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Dear Friend,

Today we celebrate fourteen years as the Christian Meditation Center.

So much has happened since the day the Lord called this ministry into being. What began with a handful of faithful volunteers, a dedicated Board of Directors, and very little financial support has grown into a vibrant spiritual community serving thousands.

From the beginning, our mission has been clear:

To teach Christian meditation and help people rest in God’s presence.

And we went wherever the Lord opened doors — hospitals, colleges, schools, community groups, homes, churches, health fairs, and workplaces. Wherever people were seeking peace, we brought the invitation to encounter God within.

Over the years, we have trained thousands of individuals to quiet their hearts and deepen their relationship with Christ. We have witnessed the fruit of this ministry in testimonies of healing, renewal, reconciliation, and spiritual growth.

None of this would have been possible without the faithful service of our teachers, volunteers, Board members, and prayer partners who have given generously of their time, talent, and support. We are deeply grateful.

The Origin Story

In the year 2000, I began practicing Christian meditation. Even then, I sensed that God would one day use this practice in a greater way. For twelve years, I waited for Him to show me what that would look like.

One afternoon, a friend texted me asking how to practice Christian meditation. At the time, text messages were limited to 160 characters. I remember thinking the instructions might be too long to send — but I sent them anyway.

Shortly after that exchange, I sensed the Lord placing something clearly on my heart:
Start a nonprofit organization to teach Christian meditation.

I also had the strong impression that it was to be called the Christian Meditation Center.

I was excited — and honestly surprised. My career background includes working in nonprofit organizations and serving in high-level roles in several for-profit businesses, including helping launch new ventures. Yet it had never occurred to me that forming a nonprofit ministry would be the vehicle God would use to share this practice.

Looking back, I often reflect that I am thankful the idea did not originate with me. It gave me confidence that this calling truly came from Him.

On February 22, 2012, the Christian Meditation Center was officially formed.

I invited other Christ-minded brothers and sisters to join in sharing the transformational power of resting in God’s presence with anyone who desired a more intimate relationship with Him.

Our mission remains the same today.

Our vision is to see families, friends, and neighbors integrate meditation into their daily lives, fostering a deeper relationship with God. We long to see church congregations once again embrace meditation as an integral part of their Christian faith.

How We Have Grown
Today, the Christian Meditation Center offers:

• Bible studies
• Book clubs
• Retreats
• Christian Meditation Training
• Ongoing Christian Meditation sessions
• Christian counseling
• Spiritual direction
• Circle of Peace Prayer Community
• Daily inspirational quotes
• Scripture postings on social media
• Resources for children

Most of our programs are offered free of charge.

Through our website, you will find a treasure of resources, including teaching videos, articles, recommended books, and links to other ministries with similar missions. We are committed to equipping individuals and families with tools that nurture a contemplative life in Christ.

Teresa Yerkes – Founder & Author

In addition to founding the Christian Meditation Center, I have written several books that support this mission of deepening one’s interior life with God:

• Come Closer: The Practice of Christian Meditation
• God Within You: The Case for Christian Meditation
• Making Love: The Spiritual Act of Love
• Divine Parallels: Exploring the Shared Lessons of Jesus in the Bible and A Course in Miracles (co-authored with Vicki Simek)
• Julianna and Madeline’s Journey to God’s Peace and Love: A Christian Meditation Adventure (children’s book)

Each book serves as an invitation to slow down, to listen, and to discover the presence of God dwelling within.

If you would like to explore these titles further or purchase a copy, you may visit my Amazon author page:

Connect With Us

If you have benefited from our ministry, we invite you to:

• Leave a Google Review
• Follow us on social media
• Share our resources with a friend

Here are your official links:

Website:
https://www.christianmeditationcenter.org

Give Page:
https://www.christianmeditationcenter.org/donate/

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMCNonprofit/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmctr/
• X (Twitter): https://x.com/ChristMedCenter

With Deep Gratitude

As we celebrate fourteen years, my heart is filled with gratitude for the faithful individuals who have helped carry this vision forward.

A special thank you to our Board of Directors:

• Sandy Zimmerman, Vice President
• Vicki Simek, Treasurer
• Jennifer Kurman, Secretary
• Monica Armstrong
• Nadine Mack

Your wisdom, stewardship, and steadfast support have strengthened this ministry in immeasurable ways.

I am also deeply grateful for our Christian Meditation Teachers who facilitate our Christian Meditation Sessions:

• Vicki Simek
• Monica Armstrong
• Nadine Mack
• Leah Chrest
• Leigh McCarthy

Your commitment to teaching, guiding, and walking with others into God’s presence is a blessing to this community.

To every person who has attended a session, joined a study, volunteered, prayed for this ministry, written a review, shared our posts, or supported us financially — thank you.

You are part of this story.

Together, we look forward to what the Lord will continue to do in the years ahead.

