Otts On Mission
Reflections on ministry, mission, and the Church
Category: Uncategorized
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To Guard Your Heart – Think About Your Thoughts
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 The Importance of Heart The “heart” within the western worldview most often refers to emotions and affections. The “heart” in Scripture and throughout the history of the Church however, referred to something much more. Throughout Church history the heart refers…
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Don’t Give Up.
“By standing firm, you will save yourself.” – Evagrius of Ponticus The hours pass slowly and painfully. The day as though it were 50 hours long. All the while a deep longing persists, crying out for something to make you feel alive. The thoughts arise, “I wish I was somewhere else, doing something else.” “My…
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Gluttony and The Spiritual Warfare of Our Minds
The Starting Point For Spiritual Warfare Throughout history the spiritual fathers and mothers wrote extensively on the topic of spiritual warfare and the battleground of the mind. It is the plane on which the spiritual battle takes place. The enemy dispatches a variety of carefully crafted and pointed attacks on our mind, attempting to change…
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Resting in Goodness
As I was praying today I was reminded of something I heard Dallas Willard say a while back: “none of the fruit of the Spirit are a feeling, they are a condition.” Over the past few years the consistent and pervasive lack of peace in the world around us has been on full display. Peace,…
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Help In Suffering.
“Our world cries out for a theology of spiritual growth that has proven to work in the midst of the harsh realities of daily life.” – Richard Foster. “Help,” so the cries pour forth. A need, a desire; something is wrong. To some, help is for the weak. For others, help means there’s suffering. Who…
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On Waiting and Sorrow
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him – Psalm 37:7 Psalm 37 has been a Psalm our family has returned to repeatedly in the midst of a season of extended waiting and uncertainty. When loss is experienced and the disorienting nature of the in-between swirls around you, the invitation to wait can…
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Get Up and Eat…
“Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you…” 1 Kings 19 The awakening of God is quite a simple and gentle thing. It is not a violent shaking nor an order barked out by an officer. No, it seems a gentle touch, a word of invitation spoken with such kindness and…
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The rustle of grief.
Leaves like ashes set the place of remembrance circling the losses whose headstones cast shadows on hopes and dreams of a summer turned winter. Autumn came early and left just as fast. The now fleeting light casts a chill while still supporting the little life that remains. Shadows and rustling illuminate a beauty that can…
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2020
Hope marks a new year; the possibilities endless for what lies ahead. Little by little the hopes started to fall. I thought it’d be better. I thought it’d be bigger. I’d hoped there’d be something, but there was nothing at all. I’d rather have nothing, than some kind of something that doesn’t quite fit…
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Wait.
Darkness descends quickly, stealing breath. An eery stillness surrounds. I have to get out of here. Don’t move. I can’t stay. Wait. Left seems as right, right as left. Is not a step forward actually a step backwards? Feet are on the ground, despite not seeing the ground on which they stand. Breathe, still your…