SOUL CrossTraining

Spiritual Practices go beyond the work of God in our own lives. Our faith requires us to follow and live our beliefs. We participate in God's work as we live in a way that is representative of God's heart and his desire for our world. Think of it this way, expressive spiritual practices are activities or ways we express our faith, hope and love in our world. Essence of the Practice Here is a list of what might be included in the Expressive Spiritual Practices : Compassion -- feeling what others feel, extending mercy and help in extravagantly practical ways. Control of the Tongue -- turning the destructive way of words into authentic, loving, and healing words. Humility -- becoming like Jesus in his willingness to choose the hidden way of love rather than the way of power. Truth Telling -- living an authentically truthful life by speaking in a way that does not exaggerate, minimize, deny, rationalize or manage the truth. Justice -- loving others by seeking their go

Consider carefully what you hear. Mark 4:24 I want to be a lifelong learner. I want to be open to God's promptings and the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life. I want to listen, hear and respond. -- well, most of the time. Let me explain. Just yesterday one of my friends and team members in ministry left a message with regard to a meeting our team had early that day. I usually love hearing from this friend and co-laborer. The message began with words of encouragement and praise for our time together. The message continued with a word of caution and guidance. In a direct and loving way she told me to trust our team to complete the task at hand and that I needed to really listen to the team's comments and opinions. I listened to the message rather quickly. To be totally honest -- I "skimmed" over her words hoping to capture the key points and move on. I was half listening. Oops! I was doing it again. Then when I paused and considered her words, I realized she was