Case Study: Rachel & Leah

June 16, 2019 • John Mark Comer

We end our spring practice on stage theory with a case study from the story of Rachel and Leah. At first glance, it’s just a story about patriarchy and sex and power dynamics in family, but upon closer inspection, we realize it’s actually story about the ideas from the last two months of teaching – first and second half of life, the wall, the dark night, and the tragedy of what happens when people don’t make the transition to maturity, as well as the invitation and hope for those who do.

The Dark Night of the Soul Pt. 2

June 9, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 9 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. In this follow up teaching on the dark night of the soul, we explore St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila’s paradigm of the “dark night of the senses” and the “dark night of the spirit,” and they fit into the ancient stage theory paradigm of the “three ways.” Whether you agree with their view or not, and regardless of whether you’re in a dark night, or a season of the felt-presence of God, the spiritual journey is always one from attachment and anxiety to freedom to love, and into a growing sense of union with God.

The Dark Night of the Soul

June 2, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 8 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. At some point in the spiritual journey, we come to what St. John of the Cross called “the dark night of the soul” – a season in which our experience of God feels more like absence than presence. God intentionally withdraws the felt-sense of his presence to do a work of purgation and preparation for a deeper intimacy. But few of us have a category of this, so we misdiagnosis the phenomena and often run aground in our journey. In part one of a two-part teaching on the dark night, we explore Jesus’ invitations to us in seasons of darkness and dryness.

Second Half of Life Spirituality

May 26, 2019 • Morris Dirks

Part 7 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. America is a first half of life culture. As a result, most of our spirituality focuses on the first half and very little is offered about how to navigate the shifts that occur during the second half of life. In this teaching with Morris Dirks we highlight the spiritual challenges as well as the opportunities as we climb the “second mountain.” It’s never to early to ask the question, “What kind of an old person do I want to be?” If we want to go the distance Jesus calls us to move from the “identity journey” to “wisdom journey”. Listen in to learn more about following Jesus in the second half of life.

Active & Passive Spirituality

May 19, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 6 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. In this teaching we introduce an ancient paradigm called “active and passive spirituality,” a key idea in spiritual formation that we’ve lost in the modern, Western church. We mature by a combination of practicing the way of Jesus (active spirituality) and accepting the invitations of Jesus in our pain. A key question we must ask daily is: What is Jesus trying to do in my life and how do I cooperate?

First Half / Second Half of Life

May 12, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 5 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. The most basic stage theory paradigm is the two halves of life, which even Jesus gives a nod to in a post-resurrection conversation with Peter. Many find this simple frame of the spiritual journey to be enormously helpful, especially if they are in the arduous middle passage from first to second. In this teaching, we explore the dangers and invitations for us as followers of Jesus in Portland, whether we find ourselves in the first half, the middle passage, or the second half of life.

The Critical Journey

May 5, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 4 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. We overview a stage theory paradigm called “The Critical Journey,” a six-stage journey to a life of love. We then talk about getting stuck, transitions, our culture’s conspiracy against the depth and maturity, and the wall.

Shema Reimagined

April 28, 2019 • AJ Sherrill

In every stage of our formation journey we must awaken to engage all dimensions of our being. This core truth—rooted in the sacred text from Deuteronomy 6v4—guided the ancient Israelites, and is just as imperative for us to apply to our formation today.

The End of the Journey is Love

April 21, 2019 • John Mark Comer

From Easter 2019 and Part 2 of the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship" as part of Practicing the Way. We summarize Bernard of Clairvaux’s stage theory paradigm of love and reiterate that the end goal of the spiritual journey is love. As Paul said, “Now remain these three: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” However, love cannot grow outside the soil of faith and hope, and our Western culture is hemorrhaging both faith (or meaning) and hope. What does the good news of Easter have to say to our cultural moment of meaninglessness and hopelessness?

The Three Ways

April 14, 2019 • John Mark Comer

Part 1 from the series, "Naming Your Stage of Apprenticeship", as part of Practicing the Way. If apprenticeship to Jesus is a journey, is there a map? Or at least some landmarks to navigate by? Have any older, wiser followers of Jesus left behind insights on how to stay on the path? Avoid detours and pitfalls? Continue to progress, and not plateau, or worse, regress? It turns out, the answer is a resounding yes. Since the very beginning of the church, teachers of the way of Jesus have made an attempt to map the spiritual journey. And while all journeys are different, it turns out, all journeys are similar too. In the first teaching in our series, we explore an ancient paradigm called “The Three Ways,” which charts a course from purgation through illumination to union.