Category: Christian Spirituality

Echoes in Eternity

Published on by dpatrickcollins1 Comment

Every Thursday, my son holds a meeting (now virtual) called Eclectic Christian Conversations (ECC for short) for people interested in discussing any aspect of the Christian faith. It is a great time to discuss the hard questions not typically addressed at church, such as, “How does evolution fit into our understanding of creation?” or “Is there such a thing as objective morality?”, or — like last week — “How do we come to terms with an extravagantly good God in the midst of a global pandemic?” Continue reading “Echoes in Eternity” →

The Benefits of Control

Published on by dpatrickcollins2 Comments

I have this terrible tendency of discussing a thing and exploring why it is true without always explaining why it is important. I may be guilty of doing that recently in our discussion with God’s sovereignty.

For those just tuning in, we have been discussing  the idea that God is in control of every detail of our lives: The good, the bad and everything in between. But it may not be obvious why this even matters. I mean: If we embrace this, do we get an award for perfect theology? Let us hope that is not the reason. Considering the at-times heaviness of the topic, that would hardly be the pay-off. Besides, as important as theology is, the world actually does not need one more person with perfect theology. I mean, that cannot be the goal. Theology, which is just fancy name for truth, has to have an end.

So let’s discuss the benefits of control — that is, God being in control. The first benefit is that if God is in control, we do not have to be. Continue reading “The Benefits of Control” →

Faith is not a Statistic

Published on by dpatrickcollins4 Comments

In the past several days God the Father has been taking me to a place past the point of words — or at least my ability to freely express them. I have regularly and literally been pinned to my chair (or bed, or floor) by the tangible presence of God in utter silence and  tears. It has made penning a new blog post difficult. Continue reading “Faith is not a Statistic” →

The Christian Soul: Mindfulness

Published on by dpatrickcollins2 Comments

This is our final essay in the series The Christian Soul. Look forward to our new series on The Christian Mind, coming soon 🙂

mindfulness:  noun. The practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis; also : such a state of awareness. Continue reading “The Christian Soul: Mindfulness” →

The Christian Soul: Miracles

Published on by dpatrickcollins4 Comments

I doubt there are many believers in Jesus who have not experienced at least one miracle in this life. 

For me, there was the time when my sister was sent to the hospital because she was hemorrhaging internally. The doctors could not stop the bleeding, and things were becoming critical. My parents called for the priest to administer the Prayer for the Sick. Which, if you know anything about Catholic doctrine, you know is the sacrament you often receive just before death. Moments after the priest prayed, however, the bleeding inexplicably stopped.

Continue reading “The Christian Soul: Miracles” →