John March

Category: Spiritual Pilgrimage

  • Power

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    Everybody wants it.  Everyone wants to have control over others.  Everyone wants to be important and able to make decisions that affect other people.  In a helpful distinction, Greg Boyd defines what Christian power looks like in contrast to the power of the world, which is represented in violence.  He says that real power comes in the…

  • Wild Goose Chase

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    This is a book that makes you want to go out and conquer the world.  Friends of Mary’s and mine previously attended Mark Betterson’s church in Washington DC, and they kindly gave this book to me.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.   The Wild Goose that he challenges us to chase is…

  • New is Nice

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    I often hear pastors and theologians disparaging new expressions of faith.  They push back against new songs, new prayers, and new church structures.  The sentiment is that being relevant or new compromises the gospel, which is rooted in the time-tested way of doing things.  With that in mind, I found this quote about heuristic bias…

  • Fighting Fear

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    Fear is a terrible thing.  It consumes us.  It saps the life from us just like a parasite saps us of energy.  When we’re afraid, everything seems harder.   It makes praying harder.  It makes taking a risk on a new job or relationship nearly impossible.  Fear drives us inward.  We only think about ourselves…

  • How Stressed are You?

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    When a bad driver almost runs you off the road, how stressed do you get? When a child is repeatedly screaming in your ear while you try and talk to your spouse, how stressed do you get? When you realize you don’t have enough money in the bank to pay the next bill, how stressed…

  • The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

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    Sometimes I get soul ache.  I start to feel disconnected from Christ.  I feel far from God.  I don’t like it, but I struggle to know how to solve it.  Greg Boyd recently blogged about just such an experience.  In his post he recommends leaning into Jesus more. I’ve found his advice to be right…

  • Geoffrion, One Step at a Time

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    This book contains Tim Geoffrion’s thoughts on our spiritual life as pilgrimmage.  He uses his experience walking a 500-mile pilgrimmage, called el Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James), as the guiding metaphor for describing the ups and downs of the Christian’s spiritual walk with God.   Each chapter begins with a journal entry written while…

  • Confidence

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    I spent the afternoon cheering on the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team to their lopsided victory over Penn St. It was awesome! Apart from a few minutes at the beginning, they dominated throughout the game. There was no point when the Gophers hit a cold spell. There was no point at which Penn St. really…

  • Hate yourself, Hate others

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    The false ascetic begins by being cruel to everybody because he is cruel to himself. But he ends by being cruel to everybody but himself. Merton, No Man is an Island, pg. 96 Merton highlights the importance of rooting the acts of spiritual disciplines in self-love not self-loathing. It’s easy to allow our frustration with…

  • Our Next Step in the Journey

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    Starting in early December, Mary and I will be transitioning into a new phase of our lives. I will begin a church planting residency at Emmanuel Covenant Church in Roseville, MN. After leaving Highrock Covenant Church in Boston, MA more than two years ago, we look forward to our time at Emmanuel with excitement. We…