With gratitude and hope,
Teresa Yerkes
Founder, Christian Meditation Center

When Love Misleads and the Spirit Redeems

There was a season in my life when I was convinced I was moving in the right direction. My heart felt clear, my longings felt sincere, and I believed I had discerned God’s leading. The truth is, I was interpreting Scripture through the lens of my desires, not through the clarity of the Spirit. At the time, I did not know the difference.

I was married, yet I carried a deep, long-held love for my first love—let me call him John. It was the classic story of boy meets girl at a high school dance. The bond between us had been powerful, emotional, and formative. Because of that, I began to read Scripture in a way that supported what my heart already wanted. I told myself that because John was the first boy I gave myself to, he must have been “my husband” in God’s eyes. The longing I felt seemed holy to me. I convinced myself that pursuing him was right.

But the human heart is complex. Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things… who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). At the time, I did not realize how desperately I needed God to interpret my desires for me. I believed I was discerning God’s will, when in truth, I was wrapped in a bondage I could not name.

That yearning lasted for years. Eventually, I reached out to John. To my surprise, he felt similarly—but for different reasons. He cared for me deeply but did not believe we should break apart our families to pursue a relationship. Still, both of us allowed our emotions to lead us into a physical relationship. At the time, I thought it was justified. My motives felt right to me.

But motives rooted in longing—rather than the Spirit—can lead to great harm. I knew I could not stay married while my heart belonged to someone else. My husband deserved a wife whose love was whole, not divided. I made choices based on what I believed was “love,” but only later did I realize how easily eros can disguise itself as righteousness.

John and I eventually ended our relationship and went on with our lives. He stayed with his partner. I remarried a man named Bill—kind, steady, and faithful. Many years passed.

Then one day, John reached out again. He wanted to renew our relationship. The love I felt for him had never fully disappeared, but something had changed—the Spirit had refined it. The longing that had once consumed me had become calm, whole, and rightly ordered. I still cared for him, but the Holy Spirit had transformed that love into something honest and free. I could now choose what honored God, honored myself, and honored everyone involved.

I felt no inner battle, no ache, no confusion. The freedom I had prayed for—without knowing how to ask for it—had become real. This was redemption. Not the redemption of a relationship, but the redemption of my own heart.

If you want to read more about this journey and the lessons the Holy Spirit taught me along the way, I share the full story in my book, Making Love: The Spiritual Act of Love.

What I learned is this:

All love originates in God. Love itself is not sinful.
But how we respond to it can lead us toward God or away from Him.

Eros love—the passionate, consuming kind—can be beautiful, but also blinding. It can shape our discernment if we are not careful. Yet the Spirit is gentle and strong. He can tame eros within us so that it becomes honoring, respectful, and rightly ordered. He can purify our motives, uncover hidden truth, and reveal where our desires have taken precedence over His wisdom.

Today, whenever I sense affection or connection in any new relationship, I pause and ask myself:

“Does this love honor God?
Does it honor me?
Does it honor the other person?”

This question has become a compass for me, a way of discerning whether my heart is being guided by the Spirit or by my natural inclinations.

My story is a testimony to this simple truth:

We cannot always trust our motives, but we can trust the Spirit who reveals truth, heals wounds, refines love, and leads us into the freedom we never imagined possible.

Written by Teresa Yerkes, founder of the Christian Meditation Center and author of five books on Christian meditation and spiritual formation. Teresa has practiced Christian meditation for 26 years and has been a Christian for over 40 years. Her teaching flows from lived experience, deep faith, and a desire to help others rest in God’s loving presence.

I didn’t know what rich benefits prayer would bring until I started praying.

I didn’t know what promises lay before me in the Word of God until I started reading it.

I didn’t know the deep relationship I could have with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit until I spent time with Them in meditation.

I didn’t know I needed a church community to encourage me in my spiritual journey until I started attending church regularly.

I didn’t know I could trust God for my finances and my time until I learned how to share them with others cheerfully.

I didn’t know how to truly love until I asked the Spirit of God to purify my heart.

I didn’t know I could live a life without compromising my values until I believed it was my destiny.

I didn’t know how much God loved me until I opened my heart to receive it.

I didn’t know if God would use me for His Kingdom until I accepted His offer to serve others.

I didn’t know He wanted to use my life as His until I yielded to His Spirit.

Faith transformed every part of my life, one surrender at a time.

Faith is the bridge to ultimate freedom and the catalyst to unbind our imprisoned souls. We get to choose how much bondage or serenity we want to live in.
This offer is available to everyone, at any time, and everywhere.

I didn’t know, but now I know nothing is wasted in God’s hands.
If He did it for me, He will do it for you.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” -Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Written by Teresa Yerkes,

Founder of the Christian Meditation Center

ChristianMeditationCenter.org

tyerkes@chrisitanmeditationcenter.org

Christian Meditation by Juanita Overbay

What seems to be the problem with meditation? Some claim it is because they do not see how “emptying your mind” can help anything and while this phrase is partially true, it is not the whole of Christian meditation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present the meaning and history of Christian meditation. Then present a discussion of the Scriptural basis for meditation, and the benefits of its practice, followed by its practical use.

