Growing Forward Blog

“Begin where you are…’When the student is ready, the guru apears.’  To a man who wants to know who he is, and is willing to

“In our hurt lies the source of our healing. The bird with the broken and mended wing soars the highest. Where you stumble and fall,

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (MSG): “The first thing he [a leader] must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation….to remain at his side at all

“Marriage and family may provide the best hospital for our ancient wounds…”  “The cry of life is ‘I deserve to be loved unconditionally.’ ” –Sam Keene

Deuteronomy 14:26 (MSG) [After you have given God your tithe/first place], “you and your family can then feast in the Presence of God, your God,

Deuteronomy 5:29 “What I wouldn’t give if they would always feel this way, continuing to revere Me and always keep all My commands; they’d have

Deuteronomy 4:29 “If you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find Him, if you’re serious, looking for Him with all your heart and

Deuteronomy 4:9 “…Stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant….” It’s

“Any single relationship that is expected to fulfill every need will become claustrophobic, cloying, and swampy.” –Sam Keene The answer to the question above is

Deuteronomy 1:29-33 “…to relieve your fears. Don’t be terrified…God, your God, is leading the way; He’s fighting for you. You saw what He did for

Numbers 33:55 “But if you don’t drive out the native population, everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a

Numbers 31:23 “….anything else that can survive fire–must be passed through the fire; then it will be ritually purified.” God must think we are valuable

“To get through the world alive we have to care until our hearts break, and cram our lives full of enjoyment….Only enjoyment and gratitude for

“To guard against self-righteousness, the spiritual warrior must practice the discipline of perpetual repentance. I must constantly remind myself that I am part of the

Numbers 23:23, “People will look and say….’What a great thing God has done!’” I want these words said as the end result of every trial

Numbers 22:32 “I have come here to block your way because you are getting ahead of yourself” Numbers 22:35 “Only say what I tell you

“The heroic male identity arises when we are outraged about some specific instance of evil and become warriors in defense of the sacred.” –Sam Keene

“Men require a revolution in identity in which we measure success by our capacity for compassion…and virility, by the capacity to nurture, husband, and mentor.”

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Smart men                                    Wise men Think abstractly                            Think autobiographically

“We only think well when we are in touch with all the passions of our life.”  “We need to get distance from the immediate problem

Numbers 20:6 “…and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the glory of God.” A prayer for today: “Father, when people or circumstances

“We need to acquire a heartful mind. This seems best done through the cultivated discipline of solitude, and the habit of recollection and auto-biographical thinking…going

“We are more apt to ask, ‘How can we do it?’ than ‘What’s worthwhile doing?’”  –Sam Keene Living life purposely (not necessarily pragmatically) is asking

“The individual spirit must be grounded in the impulse to yield–not my will but Thine.” –Sam Keene When I drift to “life is all about

“When there is a storm, it is safer in the open sea. If you stay too near the dock, you will get beaten to death.”