I hope you are well and that today finds you thriving and flourishing in your mission and ministry. Happy belated Thanksgiving and I wish you a meaningful and blessed season of Advent!
Let’s pray:
O Mighty One, God the Lord, who alone is the righteous judge and our redeemer and deliverer.
Help us to be mindful of the times so that we can wait expectantly and confidently for your arrival.
Fill our hearts with gratitude so that they are open for the infusion of your holy love in order that we may stand firm in faith and manifest love for one another and for the world at the coming of our Lord Jesus.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
(This is a collect that I wrote for the first Sunday of Advent based on Psalm 50, Zech 14:1–8, 1 Thes 3:6–13, and Luke 21: 25–33)
This is the first of what I hope is a monthly resource newsletter to help you in your spiritual growth, leadership formation, missional imagination, and faithful community engagement.
Two Questions I’ve been pondering this Fall that have helped me:
(1) How can I bring a little more joy into this activity right now?
(2) What will I regret not having done or learned ten years from now?
Choose a Word to Serve as Focus Point for your Spiritual Growth in 2025
Each December, I prayerfully reflect on the prior year and then choose a word that can serve as a point of intention and focus for my growth in the coming year. For example, in recent years, I’ve used the chosen the following: abundance, surrender, deeper, reservoir and done.
In 2024, I chose the word DONE. In 2023, I was feeling burned out and lacking energy. As 2024 approached, I had the thought—I’m done but I’m not finished. Done kept coming into my mind. I sensed God inviting me to think about 2024 as the year of being “done.” As I sat with the idea, DONE turned it into an acronym:
I’m done with
D: Dumb habits and draining activities/people;
O: Obligations that don’t align with my values, mission and calling;
N: Nurturing others without first nurturing myself;
E: External validation of my value and worth.
I am in the process of finding the right word for 2025. I’ll share it with you in the January update. I invite you to join me in this process.
What word might help you to (re)align with what God desires to do in and through you?
Write down your word: ____________
What does it mean for you?
Why did you select it?
How might it serve as a guide for your growth over the coming year?
Favorite Quotation from the past month:
“Be calm and serene, masters of yourselves, and superior to all irrational and disquieting passions. By keeping the government of your spirits, you will both avoid much misery, and guard the better against all dangers.” – John Wesley from Notes on the NT (on Luke 21:19).
When I read Wesley’s words, I immediately thought, “What practices help me stay grounded in Christ so that I am able to embody the inner traits that Wesley describes? What about you? Do you have a practice or practices that allow you to abide in the peace of Christ for at least some of your waking hours?
Here are some resources and recommendations for you this month:
(1) Join me and Rich Lewis on 11/16 at 10am eastern for our monthly virtual centering prayer gathering. Our topic this month is “Complementary Practices to Centering Prayer.” Email me for the zoom link.
(2) Three books that I’m excited to share with you:
John Oswalt, When Morning Gilds the Sky: A Collection of Devotional Thoughts (2024): https://amzn.to/3Ox5Lnv
Dr. Oswalt was my Old Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary as well as a mentor. He discipled me and 2 or 3 other guys every Friday at noon. He taught us about holiness and was transparent about his life and the challenges that he faced. This book reminds me of the teaching he shared with our group. I’ve been using this resources since early November and I recommend it highly. It is so good that I want to read the whole thing quickly, but I’m forcing myself to savor it by reading one entry a day. There are 365 devotions total.
Peter Thiel, Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups or How to Build the Future (2014) https://amzn.to/3ZdtQ7N
Thiel was one of the co-founders of PayPal and he is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Zero to One is one of my favorite books. I reread it again this month because it is a thinkers book. It helps me to break out of static thought patterns and learn to ask different questions in order to find more compelling ideas and strategies for a future oriented outlook. I think pastors and spiritual leaders will find real benefits from a careful reading of Thiel’s thinking. For example, he argues that the key for a business is to be a class of its own with zero competition. Too many of us in the Church are perpetually in a state of competition with society’s competing interests as well as trying to model “best practices” from other growing churches. In other words, we become copy cats instead of the deeply rooted local churches that our communities actually need. Read Thiel for ideas on how your community of faith can reach your unique neighborhood.
Mary Margaret Funk, Thoughts Matter: Discovering the Spiritual Journey (2013): https://amzn.to/4eTWFfh
Funk has written a sublime and rich book that takes a deep dive into Evagrius Ponticus’ eight evil thoughts that afflict us during prayer (Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Sloth, Sadness, Pride and Vainglory). As a practitioner of centering prayer, I found this book to be profound. Funk teaches how to work through these thoughts in a way that opens us up for greater cleansing from God. She has combed through the writingof the earliest monastics (especially John Cassian) for the spiritual wisdom that can help those of us committed to a vibrant spiritual walk. This is probably the best book I’ve read on the inner spiritual journey. Highly recommend.
(3) I’m in the process of updating my content on the book of Exodus and for my Intro to the Old Testament. I created these two videos for my current students. I trust that you may find them helpful too.
“Exegetical Reflections on the Golden Calf Narrative in the Book of Exodus” https://youtu.be/PFRmBKHWXTA
“Five Models for Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture” https://youtu.be/nfGFz1W3dj4
(4) I’ve recommitted to recording new episodes of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations Podcast. I’ve some guests coming up including: Joe Dongell, Alistaire Stern, Matt O’Reilly, and Alex McManus. I’ll also be sharing from my heart in deep dive solocasts.
You can watch episodes of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzah82ipRosZZsT5DBbbm_L6J07XTOXEy
Here is link to the audio on Podbean: https://deepdivespirituality.podbean.com/ (or search on your preferred podcast platform).
I want this resource to be helpful for you so I’d love to hear your feedback on what is your biggest challenge in life and ministry right now?
Blessings on your life and mission. If I can be of service to you or if you just want to say “hi”, reach out brian@brianrussellphd.com
Peace,
Brian