All Comments for: 'God Only' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Free Newsletters:

RSS Feeds |

Audio |

Twitter

Home > 2009 > February (Web-only)

Christianity Today, February (Web-only), 2009 |

SOULWORK

'God Only'

Giving up soul care for Lent.

Mark Galli | posted 2/26/2009 10:21AM

An encounter with Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, cannot help but touch us in our entirety — our emotions, intellects, and even bodies. But in addition to calling us to love God with ...

[Reader Reviews]

Average User Rating:

Rate and Comment on this article

Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 comments.

Page: 1

Show All

revcarla

Posted: February 28, 2009 8:28 AM

Mr. Galli, Would that every follower of Jesus have your background and insight but many do not and still muddle through feeling guilty when they should be at peace and anxious when they shoud rest in the Lord. For these and those who love the Lord in silence and contemplation, the Spiritual Disciplines and the Lenten activites which support them remain a sane and heathy way to honor our Lord during the Easter season. For many others, God and the "self" are often closer that they /we realize. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Losing the traditon and the values of Lenten sacrifice may also degenerate into a sort of post-modern antinomianism when "nothing after all really matters because we are already saved." If we preach sermonettes we will get Christianettes! I hear your concern but we have far too many ignorant Christians now about their history and doctrine and practice. Let us prepare them well for the Lord who is coming again.

Dale W

Posted: February 27, 2009 11:13 AM


Loved the article with a big "but". It seems to me all souls are not created equal. Child hood wounds, spiritual abuse and etc. destroy or limit our capacity to do as you say. Work on our wounded souls to be able to even trust or love or make God the object of our attention and focus of our lives is necessary. Thanks for the great article. Keep thinking--keep sharing it with us.

Seek the bridegroom in your fast for lent

Posted: February 27, 2009 8:50 AM

eating meat and having pleasure distracts us from God. So if we limit our pleasures and cravings for meat and focus instead on God (be easier to do it if we do not constantly think of ourselves and our desires) then we will be doing what Mr Galli suggests. But on the other hand, by not being as focused on bodily needs and desires and by focusing on God who is Spirit, we will indeed be being more "spiritual". So we do need in that sense to become more spiritual and less focused on bodily desires. Until we find Jesus and unite with Him, then when we have the bridegroom with us we can stop fasting.

Jim	Posted: February 27, 2009 7:07 AM


Wow! and I'll echo Kim's "Amen." If I can figure out how to really focus on God despite distractions and attractions, I want to follow Mr. Galli's advice. Very good!

Kim	Posted: February 26, 2009 4:27 PM


Amen! Not only do we focus all too entirely on ourselves, but we measure others by comparing what we consider to be their "spritual maturity" by their works. When we do focus on God we begin to see that comparisons aren't all that. He's always with us, but do we even see Him? Focusing on ourselves take that focus from Him. He's far more interesting!

Page: 1

E-mail this page

Write CT

Print this article

Post a comment