Draw Near: Lenten Devotional by Lynne Baab, illustrated by Dave BaabTwo Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationSabbath Keeping FastingPrayers 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 NovelPersonality Type in CongregationsBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeAdvent Devotional

Draw near: praying about being as relationship

Lynne Baab • Tuesday February 21 2023

Draw near: praying about being as relationship

John Zizioulas recently died. I imagine many of my readers have no idea who he is, and I certainly didn’t until about ten years ago. He wrote a book that was life-changing for me, or perhaps more accurately a book that enabled me to take a large step on a journey I was already on. Zizioulas (1931-2023) was a Greek Orthodox bishop who wrote many books on theology. The one I read a decade ago is called Being as Communion, and his argument there is not unusual these days: humans are made in the image of a relational God. Therefore to...

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Draw near: To whom do we pray?

Lynne Baab • Tuesday September 27 2022

Draw near: To whom do we pray?

Recently I’ve been paying attention to the words of praise songs and hymns to notice to whom they are addressed. Some follow the pattern of the hymn “Praise my Soul the King of Heaven” or the praise song “10,000 Reasons” (“Bless the Lord, O my soul, worship his holy name”). This pattern, common in the psalms, calls my soul to engage in prayer. Some hymns and praise songs are descriptive, like “Amazing Grace” or “Mighty to Save” (“Savior, he can move the mountains”). Perhaps we could say they are also addressing my inner being, reminding me of who God is and...

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Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship as action

Lynne Baab • Thursday January 24 2019

Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship as action

The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) has profound implications for friendship. (Last week I described the significance of Jesus’ question to the Pharisee about being a neighbor.)

The challenge in friendship isn’t to figure out who is a friend. The challenge is to grow in ability to act like a friend. The actions that nurture friendships are intentional practices. These intentional acts of being a friend are rooted in the understanding that human friendship is an invitation to participate in the love that the three persons of the Trinity have for each other and the love that the triune God...

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Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship with Christ and friendship with others

Lynne Baab • Friday January 11 2019

Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship with Christ and friendship with others

What difference does it make for human friendships that we are invited to be friends with Christ? (I wrote last week about Jesus’ invitation to us to be his friends.)

First and foremost, if our human friendships mirror the intimacy between the three persons of the Trinity, as well as reflecting the friendship between Jesus and humans, then we aren’t inventing friendship. Instead we are entering into something that is already happening and something that was patterned into us at creation because of the fact that we are made in God’s image.

Yes, the world is broken. Yes, the image of God in...

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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