“A good rule of life can actually set us free to be our true and best selves.” In a world of distraction and speed, how do we arrange our lives so that we are experiencing deep joy, peace, and contentment in our life in God, as Willard said? John Mark talks about the ancient practice of creating a “rule of life” and offers seven tips for creating your own rule of life. Key Scripture Passage: John 15v1-8 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/unhurry...
Dec 02, 2022•54 min
“Most people are just too busy to live an emotionally healthy and spiritually rich life.” We live in an age of chronic distraction and business. John Mark talks about hurry as the great enemy of our spiritual life. He proposes that the solution to “hurry sickness” is not more time, but rather become people of love through being intentional with our own “rule of life.” Key Scripture Passage: Luke 10v25-37 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/unhurry...
Nov 25, 2022•45 min
“ When we honor people, we get access to whatever people carry, if it's friendship, relationship, conversation, wisdom, prophetic ability, healing, discernment, wealth, resources, opportunities, whatever it is. When we dishonor people, we cut off ourselves from whatever it is they have to offer.” John Mark talks about the importance of honor in in a culture of dishonor and contempt, highlighting the difference that living with honor can have on our relationships and others’ lives. Key Scripture ...
Nov 18, 2022•59 min
Jesus intended his followers to become a family-like community. John Mark talks about how this idea of family was radical not only for first-century Jews, but also why it’s just as radical for us today. Through it, he offers advice on how to build relational skills to bless and love our communities well. Key Scripture Passage: Mark 3v31-35 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/community...
Nov 11, 2022•44 min
We are lonelier than ever. In the US, loneliness rates have doubled since 1980, with 35% of people saying that they are chronically lonely. Is there are practice from the life of Jesus to help us thrive in a culture that is more disconnected than ever? John Mark talks about Jesus’ practice and invitation into community, encouraging us to commit to community, despite the challenges, so we can embrace “life to the full.” Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 4v18-22; Matthew 8v18-22; Matthew 9v9-13; Mat...
Nov 04, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Can pain make us more loving? Continuing our discussion of stage theory, John Mark uses the story of Leah and Rachel in Genesis to show how our responses to the pain in our lives can either lead us closer to God and acceptance of our circumstances, or towards bitterness and pain. Key Scripture Passages: Gen 29v15-35; Gen 30v1-24; Gen 35v16-20 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/naming...
Oct 28, 2022•51 min
“Have you ever cried out to God in a time of distress, but felt nothing in return?” John Mark continues his discussion on the dark night of the soul, focusing on the two types of “dark nights” that are written about by St. John and St. Teresa in the 16th century. In it, he encourages us to continue to press into community and into God if we find ourselves in a dark night. Key Scripture Passage: Psalm 77 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/naming The Dark N...
Oct 21, 2022•53 min
Have you ever felt like there is a wall between you and heaven? John Mark explores the Dark Night of the Soul, talking about what it is, what it isn’t, and some ideas for how to move through this season well. Key Scripture Passage: Psalm 42 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/naming
Oct 14, 2022•49 min
“The farther we get down the path of the spiritual journey, the more our apprenticeship to Jesus feels less and less active, and more and more passive.” John Mark continues with our discussion on the stages of apprenticeship, this time talking about active and passive spirituality and its role in our formation. He shows us how to use practice (active) and surrender (passive) to be more formed into the likeness of Jesus in every season of our lives. Key Scripture Passages: John 21v18; Matthew 6v2...
Oct 07, 2022•51 min
As we continue to explore stage theory paradigms, John Mark turns to the paradigm of the two halves of life by drawing on Jesus’s post-resurrection conversation with Peter. John Mark breaks down the common challenges and struggles of each half of life and offers some helpful ideas on how to move through these stages well. Key Scripture Passages: John 21v18-25 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/naming Sacred Fire, Ronald Rolheiser The Second Mountain, David Brooks...
