Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeSabbath Keeping FastingA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationPersonality Type in CongregationsPrayers of the Old TestamentPrayers of the New TestamentSabbathFriendingA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDeath in Dunedin: A NovelDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeAdvent DevotionalDraw Near: Lenten Devotional by Lynne Baab, illustrated by Dave Baab

Draw near: Confessing sin without wallowing

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 16 2022

Draw near: Confessing sin without wallowing

Esther de Waal, in her book The Celtic Way of Prayer, writes about the sense of guilt that bedeviled her childhood, the feeling of never being good enough, of failing again and again in trying to measure up. In Celtic Christian prayers she found something different, a complete absence of that kind of self-focused guilt, and a joy in Jesus’s gift of forgiveness. She writes that in the Celtic poems and songs,

“I have found sorrow, deep sorrow, many tears, an outpouring of grief, but it is never turned on itself, never the kind of sorrow that becomes inward, self-destructive guilt, feeding...

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Holy Spirit disruptions: Confess and admit

Lynne Baab • Friday August 6 2021

Holy Spirit disruptions: Confess and admit

I’m reading a book on narcissism. The author has a list of ten things people with narcissistic personality order don’t do. Number one on the list is apologize and number ten is admit vulnerability. Most of us, and most Christians, have at least a slight tendency toward narcissism – after all, we are really only aware of our own situation, emotions, priorities, values, etc. – and for many people, admitting wrong-doing or vulnerability doesn’t come naturally. The Holy Spirit disrupts our sense of complacency and self-righteousness by asking us to confess our sins, which requires some level of vulnerability.

I think there...

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Featured books

Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life A book for people grieving because of the pandemic, health challenges, family conflict, or other losses, while also seeing so many things to be thankful for. A book for small groups – each of the seven chapters has discussion questions at the end. A book for Advent and Lent. This book draws on a vivid word picture of holding grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, and allowing ourselves to be stretched large by both.
 Buy online » Joy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your Congregation Joy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your Congregation Although interest in spiritual practices has grown in recent years, most of the books available address individuals who wish to try Christian disciplines such as fasting or fixed-hour prayer.

This book, by contrast, offers guidance and examples to Christian leaders as they seek ways to involve their congregations or small groups in spiritual practices. Buy online »

Featured articles

NEW: Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times

Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023

By Lynne M. Baab

NEW: Spiritual Practices for People in Ministry

Lynne Baab • Sunday June 26 2022

Making Space for a Continuing Conversation with the Living God

NEW: Yes, Jesus Told Us to Pray in Secret. But He Also Prayed with His Friends.

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021

By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021