monasticism

All posts tagged monasticism

Telling Yourself the Truth

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 1, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, founded by singer/songwriter John Michael Talbot. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Me and Mom

When you consider yourself a “cool” Southern California kid, you think you can handle anything that comes your way. Move to Arkansas and join a monastery? No problem. Become the world’s only Assemblies of God monk and try to get the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world to accept you? Piece of cake. Joyfully anticipate taking a three-year vow of poverty, chastity and obedience, and even invite your mom to fly out from California to witness the experience? Right up my alley.

Until I noticed a little bump on my upper lip.

At first, I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something. Even though it was January, my mom was having some trouble breathing and we thought it might be a reaction to all the cedar trees. Yeah, that’s it. The bump on my lip is due to allergies. I took some Benadryl, said a little prayer and tried to ignore it.

But the bump grew larger, and eventually I looked like I got in a fight and came out on the losing end of a right hook.  Continue Reading

Wrestling with Faith and God

Posted by Jim Thornber on February 9, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity. This is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-published book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes. The chapter is called When God Alone Is Enough (Isolation).

There were times at the monastery when I felt so alone I could hardly express it. I would often go to the chapel, find a dark corner to sit in, pull my hood over my head and mutter over and over, “It’s just You and me, Jesus. Just You and me.” I felt so very lonely, isolated, and separated from all that was familiar.

These were also times of questioning God–big, loud, bodacious, tear-filled questions that seemed to bounce off the ceiling of the chapel and slap me in the face. “Are You still with me? Did I miss Your will? Whose idea was this monk’s life, anyway? Does anybody care? Will I always feel so alone and without a friend? Do You hear me?” If you are interested, the answers to those questions were: yes, no, mine (I think), yes, sometimes, and always.

There will come a time in your life, if it hasn’t already, that you will sense all you have in the universe is God, and then you’ll wonder if even He is big enough to deliver you from your pain and the soul-wrenching questions no human being can answer. Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Philippians 4:4-5

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 16, 2009
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 Comments

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain

The Look of Joy

Always be full of joy in the. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do (Philippians 4:4-5 NLT).

poor childrenLast Wednesday, Barbara and I were co-teaching the book of James to a small group. After spending an hour talking about the book, we barely finished James 1:2, which tells us to consider it an opportunity for great joy when troubles come our way. Doesn’t that sound easy and fun?

While Barbara led the group discussion around the question, “What does joy look like?”  I meandered over to Philippians 4. I knew it had some good stuff to say about joy, so I found the above passage I wanted and read it to the group. And as soon as I did, I knew it was going to bother me.

Although Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison, he still finds a way to be joyful. I didn’t say he was enjoying his stay in prison, but that he chose joy as his attitude. So far, so good. Paul is a better man than I am, but that is not what struck me. What struck me is what I call “The Look of Joy.” We’ll often ask what love looks like, and there is even a song called, “The Look of Love.” But what about joy? Barbara asked, “What does joy look like?” According to Philippians 4:5, joy looks like “consideration.”

That is when I got bothered. Continue Reading

God Is Thinking Of Me?

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 20, 2009
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Spiritual Gifts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”— Psalm 139:17-18

ThinkerI like the honesty of King David. Up until verse sixteen of Psalm 139, David is contemplating ways he could hide from God. (I’ve done that – I just don’t readily admit it.)

Then David realizes that there is no place in the Universe he can go to avoid God.  He even concludes that God knew Him and counted all of his days while he was still forming inside his mother’s body. After meditating upon all of this, David finally says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” As this Psalm clearly shows, the thoughts of God have been resting upon David, and David tells us that those thoughts are more numerous than the grains of sand (vs. 18).

Think about that. God has more thoughts about you than there are grains of sand on the earth. And those are precious thoughts, not angry, disappointing thoughts.

God is thinking about His creation, and His thoughts are precious as they pertain to man—so precious, in fact, that God has chosen to crown man with glory and honor (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:7) and to one day set his stature eternally above that of heavenly beings.

When we truly understand that God is thinking precious and positive thoughts about us, and even wants us to live crowned with glory and honor, not burdened with sin and shame, will it change our way of life? Continue Reading

Thoughts on Holiness

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 12, 2009
Posted in: Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 6 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 an unpublished book I’ve written called Talking Off My Comfortable Clothes, from the chapter on Holiness.