Sep 30, 2022•54 min
How do we get unstuck? This week, John Mark introduces the newest spiritual journey paradigm: the Critical Journey, and discusses how we can get unstuck at the various stages and challenge us to push through the “wall” in the various places in our lives. Key Scripture Passage(s): John 21v15-19 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/naming In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, Henri Nouwen...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 4 min
What is the meaning of life? According to Jesus, the meaning of life is love: becoming a person who loves God and loves others. Breaking down the story of the Road to Emmaus and our modern cultural moment, John Mark challenges us to embrace the good news of the resurrection and live as beacons of love and hope in our world. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 24v13-35 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/naming...
Sep 16, 2022•42 min
Do you feel stuck in your apprenticeship to Jesus? Drawing from the wisdom of followers of Jesus throughout church history, John Mark discusses how identifying landmarks on the journey of our apprenticeship to Jesus can help us get unstuck. This week, he talks about one ancient journey paradigm called The Three Ways to show how the purpose of our spiritual formation is becoming people of love and presence. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 9v57-62; 1 Corinthians 13v11; Hebrews 5v12-14 Recommended Res...
Sep 09, 2022•51 min
Did Jesus practice sabbath? John Mark talks about Jesus’s teachings and relationship to the sabbath by highlighting four common words associated with the word “shabbat”: stop, rest, delight, and worship. John Mark shows how these four words give us clues on how to find happiness, joy, and peace in this practice. Key Scripture Passages: Mark 2v23-28; Mark 3v1-6 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices /sabbath Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton...
Sep 02, 2022•53 min
“Sabbath is an act of resistance, a prophetic act over against the accomplishment and accumulation of our society.” In a culture that is addicted to the twin drugs of accomplishment and accumulation, sabbath is how we “fight” back against Egypt, Pharaoh, and his empire. John Mark continues his biblical theology on sabbath with an exploration of work and rest in the story of the Exodus. Key Scripture Passages: Exodus 20v8; Deuteronomy 5v12-15; Nehemiah 13v15-22 Resources for this practice: https:...
Aug 26, 2022•49 min
“If you go against the grain of the universe, you get splinters.” – HH Farmer Sabbath was built into the rhythm of creation and going against this rhythm has consequences. John Mark lays out a biblical theology of sabbath, showing that sabbath is instituted by God, blessed, holy, made for worship, a command and a gift, and a day to remember. Key Scripture Passages: Genesis 1v31-2:3; Exodus 16v9-30; Exodus 20v1-8 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practice /sabbath...
Aug 19, 2022•48 min
Are you tired? We are plagued by a cancerous restlessness of our condition and our culture, made worse by our digital technology. Through sabbath, the way of Jesus instead offers rest and peace. In this episode, John Mark teaches on the need for sabbath in our lives and its potential to radically change our walk with God. Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 11v28-30; Hebrews 4v1-11 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices /sabbath The Subversive Sabbath, AJ Swoboda...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 3 min
"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer We live in a culture that focuses on self-gratification, but Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. In this episode, John Mark talks about how denying the self and our disordered desires leads to our deepest joy, peace, and happiness. Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 16v21-27; Galatians 2v20; Galatians 5v24-25; Colossians 3v1-5 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/...
Aug 05, 2022•50 min
How do we resist being shaped by modern culture? The "world," as the New Testament writers called it, shapes how we think and live. John Mark discusses how we can discover how we being shaped by culture. By learning how to reconnect with God's definitions of good and evil in those ways, we find how to be "in the world but not of it." Key Scripture Passages: John 15v18-21; John 17v6-18; 1 John 2v15-17; Romans 1v20; 1 John 3v16; Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/pra...
Jul 29, 2022•50 min
You don't just reap what you sow: you become what you sow. Continuing his exploration of Galatians, John Mark teaches that our decisions to walk by the Spirit or by the flesh have a compounding effect that shapes our character and our destiny. He finishes by encouraging us to embrace the way of Jesus as practice walking by the spirit. Key Scripture Passages: Galatians 6v1-9; James 1v4 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/ fighting Satan and the Problem of E...
