Harmony of Grace

I have often written about my attraction to nature, particularly to climbing mountains. I have discussed at length how I feel acutely aware of God's presence with me when I am sitting on top of a peak, looking out over the vast beauties of God's creation. The problem is that in recent months, I have been swamped. Overwhelmed with meetings, assignments, seminars, and the urgent needs of every oom and tannie in the church, I have had no time to retreat into the wilderness to connect with God in a deeply intimate manner. Reading Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird has reminded me of a deep truth that many of us (myself included) often forget. We do not need to venture off into the wilderness to connect deeply with God. While these sacred moments in nature help us to become more acutely aware of God's presence with us, God is within each of us and we can connect with God even in the middle of our busy lives. "We can never get closer to God because God is already within us...

The word p e r f e c t ion  comes with a whole lot of baggage. We all know that no-one is perfect, and yet we are told that practice makes perfect. To be a perfectionist is sometimes seen as a crutch, while at other times we are encouraged to strive for perfection. The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, taught about an idea called C h r i s t i a n P e r f e c t i o n and asserted that followers of Christ could experience this ideal. In Genesis, we read that God created the world and humanity and declared that it was good. Many claim that this implies that God's original Creation was perfect. D a n i e l l e S h r o y e r suggests that perhaps "a more appropriate view of creation would be not perfection but potential. God designed the world to develop and function in a certain way, while allowing for creation to live freely into its potential. Sometimes creation will live up to and into its potential, while other times it will renounce it.... Potential reminds us once agai...

I would like to share some exciting news with you all... I am moving all of my content over to my Patreon page! Now, the first thing you might be wondering to yourself is: "Does this mean I have to start paying to read your posts? What a rip-off!" Well before you write me off as a money-grabbing scrooge, let me emphatically say that no, you do not need to pay to follow me or see my posts on Patreon. Go to https://www.patreon.com/harmonyofgrace and click the button shown in the image below to follow my page without having to pay anything at all. You can easily create a Patreon account with your Google, Apple of Facebook Account. 99% of my Patreon content will be completely free to the public so please feel free to follow my page without any financial obligations at all. However, if for some reason you appreciate my content enough to support my work financially, you are welcome to become a paid patron. I will provide occasional, exclusive content for my paying patrons. All of ...