The Dominant Characteristic Of An Authentic Spiritual

Sheer Scholarship Alone Cannot Reveal To Us The Gospel Of Grace. We Must Never Allow The Authority Of Books, Institutions, Or Leaders To Replace The Authority Of Knowing Jesus Christ Personally And Directly. When The Religious Views Of Others Interpose Between Us And The Primary Experience Of Jesus As The Christ, We Become Unconvicted And Unpersuasive Travel Agents Handing Out Brochures To Places We Have Never Visited.

While The Impostor Draws His Identity From Past Achievements And The Adulation Of Others, The True Self Claims Identity In Its Belovedness. We Encounter God In The Ordinariness Of Life: Not In The Search For Spiritual Highs And Extraordinary, Mystical Experiences But In Our Simple Presence In Life.

In A Futile Attempt To Erase Our Past, We Deprive The Community Of Our Healing Gift. If We Conceal Our Wounds Out Of Fear And Shame, Our Inner Darkness Can Neither Be Illuminated Nor Become A Light For Others.

The Deeper We Grow In The Spirit Of Jesus Christ, The Poorer We Become - The More We Realize That Everything In Life Is A Gift. The Tenor Of Our Lives Becomes One Of Humble And Joyful Thanksgiving. Awareness Of Our Poverty And Ineptitude Causes Us To Rejoice In The Gift Of Being Called Out Of Darkness Into Wondrous Light And Translated Into The Kingdom Of God's Beloved Son.

I You Think You've Done It, Then You're Wrong. Because You're Not Finished Until You Have Achieved Everything That You Never Thought You Could.