April 25, 2024

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Search Results for: puritan meditation

Spiritual Formation, Self-Feeding, Spiritual Disciplines

Puritan Meditation: The Centerpiece of Spiritual Formation

In our pre-field training and on-field coaching of missionaries, we emphasize the critical importance of feeding yourself spiritually, or in other words, taking the initiative to regularly nurture your soul in a context where the busyness of ministry and stress of cross-cultural living can make it difficult to keep our hearts and minds set on things above (Col 3:1-2).   Feedback from our missionaries in training suggests that this emphasis is greatly appreciated and desperately needed.    One of those ways that we can feed ourselves spiritually is by learning the spiritual discipline of meditation.   In this area, we have few better teachers than the Puritans.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditation on the Person of Christ
Christ, Doctrinal Statement

Meditation on the Person of Christ

As we continue in our meditations on the SEND Doctrinal Statement we come to the third section: “We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, the world’s only Savior; in His pre-incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial, and bodily resurrection, and in His personal, visible return to earth;” I am dividing this into two posts; this one focusing on the person of Christ and a second post on the work of Christ. The person of Christ is described in our statement as God the Son, the world’s only savior, pre-existent before the incarnation, and virgin born.… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Meditations on SEND International’s Statement of Faith #1
Missiology, Doctrinal Statement

Meditations on SEND International’s Statement of Faith #1

I have been convicted recently about neglecting our statement of faith. No, I have not changed my belief in it but I just don’t think about it that much. I tend to sign it when required but then file it away and go about my business. So, in the coming months my blog posts will focus on the eight statements of SEND International’s Statement of Faith. The Opening line in our statement reads, “Based on our understanding of Scripture, the members of SEND International hold to the following Statement of Faith.” This is the statement that we hold, but the question that comes to my mind is, ‘Does it hold us?’ I will use a little help from my Puritan friends as I reflect on each statement. Puritan meditation (see my blog post on 4/30/15) engaged the mind, the heart, and action. So, we will ask: 1. How does this… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Spiritual Formation, Training

What Melody Are You Making in Your Heart?

Experiencing God’s presence is essential for the Christian Life. This is especially true for cross-cultural workers. In a previous post I wrote about Puritan Meditation and would like to add to that the importance of music in our meditation. Recently I was reading Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (ESV) I also looked at the parallel passage in Ephesians 5:18 & 19 “…but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” (ESV) Now these verses are very rich but I want to focus on the place of music in being filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ dwell in us (which, by… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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