Notes
Audio Expansive vs. Restrictive - No. 52
Most of the language that we use and the way that we use it in modern culture is restrictive. We have a very hard time thinking and communicating in expansive ways.
Audio Egoic Narratives - No. 51
We ascribe meaning to everything, and it is all driven by our past experiences. What has happened in the past helps us interpret the present and try to predict the future. The problem is that most of the meaning we ascribe to things isn’t real or accurate.
Audio Egoic Treadmill - No. 50
One of my mentors, Larry Mills, says, “There's never enough of anything that almost works.”
Audio The Role of Ego - No. 49
It is impossible to overestimate the role that ego has played in shaping human history and the world. Think of all the wars and conflicts, from tribal feuds to world wars, so many of them have been sparked and fueled by human ego.
Audio Egoic Structures - No. 48
There are many things in our culture that are accepted as immovable “realities” that are actually just collectively accepted ideas. More than just being ideas, they are wrong or, at the very least, untrue. We take most of these completely for granted and never think twice about them.
Audio Radical Humility - No. 47
There are lots of people our culture would call humble who have not gone through an ego death. There is a level of social humility that has become the norm. When someone is successful but doesn’t brag a lot or draw too much attention to themselves, we call them humble.
Audio First Things and Second Things - No. 46
A concept that I have run into many times in surprisingly different works of wisdom is the idea that there are first things and second things. In its simplest form, it means that some things must happen first and are of greater importance than other things.
Audio Six Forgotten Truths - No. 45
Western Christian Culture has forgotten hard but essential truths that were once foundational to the Gospel. We teach on these topics sometimes and read about them in biblical commentary, but we have often culturally forgotten to practice them.
Audio The World’s Problems - No. 44
We love Justice because we were made for it. We empathize with others because God gave us a heart. Our love of Justice and our ability to empathize with other people drive us to want to be the solution to the problems in the world around us.
Audio Crush Ego - No. 43
Several months ago, my nine-year-old son told me, “we should make a hat that says crush ego on it, because that's what your book is about.” I was shocked. He’s nine years old, he hasn't even read the book, and yet he somehow got to the heart of the message.
Audio Questions Guide the Journey - No. 42
So much of the time, we overcomplicate our spiritual journey. We obsess over theology, or practices, or which faith community to invest our time in, what prayers to pray, or even which devotionals and books to read.
Audio Burning Hearts - No. 41
I have been thinking about one sentence a lot lately. I believe that it holds a key to understanding how we each should expect to feel in response to Jesus. I would like to share it with you and invite you to join me in pondering these powerful words.