Resources
Transforming the Present
Transforming
the Present
What is the problem?
People in general are severely damaging themselves, and those around them, by destructive behaviors over which they have little to no control: anger, immorality, addictions, lying, cheating, stealing, and more. Sadly, statistics show little difference in conditions among those who identify as Christians.
People in general are severely damaging themselves, and those around them, by destructive behaviors over which they have little to no control: anger, immorality, addictions, lying, cheating, stealing, and more. Sadly, statistics show little difference in conditions among those who identify as Christians.
What is the solution?
The solution is Jesus of Nazareth—his life, teaching and power. But, sadly, relatively few seem to be able to effectively access his message. He has been dismissed as being irrelevant. The solution is a fresh hearing for Jesus
Where does Quellen fit in?
We are here to share the unchanging “good news” about Jesus, and his transforming power for individuals and groups.
Books
Audio
Teachings
Books
Maturing toward Wholeness in the Inner Life
By George Miley
A Garland for Ashes
Meine Krone in der Asche
Der Holocaust, die Kraft der Verge bung und der lange Weg zur persönlichen Heilung
By Hanna Zack Miley
Maturing toward Wholeness in the Inner Life
By George Miley
A Garland for Ashes
Meine Krone in der Asche
Der Holocaust, die Kraft der Verge bung und der lange Weg zur persönlichen Heilung
By Hanna Zack Miley
Audio
Wholeness in the inner life is Christlikeness in the inner life. It develops as we learn to allow Jesus to teach us how to live.
Humility is neither mysterious nor unattainable. As I mature toward Christlikeness, it increasingly characterizes the person I am becoming.
Jesus began his public ministry by announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand—accessible like never before. How to enter and live there is the theme integrating all his teaching. God’s kingdom is unseen. This should not surprise us. God is unseen. He created the material world but he is not part of it. God is Spirit. Though God’s kingdom is unseen, activity there produces tangible results. Jesus said to meet material needs, rely on the kingdom!
I have been created to be like God, and to live continually in his Presence. These two reinforce each other. The more time I spend in God’s Presence the more I become like him. The more I become like him the more I desire to be in his Presence. Why then does entering God’s Presence and staying there seem so hard, so unnatural?
What is faith? Mental assent? Yes, but more than that. It is belief that leads to relying on what is believed. We choose to rely on God apart from what our five senses seem to be telling us. God is Spirit. His kingdom is Unseen Reality. To enter and live there we walk by faith, not by sight.
It is tragic when God is only a concept, a theological proposition, a part of my upbringing, and I do not experience living in his Presence. When practices for inviting God into my inner life are not being followed, the dysfunctions that have negatively shaped me remain unaddressed.
In solitude I withdraw, for a time, from social contact, physical movement, and sounds (except perhaps from the gentle sounds of nature). I offer my time and myself to God as a gift of love. Waiting in quietness and stillness, my soul comes to rest. It then reaches new clarity.
As I enter more deeply into rest, I become more aware of the condition of my soul. Practice expands my ability to go deeper into silence.
What is prayer? It is interacting with God. I talk to him; I also listen for what he is saying to me. Prayer is two-way communication. It is interactively living in God’s Presence.
How can we pray throughout the day while carrying out the tasks of life? We need ways—established practices—for repeatedly returning our thoughts to God.
The choices of my heart direct the re-making of my person. This is very different from “will-power.” Allowing Jesus to teach me how life works, I learn to choose not to rely on will-power but on him. As he teaches me how to live in God’s Presence, my inner life is transformed.
A soul not centered in God becomes fragmented. It can’t find its way home. One’s inner being trends toward chaos and harmful behavior. A soul centered in God comes to rest. It has returned home. One’s inner being, in spite of what is going on around, finds order and peace.
The first step in reforming my mind is intention—an orientation of the heart or will. I choose to intend to learn from Jesus how to access the new life he offers. My first step is to choose where I will place my thoughts. Jesus teaches me to live with my thoughts centered in God.
