Catholicism

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What Martial Arts Taught Me About Prayer

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 22, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Every Friday evening, the community gathered in the chapel at the Little Portion for a half hour of silent prayer and meditation. At the appointed time, we would enter the candle-lit chapel, find a place to sit, and silently talk with God. Occasionally, you would hear the sound of slow, heavy breathing in the chapel – that unmistakable indication that one of the saints is taking a short siesta. But for the most part, everyone was engaged in some type of silent prayer.

It was during these times—when I desired nothing more than to bask in the presence of God and simply be with the One who loved me to death—that unsavory images from my past or arguments I’ve had with people would come screaming into my head. Here I am trying to meditate upon God, and an image of girl I once dated (and shouldn’t have) explodes upon my imagination. Now, instead of hoping to catch a glimpse of God’s glory, I have Victoria’s Secret dancing in my head. What’s a monk to do?

The Battle of Prayer

Oswald Chambers said, “The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts and lack of intimacy with God’s character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline.” Although I didn’t know it at the time, it was my previous study of martial arts that helped me overcome my wandering thoughts while in prayer.

Continue Reading

He Never Spoke A Word

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 1, 2014
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“It was by faith that Noah build a large boat to save his family from the flood….by his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world.” – Hebrews 11:7

audio-videoThis little verse in Hebrews challenges me because Noah built an ark as an expression of his faith in God, and it was Noah’s actions, not his words, that proved the faithfulness and holiness of God. And this concept, that actions speak louder than words, is tough on me, a pastor whose primary gift is teaching the Word. However, I see it as a good lesson for all of us.

I imagine as Noah begins this huge project his neighbors couldn’t help but notice. And like men all over the world, when a building project starts up, they went over to see what was going on. You know how men are. They gather around the bed of a pickup truck, lean on their arms with a cold drink in their hands, ask questions, give advice, and tell about the time they knew someone who was doing something similar and ended up in the hospital or the like. I can imagine a conversation around the sawhorses—the OT version of a pickup truck—that went something like this:

“Whacha doin’, Noah?”

“Building an ark.”

“Wow. That’s great! Hey guys, look! Noah’s building an ark. Wow! That is amazing! Oh, by the way, what’s an ark?”

“Well, it’s a vessel used to keep things secure and deliver people to safety. In this case, the ark is a boat.”

“A boat? I knew a man who tried to build a boat once. Got a splinter in his hand that got infected so he had to saw with his left hand and hold the boards with his elbow. Had a callus big as a grapefruit right here on that elbow, didn’t he Harvey? Harvey saw it. That boat never did turn out right. Say, why are ya’ll building it so large?”

“Because God is going to bring a pair of every animal on earth to this ark, and when it starts to rain we will go inside and be safe, because it’s going to rain for forty days and forty nights, flooding the earth and killing every living thing. But those in the ark will live and . . . .”

At this point, the laughter drowns out Noah’s explanation of God’s instructions, so Noah just goes back to hammering planks and spreading pitch. It was now that Noah’s faith could be seen only in his actions. And here’s the big lesson: When people won’t listen to your words, speak to them with your actions!

One of the chief complaints of the unchurched towards those who attend a church is the church-goers don’t act like Jesus. Their actions are out of sync with their words; their video doesn’t match their audio. But that wasn’t the case with Noah, who continued to live by his faith in God in spite of popular opinion.

If the words of our proclaimed faith don’t match the actions of our life, we can be the world’s greatest orator and not be a true witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. I want to live so that, if I never speak another word, those who are around me will know the love of God simply by the way I live in faithful obedience to the Word of God.

The Trouble With Holiness

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 10, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister AND a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Eureka Springs, AR. This is an excerpt from my book about that experience called “Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.”

Thornber-Comfy Clothes CVR-R2I was in Bible College when I first heard the saying, “I’m a Christian and I don’t drink, smoke, or chew, or hang around with those who do.” We often repeated this little ditty tongue-in-cheek, but there was an element of truth to it, also. Although we knew abstinence from those things didn’t make us holy, we also had to sign a form that said we would not partake in those vices while we were students at the college. I suppose they were fine rules as rules go, but like any law, they only dealt with the outward appearance of holiness, and did nothing to address the matters of the heart.

At the core of that saying is the idea that we can obtain instant holiness if we will simply avoid certain habits. Furthermore, it was expected we would not have friends who engaged in such questionable practices. Somehow, we’ve equated the God-ordained gift of instant salvation through faith in the work of Christ with holiness on demand—my church demands certain practices (and abstinences) and I am holy if I follow those rules. My church says don’t _______ (fill in the blank), so I don’t _______ (fill in the blank) and I feel justified. Or, the church says don’t go there, sinners are there and they will ruin your walk with Christ, so we avoid going to certain places.

That last one has always confused me. If the sinners are not coming to church, I always felt we should go to where the sinners are. After I left the Little Portion, I stayed in Berryville and continued going the Assemblies of God church. Needing a place to live, I put in an application for an apartment and used my pastor as a reference. The owner of the apartment called my pastor and asked him about my character, wondering if it was me he saw coming out of a party in town. My pastor assured the man I wouldn’t have been at such a gathering.

