishouldberunning.com blog that prayer and running go hand-in-hand.

I didn’t start running to strengthen my spiritual life. Instead, I began because I wasn’t happy with my dad’s gut. But as I have turned running into a habit, I’ve found the practice to be just as spiritual as physical.

How do you connect with God? How do you make running a form of prayer? The following steps have helped me.

Continue reading “Running as a Form of Prayer Step-by-step”
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Christianity Religion Cartoons

What does it mean to be spiritually mature?

Cartoon of two men. One says, "That's the first time a girl has turned me down because I'm not spiritually mature."

What a good topic for a Sunday! What does it mean to be spiritually mature when we are in lockdown and are longing to have normal events like church services? I miss the time to get together with friends and mentors as we discuss spiritual matters and learn from the pastor’s sermon. While it’s true there are online services, it’s not the same, and there are many churches and congregants that don’t have the technology or the resources.

What Does Spiritual Maturity Mean Today?

When I posted this cartoon and post thirteen years ago, I was working for a Christian publisher. Yet looking back, I don’t know if my definition of spiritual maturity then would mesh with my understanding today. I hope and pray I have matured since then. My wife certainly has, as I alluded to in that previous post. I continue to learn a lot from her. But I know I have a long way to go.

Everyone is being tested through this crisis, even the spiritually mature. However, spiritual maturity can give us resilience during this crisis. What does it look like? Keep in mind I am looking at this from a Christian perspective since that is my background.

Spiritual Maturity is…

  • Putting your faith in God because you know you are not in control
  • Looking for ways to be generous and help others, because you know it’s not about you.
  • Realizing owning things will never fully satisfy
  • Forgiving others
  • Displaying the Fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control
    (Galatians 5:22-23)
  • Acknowledging that you have never fully arrived

We have a great opportunity to strengthen our spiritual, emotional, and mental maturity through this crisis. Like you, I have my bad days. We all struggle. It helps me to remember we are all experiencing trials and troubles and that we can grow from them. Have a blessed Sunday!

Cartoon of two men. One says, "That's the first time a girl has turned me down because I'm not spiritually mature."
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church cartoons

Impressive Misquote

cartoon of two debating men

Cartoon of a guy misquoting from The Bible

Cartoon of two debating men. One says, “Impressive quote. But that isn’t in the Bible. It’s from Benjamin Franklin.”

Why do we like to debate? What is it about a comment here or there that makes me want to get in the last word? Sometimes, when I am making the case about something, I wonder if what I said was really from the source I thought it was. But nobody wants the facts to get in the way of a good argument, do they?

Yesterday, I got into a Twitter argument with a guy pretending to be a nineteenth century preacher. How silly is that?  He’s making accusations as if he is the reincarnation of this evangelist, and I took him seriously. Sometimes my blood boils about the silliest things.

So keep your head out there! Don’t misquote from the Bible and certainly don’t argue with long-dead saints. It’s just not worth it.

I drew this for the March, 2014 Church of God e-newsletter.

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church cartoons webcomic

Why the little things get us riled up

Cartoon of a guy eating a sub sandwich at church

Cartoon of a guy eating a sub sandwich in a church pew while a disapproving elderly woman looks on. the caption reads, “It all began when they allowed coffee in the sanctuary…”

I thought of this idea when I saw a lively forum discussion about allowing or refusing coffee in a church’s sanctuary.  Some were vehemently opposed to such nonsense. Others were insistent that all parts of the church should be welcoming and as long as it wasn’t a distraction, why not?

Personally,  I bring my coffee with me into the sanctuary. There was a time this was a no-no in our church. But we let go of that controversy years ago. I haven’t seen anybody bring a full meal into the sanctuary.

When I was younger, I thought of having a pizza delivered into the sanctuary (That would have been a major faux pas then). Hey! if it’s good for the youth group, it would be good for the rest of the church, right? Fortunately, young love and marriage kept me from such foolishness before I had the money to try such a stunt.

It does amaze me how little things like this can get people worked up. We focus on these little irritations because it is so much more difficult to focus on the difficult issues. It’s much more difficult to love your neighbor than to have an opinion on coffee/church etiquette.

I drew this for the February, 2014, Church of God E-newsletter.

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