Restoring Hope – Brain Science

So They Call It Puppy Love

by Teresa Yerkes

There is a reason they call it puppy love. You are so enamored with the newness of the relationship; you fail to consider there may be an unpleasant side. And so, it goes with the relationship with your puppy. I am telling my puppy story because it provided a beautiful lesson in love and patience.

My husband, Bill, and I have a female Labrador Retriever named Lucy. We had planned a litter of puppies for friends who wanted them. We toyed with the idea of keeping a puppy for ourselves but decided we were just too busy to have two dogs. So, we found homes for all of them before Lucy went into labor. She had eight beautiful puppies; all of them were yellow or cream in color.

When it came time for the puppies to go home to their forever homes, one of the parents changed his mind. So, we had to decide to call someone on our list to see if they still had an interest in one or to keep the puppy for ourselves. Peaches, who had already been named by her parent, was your typical puppy. She was adorable, playful, and needed a lot of attention. Even though we knew that it would be difficult for us to raise her, we decided to keep her anyway.

Peaches was the fourth dog we raised; the third that started out as a puppy. So, this wasn’t our first rodeo. We understood there would be interrupted sleep, potty training accidents, chewing issues, etc. But what we couldn’t foresee is this was no ordinary puppy, and this wasn’t going to be an ordinary experience.

This adorable cutie pie had a self-determined mindset, meaning she did whatever she wanted even when she had been trained and corrected to do what’s right. This is just a shortlist of challenges we experienced with her. She chewed our baseboards, a wall, glasses, cell phone, three computer mice, the couch, carpet, and bedding. And yes, she also chewed the many toys we bought for her. While being supervised, she would run to the neighbor’s houses and took things they left outside.

When she was not up to her shenanigans, she was a great dog. She was affectionate and happy. I loved her and the two of us bonded well. But the amount of damage she was doing was weighing me down. At least three different times, I had decided I just couldn’t take it anymore. But I relented, thinking she will get better with time. She was nearly one year old, and she chewed the frames of my prescription glasses. Thankfully, she didn’t swallow the lens. This was the last straw on an already crazy behavior week with her, we really needed to find her a new home. I just had had enough and didn’t want the extra work and expense anymore. I was frustrated, upset, and exhausted emotionally.

As fate would have it, the original parent stopped by the next day. He would come by and checked on her periodically. I asked him if he was ready to adopt Peaches and he said he would think about it. I thought for sure he would say yes. And in my mind, that would make the whole thing right. Peaches would go to the original parent, and we would go back to having just one dog.

Well, his answer was no. So once again, I had to decide to keep her or find her another home. It had been a long, difficult journey with her. My heart was torn. I really loved her and enjoyed the dynamic she brought to the family, but oftentimes she was such a troublemaker. I prayed for the right answer.

What I started to realize was she was a test for me. A test to see if I could rise above my own needs and to love her through her growing pains. After a lot of soul searching, I relented for the last time. What is interesting, it seems like the next day she began to listen better, and she didn’t chew on anything that was not hers. I know better than to think it was just a coincidence. I believe the timing was in God’s hands all along.

She now has her forever home. There was no going back. She is now a permanent part of our family. We are finally at peace with our two-dog family.

The Cycle of Love

The seed of love planted and secure.

The relationship blossoms and grows.

Dis-ease infiltrates.

Flowers cease to bloom.

But wait! Love provides a remedy.

Forgiveness heals the heart.

Producing a stronger more vibrant love.

And so, the cycle goes on,

To honor the precious Seed.

And when life is over,

Love remains as a bright and enduring Light.

-Teresa Yerkes

Teresa wrote this after she had a vision.  I saw a large seed that was luminated and from the seed a plant was growing.  The plant could only grow so tall because there was a dark covering over the plant.  Then the dark covering opened up from the center and a bright light shot through the opening allowing the plant to continue to grow.

Picture by Jeremy Bishop

Five Step Prayer Exercise

A five-step prayer exercise for my prayer or praise chorus. Steps performed while standing, and when comfortable with movements, with eyes shut.

1. Uplift both arms and hands, with palms forward, in worship and praise to the Lord.
2. Bring outstretched arms and hands to waist level, with palms up, to receive from God.
3. Fold arms inward, bringing cupped hands together over your heart, to take God’s gift within oneself.
4. Outstretched arms at waist level, with hands apart and palms up, to share God’s gift with others.
5. Fold arms inward again, with hands folded in prayer, against your chest, in appreciation for God’s gift to self and others!
6. Repeat sequence as often as desired.

Submitted by George F. Allen. Taught by Jane E Vennard, author of Be still, Designing and Leading Contemplative Retreats, when speaking at Earlham College in Indiana in 2007.