I took that as a compliment. Sort of. Why wouldn’t I go to such a party? Isn’t that where the sinners are? Continue Reading

Letting It All Go

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 8, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book,Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Thornber-Comfy Clothes CVR-R2One of the interesting facets of traveling around the country with the members of the Little Portion was the discovery that different parishes had different tolerance levels for Assemblies of God monks teaching in their church. My unique situation was welcomed with open arms in many cities, but this was not the case in a visit to Dodge City, Kansas. There the priest asked me not to tell the congregation that I was not a Catholic. I was ready for this, because it was not an unusual request. It fell under the heading, “No one can pick on my baby brother but me.”

Too often, we will tolerate any amount of disagreement or criticism as long as it comes from within our ranks. However, if that criticism comes from an outsider, then we often find it unacceptable. For instance, I can tell Jewish jokes all I want because my mom’s family is Jewish. But if those same jokes are told by anyone else, then people start screaming antisemitism. The same goes for jokes pertaining to religion.

However, I also respect the pastor of a church who knows his people well enough to understand their limitations. I was always obedient to the wishes of the priests who invited us to minister. To do anything less would be to dishonor God’s appointed leadership.

I preached in Dodge City three nights in a row and never mentioned I was not a Catholic and there was a wonderful response. But one humorous encounter occurred after the last night I taught. A couple approached me, a bit cautiously I might add, and asked if they could speak with me.

“After listening to you, we’ve come to a conclusion,” the husband said. “Either you are not a Catholic, or you are a recent convert to Catholicism.”

I laughed and said, “Why would you say that?” Continue Reading

The Time Is Now

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 21, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

NowName some things that scare you, things all you need to do is think about and you become fearful and terrified. This is the direction my mind went when I read how Governor Felix responded to Paul in Acts 24.

In this chapter, Paul has been accused of stirring up riots all over the world, of being a ringleader of a cult of Nazarenes and desecrating the Temple. Felix and his wife Drusilla want to hear from Paul, and verse 25 says, “As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened.”

And he should be frightened, for that is what happens when people are faced with the truth they know they are not living. But that isn’t the part that is frightening. What Felix says next should cause us all to pause and be a little scared. Felix says, “Go away. When it is more convenient , I’ll call for you again.”

Those five words — “When it is more convenient” — may be some of the most terrifying words in all of Scripture. Why? Because putting God first in our life is never convenient. What we mean when we say “When it is more convenient” is we’ll fit God into our schedule when it suits us, not when it suits Him. The Voice translation of verse 25 says, “When I have time, I will send for you again.” I cannot help but wonder how many times and in how many different ways we’ve all said to God, “When I have time, I will send for you again.” Continue Reading

Ready to Rejoice

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 20, 2012
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

 This is how I will know you have shown unfailing love to my master – Genesis 24:14

A while back a friend called to tell me his grandmother died. I didn’t know the grandmother very well, but I did know she was comfortable financially. Although I was sad for my friend, it also occurred to me that he might see a significant inheritance, and I was surprised my reaction was, “Why him? Why can’t I get something from someone?” Yes, I was disappointed in myself, but being the self-professed good Christian man that I am, I put aside my bad feelings and convinced myself they weren’t there.

But God knew better.

Two days later, I’m reading in Genesis as part of a “Read the Bible Through in a Year” program we were doing at the church where I’m the self-professed good Christian pastor. When I got to the above verse is Genesis, my reaction to my friend’s potential blessing came flooding back. It seemed God wasn’t finished with me. As a side note, have you ever noticed some of the programs we use to enhance our spirituality, like Bible reading programs, God uses to fix our spirituality?

What bothered me about the story was Abraham’s servant, probably Eliezer (Genesis 15:2), wasn’t looking for God’s blessings in his own life, but for God to bless the life of Abraham. Eliezer was sent on a difficult mission – to find a wife for Isaac among the family of Abraham. When Eliezer gets to the homestead, he makes a convoluted prayer about camels and drinking water in order to find just the right wife for Isaac. And when it works, Eliezer rejoices that God has shown “unfailing love to my master.” At that point, the Holy Spirit slapped me in the head.

Why is it so difficult to rejoice with those who rejoice without feeling a competition for the love and attention of the Father? Why is it so hard for me to ask God to bless others without wondering (not always, but sometimes) when I’ll get my piece of the blessing pie? Without malice, rancor or competitiveness, Eliezer is truly happy when God has shown favor to Abraham.

Now I’m thinking about this story and God won’t let me alone. I begin to wonder about the times when I was truly happy when God showed favor to a friend. I can think of a few. But then it occurs to me. Eliezer wasn’t rejoicing when his poor neighbor got blessed, but when his rich employer got blessed. Can I do that? Can you? Sure, we can be happy if the Lord sends our poorer neighbor a hundred dollars to put towards their winter heating bill. But can we truly rejoice when God dramatically and miraculously shows unfailing love to one of the richest and already most blessed people we know? Won’t there still be a bit of jealously and envy, a bit of “what about MY blessing” thrown into the mix? Continue Reading

Tale of the Towel

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 22, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

BEFORE the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and]to the highest degree. . . .took off His garments, and taking a [servant’s] towel, He fastened it around His waist (John 13:1,4, Amplified).