Einstein

As I was sitting in a Starbucks going over this chapter, I kept thinking, “What is it I want to say to my readers?” Here are my final thoughts on Holiness.

  • Be real with who you are. Accept and embrace your gifts and talents as well as your sins and limitations.
  • Beware of succumbing to someone’s personal (or organizational) standards for holiness, especially if they have no Scriptural basis.
  • Find people in your life that will hold you accountable for living a holy life — a life sacred to God and separate from the standards of the world — but who will also encourage you and your dreams at the same time.
  • Run from every naysayer who will try to make your life conform to his or her mediocre box of fears.
  • Holiness is not a matter of eating, drinking or dressing. It is living the character of Christ.
  • Memorize this quote from Albert Einstein: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

Scriptures That Bother Me — John 12:9

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 6, 2009
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

Walking Among The Dead

“Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead” – John 12:9

This passage encourages and challenges me at the same time. I’m encouraged because the masses are still attracted to Jesus, who remains the main event and primary crowd pleaser. That’s good. However, the people are also interested in seeing Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. That’s the challenging part.

This challenge leads me to a difficult question: If people are naturally attracted to a resurrected life, are they attracted to my life? Furthermore, if people are not attracted to me, I have to wonder if I’m living the resurrected life Jesus came to give. Maybe this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Philippians, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection . . . and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Luke 1:38

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 29, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Mary’s “Yes”

“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” – Luke 1:38

MaryThis is the scene: Some time after the betrothal of Joseph and Mary, but before they consummated the marriage, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that God chose her to give birth to the long-awaited Messiah.

This is the question:  “How this is possible, since I’m a virgin?”

This is the answer: “The power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the baby to be born will be called the Son of God.”

This is the consequence: According to the Law in Deut. 22:23-24, death by stoning for adultery. According to Gabriel, the birth of God-with-Us.

This is the response: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

This is what bothers me: I don’t know if I would have been as brave as Mary.

Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Matthew 14:14

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 15, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain

Not Bothered About Being Bothered

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14

Here’s the scene. Jesus has just heard that Herod, in a warped sense of duty, has presented the recently severed head of John the Baptist as a birthday present to his stepdaughter, who is also his niece, because his new wife, his brother’s ex, didn’t like John. Yes, it’s complicated. Anyway, upon hearing the news, Jesus took a boat to what He hoped would be a solitary place. However, His hoped-for solitary place was now full of people and, having compassion on them, He healed their sick. Furthermore, if you keep reading, He also performed the miracle we call “Feeding the Five Thousand.”

Okay, here’s that part that bothers me: Jesus wasn’t bothered about being bothered.

Maybe it’s just me, but I know if I had recently found out that a drunken, immoral, quasi-religious dictator had beheaded my cousin, I would want to go away and find a quiet, solitary place to pray and cry and shout out my pain to God. And once getting there, the last thing I’d want to do is minister to a bunch of people who are more interested in themselves than in my pain.

But Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead, He has compassion on them.

Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Matthew 16:18

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 1, 2009
Posted in: Religion, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’ve Never Seen an Offensive Gate

gate

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

I was reading Neil Cole’s book The Organic Church yesterday, and he said something that really bothered me. He quoted Matthew 16:18 and reminded us that gates are defensive items, not offensive items. “Police don’t pack loaded gates. Terrorists don’t hold victims at ‘gate point.’ We don’t send weapons inspectors overseas to discover ‘gates of mass destruction.’” His point is that the Church Jesus builds is to be on the offensive, not the defensive. We’ve nothing to fear about the gates of Hell. Rather, it is the gates and strongholds of Hell that should fear the Church of Jesus Christ.

Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Hebrews 11:16

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 26, 2009
Posted in: Religion, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain

The God Of Jim

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” – Hebrews 11:16

This verse makes me wonder if God thinks the same way about me. Is God ever ashamed to be called my God? Would He ever refer to Himself as “The God of Jim?” Would he ever point to me, as he did to Job, and ask Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Jim?” (Part of me really hopes that conversation never takes place. I’m quite allergic to boils). Would God ever address other Christians and say, “I am not ashamed to be known as the God of Jim. He is a faithful man, and to his credit I declare him righteous”? Continue Reading