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chrisaltrock

Chris Altrock is an author, spiritual director and preacher, serving as the Senior Minister at the Stamford Church of Christ. He and his wife Kendra are parents to Jordan and Jacob.

Learning to Pray From Jesus #2

Philip Yancey is an award winning Christian author.  In a recent book he reflects on his own struggles with prayer: When I hear of people who spend an hour a day meditating, I wonder how they do it.  I strain to spend fifteen minutes, and anything longer tends to degenerate into distraction and lapses of concentration…After reading scores of books and interviewing scores of people about prayer, I would expect a more noticeable improvement in my own prayer life.  If I invested the same energy in, say, golf or learning a foreign language, I would likely see results.  Still I find that prayer involves an effort of will.  Sometimes it proves rewarding, sometimes not, at least not in ways I can detect at the time.[1] Read More »Learning to Pray From Jesus #2

Learning to Pray From Jesus #1

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” [ee’ly-ee’ly-lah’muh-suh-bahk’thuh-nee] (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”  48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”   50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.” (Matt. 27:45-50 TNIV)

In our text we find Jesus in the worst circumstances which life could bring a human upon earth.  They are the darkest circumstances possible.  Just look at this darkness.Read More »Learning to Pray From Jesus #1

Why Following Jesus Means Serving the Poor

A friend of mine had been involved with schools in various ways for many years.  But what he really wanted was to become an administrator.  Finally, he became the headmaster of a private school.  A few months later, we were talking about things.  His new job was as fulfilling as he’d hoped.  But it was also more demanding than he had imagined.  Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, because you just may get it. Read More »Why Following Jesus Means Serving the Poor

Psalms of Hate

As part of our congregation’s journey through the Bible in 2008, we’ve encountered what might be called a “Psalm of Hate.”  It’s Psalm 3: “Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”  It’s only the first of many.  They are called Imprecatory Psalms.  There are over twenty of them (depending upon the classification you use).  They include Ps. 69 and 137-two of the harshest.  What do we do with these?Read More »Psalms of Hate