Perhaps the best-known passage that shows us the servant heart of Jesus is John 13, where we see our Lord and Savior, the creator through whom God made the universe, washing feet.

Jesus was fully aware of who He was in God, where He was from, and where He was going. As such, He was not serving His disciples while He waited for God to bring Him into His “real” ministry. He didn’t wash feet as a way of passing the time before He got on with His studies at Seminary or waited for His first call to pastor a church. Those are the things I would do. Instead, service was at the heart of the life Jesus laid down for His friends.

What challenges me most about this episode is the fact that Jesus gave credibility and integrity to what He did because of who He was, while most of us are inclined to get that backwards. We have the tendency to define who we are by what we do. For example, if you go to any gathering or social event and meet somebody new, watch how long it takes for one of you to ask, “So, what do you do for a living?” Most of us define and categorize ourselves not by who we are in God, but by what we do in life. But in Luke 9:18-20, Jesus did not ask His disciples, “What do the crowds say I do?”, but “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Continue Reading

“Jim, go ring the bell.”

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 24, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Service. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

We had just entered the chapel for the noontime prayer called the Angelus when John Michael said, “Jim, go ring the Angelus bell.” Great, I thought, another chance to be obedient in a tradition I disagreed with. But John Michael asked me to do it, and when you’ve taken a three-year vow of obedience, it is a little difficult to say “No.”

The Angelus is a short devotion at noon honoring the Incarnation. It involves three repetitions of the Hail Mary and is prayed in conjunction with the ringing of a bell. So, even though I was sure I was that didn’t want to do it, but at the same time not quite sure how to get out of it, I walked out of the chapel and down the little path that led to the bell.

Having arrived at the bell, the full impact of the quandary I was in began to take hold. The Angelus is a prayer followed by one bell, followed by another prayer and another bell, a third prayer and a final bell. Now, since I couldn’t hear the prayer in the chapel, I had to recite the prayer with the community in order to ring the bell at the proper time. After the first ringing of the bell, the prayer goes like this:

“The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.”

BONG!

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. Hail Mary….”

BONG!

“And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. Hail Mary. . . .”

BONG!

Now, the tricky part was saying the prayer along with the community so that I didn’t ring the bell while they were still reciting the prayer, nor wait too long so that they sat in silence waiting for me to ring the bell before they started the next phrase. Having sat through many an Angelus, I knew this was a tricky thing to do. Continue Reading

No One Can Pick On My Baby Brother But Me!

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 14, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Publishing, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book,Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

As I found out traveling around the country with the community, different parishes had different tolerance levels for Assemblies of God monks teaching in their church. My unique situation was welcomed with open arms in many cities, but this was not the case in a visit to Dodge City, Kansas. Here, the priest asked me not to tell the congregation that I was not a Catholic. I was ready for this, because it was not an unusual request. It fell under the heading, “No one can pick on my baby brother but me.”

Too often, we will tolerate any amount of disagreement or criticism as long as it comes from within our ranks. However, if that criticism comes from an outsider, then we often find it unacceptable. For instance, I can tell Jewish jokes all I want, because my mom’s family is Jewish. But if those same jokes are told by anyone else, then people start screaming anti-Semitism. The same goes for jokes pertaining to religion.

However, I also understand and respect the pastor of a church who knows his people well enough to understand their limitations. I was always obedient to the wishes of the priests who invited us to minister. To do anything less would be to dishonor God’s appointed leadership.

I preached in Dodge City three nights in a row and never mentioned I was not a Catholic, and there was a wonderful response. But one humorous encounter occurred after the last night I taught. A couple approached me, a bit cautiously I might add, and asked if they could speak with me.

“After listening to you, we’ve come to a conclusion,” the husband said. “Either you are not a Catholic, or you are a recent convert to Catholicism.”

I laughed and said, “Why would you say that?”

“For two reasons,” he said. “One, you quote too much Scripture from memory. And two, you are way too good a teacher to be a Catholic.” Continue Reading

Why Me?

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 4, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Publishing, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

I must realize that my ability, even my desire, to commune with God starts with God. He speaks, I exist. He pursues, I respond. He dies, I live.  He desires me, I open to Him.

But I cannot help but wonder: Why me? What in me does He desire? What does He want? My talents? My charm? My abilities?

Yes and no. All and none. When He calls to me, He calls to ALL of me. He wants me before His gracious throne with my sins and my sacrifice; my talents and my inabilities; my joys and my misgivings; my love, hope, emotions, feelings, doubts, concerns, questions and understanding. When God died for us on the Cross, He died for the whole of us.

My desire to come before the throne of God comes from His desire to have me there. My love for Him springs from His love for me. So, all that I am and can do originates from Him, which leaves me only boasting in Him who is kind, righteous, just, and loving (Jer. 9:23-24).

It is a sad and humiliating thing to see yourself before God and realize you have nothing good to offer Him. It is a joyous and wonderful thing to see Him take your offering of yourself and turn it into a gift which praises Him. It is then that you truly learn that all things are possible with God.