Doubt can be overwhelming, but God has given us a prayer book to pray our emotions back to Him. In the process, God turns our doubts to praise. 

At such a time where people are confined to their house, Taylor and Sam take a few minutes to Facetime people and check-in on them. It is like a good old-fashioned pastor's house call with a modern technological twist. 

One of the purposes of the practice of silence & solitude is to quiet the noise in order to hear the voice of God. What does it mean to hear God's voice? Many simplify this to mean simply reading scripture. Others expand it to include some mystical experience. Carson, Rich, Cam, and Taylor sit down to discuss the topic, attempt to strike a balance, and give practical ways to hear God's voice today. 

We thought it was really important for students to see how people implement the practice of silence and solitude in their everyday life, so we invited a few people from different backgrounds and in different life situations to share why and how they practice silence and solitude. We are super grateful for Erica, Elizabeth, and Cam sitting down to field some questions from Taylor. Hopefully the recording is bearable!

Of the many purposes of silence and solitude, identifying our feelings and then healthily expressing our emotions to God is one of the hidden gems. In a culture of anxiety where the coping mechanism is often emotional suppression, this is an important practice for our emotional, spiritual health. 

You can read the teaching transcript here. 

Carson, Rich, and Taylor sit down to discuss the practice of silence and solitude. This is the first part of a two-part discussion on silence and solitude.

Read Taylor's teaching on silence and solitude here. 

Richard Foster wrote, “Distraction is the primary spiritual problem in contemporary culture.” If we are going to practice the presence, we need to begin by destroying distraction. 

Read the teaching at the resource page. 

As we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he often prioritized 'practicing the presence' - communion with the Father, solitude, prayer, fasting, etc. AS followers of Jesus, we should imitate Jesus in this practice. We also look at Matthew 4:1-11 to identify some purposes for the practice. 

Read the teaching at the resource page. 

In this sermon, Taylor explores the Gospel of Matthew and how it presents what it means to follow Jesus. In short, followers of Jesus are filled with the life of Jesus to become more like Jesus and therefore imitate the life of Jesus.