Our culture assumes that if an emotion exists it is valid. If I feel it, I have every right to express it. This may feel good at first, but it invariably leads to painful and disruptive life experiences. Jesus heals wounded emotions that block our maturing, replacing them with beautiful emotions God created us to have. This happens as we allow him to teach us how life works–as his disciples.
God created the human body good. But living in a rebellious, darkened world I have learned behaviors that are unlike God and thus damaging to me and others. Many are stored in my body as subconscious habits, negatively affecting my heart, soul, mind and relationships without me realizing it. I must now learn to access God’s provision of grace to unlearn (put to death) destructive habits and replace them with behaviors I learn from Jesus.
My need to be loved is so great that, initially, my capacity to love others is quite limited. Where did this neediness come from? I turned away from the all-competent Lover. God never stopped loving me; I stopped loving him. My need to be loved can only be met as I learn to live increasingly in God’s Presence. Being with him, I experience his love. His love heals me. It begins to form a reservoir of love within me that I can pass on to my neighbor.
God created us male or female. He intended a man and woman to forge a “one-of-a-kind” intimacy of mutual and permanent commitment, caring, kindness, respect. God designed us with ability to express this unique intimacy physically. Sexual intimacy, in harmony with God’s intention for me, is beautiful and fulfilling. Sexual acts that violate God’s intention deeply violate and wound. What I do with my body affects my soul.
Learning to honor my father and mother is crucial to my personal development. My heavenly Father chose my parents, and I must be able to trust that He has done well by me in all things. Honoring my parents does not mean denying their imperfections. There are no perfect parents; there are no perfect children. I learn to honor my parents in spite of imperfections—theirs and mine. Jesus teaches me how.
Foundational in Jesus’ teaching: to access the new life he offers, I must first allow God to put my old self-life to death. The cross must precede the resurrection. Grasping on to my own damaged life only leads me deeper into despair. Laying it down in order to receive a new, Christ-life leads to pure joy.
The heart is the core … the seat … the essence of our humanity. The heart is the source of our choices. We have the power, the freedom, to choose. God has given this to us. He will not interfere with our choices.
God is a community of persons who are in relationship with each other. We are created like him. Without relationships a core aspect of our being is missing.
As Jesus’ disciple, I let him teach me how human life works. I am with Jesus, to learn from Jesus, how to be like Jesus. The results in me over time: insight, healing, maturity, fulfillment, love.
Outward circumstances or events cannot produce abiding joy. Joy is a quality of the inner life. It grows within as we learn to live in God’s Presence. Love, joy and peace are experienced together. “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
Jesus came bringing new information, information critical to human life, information no one else had brought. The new information was about the Kingdom of God. How does one enter? How does one live there?
The process of accessing Christ’s provision is a rhythm resulting in theformation of the person in Christlikeness.
The Presence of God is what every human being is seeking for, longing for, although most of us don’t know it.
We will not be able to receive the love of others until we are established in looking to God alone to meet our needs.
Knowing Christ, Righteousness, Faith, Discipleship… We want to understand these truths and how they relate to each other.
Baptism provides the foundation for the rest of our Christian life. The victorious Christian life is living in our baptism.
When we focus on changing behavior directly (by will-power) we are focusing on the effects of the problem rather than on the root cause. Inner life is radically transformed by learning how to live in the Presence of Jesus. We learn this in discipleship with him. Behavior alteration follows.
Have you ever met him? Would you like to?
Jesus came to earth bringing new information about how human life works. It surpassed anything his hearers had heard. As people oriented their lives around his teaching, it transformed them, and catalyzed a movement of love, joy and meaning that permeated the Roman Empire even as the political power tried brutally to stamp it out. We miss Jesus if we limit what he taught to religion. His teaching was uniquely liberating for all of life. It still is.
Teachings