Jul 22, 2022•59 min
Doesn't freedom mean that I can do what I want? Not according to Jesus. John Mark contrasts our modern culture's definition of freedom with how Jesus and the other biblical authors thought about freedom. He then breaks down Galatians 5 and shows us how the practices of Jesus help us to walk by the Spirit towards true fulfillment in God and not be mastered by the flesh. Key Scripture Passages: Ephesians 2v1-5; Galatians 5v1-26 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/prac...
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 2 min
How do we identify the lies that we are believing about God and ourselves? John Mark talks on the destruction that deception and believing lies can cause in our lives with a teaching on the Fall. Then he shows us how to identify and overcome those lies: by living with spirit and truth and refining our desires with the practices of Jesus. Key Scripture Passages: John 8v44-45; Genesis 3v1-15; Luke 4v1-13; Ephesians 6v13; James 4v7-8; 1 Peter 5v8-9 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthe...
Jul 08, 2022•55 min
What is the truth? The modern, secular world laughs off the idea of the devil as a relic from the pre-scientific age. But for Jesus, there is an invisible but intelligent evil at work in the world, but his primary strategy isn’t what most of us expect. It’s lies. Fighting the devil is first and foremost about the war to believe truth over lies. Key Scripture Passages: John 8v31-47; John 18v36-38 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/ fighting Renovation of t...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min
The practice of communion has changed throughout church history. In part two of this teaching, John Mark continues to discuss the the many names for this practice and its use over the centuries. He leaves us with a challenge to press into community even when it's mundane and messy. Key Scripture Passages: 1 Corinthians 11v20-34 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating- drinking Come to the Table by John Mark Hicks...
Jun 24, 2022•38 min
What is communion, really? The practice of eating with God, or the Lord's Supper, shows up throughout the New Testament. In part one of this teaching, John Mark breaks down the many names for this practice and its use in the Scriptures and throughout church history to give us a better understanding of the essence of this practice. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 22v7-30; Acts 2v42; Acts 20v7; 1 Corinthians 11v20-34; Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating-...
Jun 17, 2022•32 min
In a culture that focuses on the negatives, how do we stand apart and live with joy? In part two of this teaching, John Mark talks about how to practice joy in our day-to-day lives and how the practice of eating and drinking together is one of the best ways to go about living a happy life. Key Scripture Passages: Philippians 4v4-9 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating-drinking...
Jun 10, 2022•33 min
Can Jesus show us how to be happy? In part one of this teaching, John Mark teaches about God's joyful nature and how that reality can give us wisdom to improve our everyday emotional health. Key Scripture Passages: Hebrews 1v9; Psalm 45v7; John 2v1-11; John 15v11; John 16v24; John 17v13 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating- drinking...
Jun 03, 2022•29 min
What does hospitality in the church have to do with architecture? John Mark explores the story of this practice in Church history: throughout the New Testament, we see followers of Jesus gathering in homes around a table and a meal. But as the church changed, so did their meeting place, which impacted the practice of eating and drinking in fellowship. John Mark encourages us to recapture this practice of breaking bread together and gives us practical ways to get started. Key Scripture Passages: ...
May 27, 2022•42 min
What if, when Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, he meant your actual neighbor? John Mark teaches on Jesus's command to love our neighbors as ourselves and the parable of the Good Samaritan. Then he explains the history of hospitality and finishes by walking through exercises to help us begin our journey with this practice. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 10v25-37 Resources for this practice: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/eating-drinking The Gospel Comes with a House Key, R...
May 20, 2022•55 min
How can we practically love others and reach the lost in a post-Christian culture? In this teaching, John Mark looks at Jesus's habit of eating and drinking with the societal outcasts of his culture through the Gospel of Luke. Then he explores the biblical commands to practice hospitality in the New Testament letters. Finally, John Mark gives practical and spiritual guidance for how we can apply this practice to love and build relationships with the lost. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 19v1-10; Lu...
May 13, 2022•57 min
