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ruminations, fulminations, and cogitations on the spiritual life

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spiritual maturity

Grown-Up Discipleship: Loving Enemies

John Wesley begins the concluding paragraph of his third discourse on the Sermon on the Mount in this way: “Behold Christianity in its native form; as delivered by its great Author!  This is the genuine religion of Jesus Christ.” When

Stephen Rankin November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 Christian Life, Doctrine/Theology, General, Ministry, Preaching/Teaching, Religion, The Church, United Methodism 1 Comment Read more

Those Pesky Passions

I recently published a book on spiritual maturity and I’m going try to develop the habit of blogging regularly about themes related to the book.  This post is one and it touches on a very personal struggle. I continue to

Stephen Rankin November 19, 2012November 19, 2012 Book Reviews, Christian Life, Religion 1 Comment Read more

Aiming at Maturity | Online with Me

Aiming at Maturity The Goal of Christian Life

I would love for you to join me in an online workshop I am doing with the book, Aiming at Maturity, which I wrote about a year ago. If you would like to engage with me and others in thinking

Stephen Rankin September 7, 2012September 6, 2012 Christian Life, Religion No Comments Read more

It Still Comes Down to the Kind of Person You Are

Riding home for a quick lunch yesterday, I heard part of an NPR broadcast, detailing David Hoffman’s book, The Dead Hand.  A correspondent for the Washington Post, Hoffman has chronicled Cold War relations between the then Soviet Union and the

Stephen Rankin August 10, 2010 Christian Life, Religion 2 Comments Read more

The Problem of Mixed Motives

I’ve been talking to people lately about a roadblock that I think I see in spiritual growth.  It looks like a two-step process: (1) “get” (understand) the principle and then (2) “apply” it, which means to incorporate it into our,

Stephen Rankin July 26, 2010 Christian Life, Preaching/Teaching, Religion 2 Comments Read more
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Meet Steve

I serve as Executive Director of the Spiritual Maturity Project, a ministry some of us have recently started.  For 25 years I worked in higher education as a professor and chaplain and before that as a pastor.  I love to help people grapple with big and basic questions to grow into real ,grown-up Christian discipleship.

I ruminate on all manner of theological, biblical, historical, and cultural topics. I believe followers of Jesus need to be more like members of Issachar’s tribe, able to read the times. Read more

 

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