Russellings of the Spirit

Latest Posts


  • catch up #1 – Celebrate Recovery

    I had the amazing privilege during the week of August 12 to 16 to be at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California attending the 10th Annual “Celebrate Recovery” Summit gathering. Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-focused 12 step recovery program started… Continue reading

  • how is it with your soul?

    “How is it with your soul today?” I love that question. It is the accountability question that typically led off most of the class meetings in John Wesley’s day. What gets me is just how much is actually involved in… Continue reading

  • Indescribable!

    What an amazing event the opening ceremonies of the Olympics were! It is completely impossible to put into words the sheer majesty, magic, and visual power of the spectacle of more than 15,000 costumed performers, dazzling fireworks, high tech video… Continue reading

  • grace on long’s

    I hope it is O.K. to backtrack a bit and add one more story from our Colorado vacation. I had forgotten all about it until I just saw the principal character at church yesterday. It is such a good story… Continue reading

  • Big can be good

    There are many times when the sheer size of the church I serve seems more like an impediment than an aid to ministry and community. The sheer mass of 12,000+ people claiming some level of association with the church can… Continue reading

  • Speaking forgiveness

    For a long time now I have been drawn repeatedly to the subject of forgiveness. Perhaps because I struggle with it so much myself… both on the extending and the receiving ends. As I feel the urge to lash back… Continue reading

  • Spiritual Summitting

    Exhausting. Exhilarating. Challenging. Worth every step of the process! While these are actually the words I would use to describe my climb to the top of the Twin Sisters peak here in Colorado yesterday (11,402 foot elevation), it seems to… Continue reading

  • The Wonder Within

    “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,    the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them,    mortals that you care for them? Yet you… Continue reading

  • Road Russellings

    Blogging from the road… I-70 somewhere in the eastern part of Colorado on the way to the YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park. I can’t honesty say that I don’t prefer looking down on this particular part of the… Continue reading

  • Gospelize?

    One of the sappy realities of my recent induction into the blogosphere will be my child-like fascination with the idea of blogging. Apologies to those to whom this stuff is totally passe. I noticed earlier today as I was cutting… Continue reading