http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream. Proverbs 18:4 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:44:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My husband works as a pastor and a decent portion of his work is in youth ministry. The results of youth ministry are often not very tangible. It is a rare occasion when a youth group member will thank him for something he’s done. But just this ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2008/05/29/your-work-might-be-worthless/ At a transforming moment in her life, Ruth Haley Barton was told: “You are like a jar of river water all shaken up. What you need is to sit still long enough that the sediment can settle and the water can become clear” (Invitation to Solitude and Silence, p. ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2008/04/29/a-jar-of-river-water/ I started seminary when I was 23 years old. Newly married, kid-less, and with a husband bringing in a Christian school teacher’s salary, we had just enough to make it month to month. Taking on a seminary education did not involve huge personal or financial sacrifice for me. I ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2008/04/03/getting-practical/ As Doug so helpfully pointed it out in his comment on the last post, mentors are an invaluable source in the discernment process. I am constantly blessed by the presence of mentors in my life. I have a vocational mentor, a spiritual director, and several spiritual companions who keep ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2008/02/08/spiritual-mentors/ The first book I ever read on discernment was The Will of God as a Way of Life: How to Make Every Decision with Peace and Confidence by Jerry Sittser. He said this about God’s will: “If we truly seek God above all, then we will always be doing ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2008/01/23/gods-will/ A simple piece of encouragement as you journey through this advent season. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am… The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your needs in parched places, And make your bones strong; And you shall be like ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2007/12/06/you-shall-be-like-a-watered-garden/ Have you ever done it? Have you ever flipped your Bible open to a random verse hoping that God might meet you in the flipping and the pointing and spill a word for your life? Dallas Willard, in his book Hearing God comments on this practice of picking random verses. ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2007/11/15/bible-roulette/ Sometimes our problem is that we’re looking for too many legs. According to the mentor of one Calvin Seminary student, discovering God’s call on your life is like putting legs under a stool. A stool, he says, only needs three legs. LEG #1: An internal sense of calling. LEG #2: Affirmation of ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2007/11/09/sit-on-it/ “God doesn’t call the equipped; God equips the called.” Can we reflect on this axiom together? From a quick perusal of blogs, it seems that this statement has been a source of great encouragement to a lot of people. There is a truth here – obviously. Scripture gives ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2007/11/01/who-you-are-matters/ One of my pastors preached a series on the book of Ecclesiastes this summer. His comments on wisdom (and those of Qoheleth, the teacher/writer of Ecclesiastes) caught my attention. Qoheleth writes: I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven… but I ... http://calvinseminary.edu/blogs/discernment/2007/10/15/of-wisdom-and-misery/