Spirituality & Discipleship
This page is my storehouse for both my research about spirituality and discipleship AND the resources I’ve created to help leaders and seekers to grow spiritually.
Missional Spiritual Formation leaders are called to cultivate growing disciples of Jesus who are equipped to discern God’s action in the world and empowered to participate in it.
CLICK HERE for a curated list of other spiritual formation sites that I recommend
My Courses Available on Faith + Lead Academy
Spiritual Formation Posts
Experimenting with Creating a Membership Gathering on my Blog | Are you Interested?
I've been playing around with an idea lately. I have always given my content away freely from this site. There are tons of Bible Study material here. The problem is that I have no idea who is using it, why they're using it, or if it is actually being used at all. The...
One Week Left, Then it’s Crank Up the Teaching Machine!
OK, that title is a little weird, I know. I am excited to get back to preaching and teaching at Grace. I will spend one more week on the dissertation and then it's time to preach, and get prepared to teach catechism, teach adult classes, and create some new online...
The Virtual Body of Christ | A Missional Imagination for Community
I was sorting through some old notes this morning and I came across my visual notes from the CML Conference on the Missional Church and Digital Media. The presentations by Mary Hess and Elizabeth Drescher align so well with Deana Thompson And John Roberto's...
How Dallas Willard’s VIM connects with Schneiders’ Definition of Spirituality
I wrote the following passage today while working on the Spiritual Formation Frame of my dissertation. It kind of wrote itself as I was working. What I mean is that I had no intention of including Willard in this section. Then, when I looked more closely at...
VBS: The Movie
OK, one more distraction before I get back to my dissertation writing. My son, Ethan, edited all the footage from VBS this year into one continuous movie (he also played one of the leads). #hifivesforJesus. Yes, the awkward Bible School Leader Dan is yours truly. This...
Rethinking Faith Formation Visual Notes
The purpose of this conference--Rethinking Faith Formation, held at Luther Seminary--is to create a space where church leaders can gather for encouragement and be challenged to rethink how we cultivate faith formation practices in our local communities. Here are my...
Recommended Reading
Journeying in the Wilderness by Terri Elton
The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr
Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
Belonging by Karoline Lewis
The Corner of Fourth and Nondual by Cynthia Bourgeault
The Critical Journey by Janet O. Hagberg
Renew Your Life by Kai Nilsen
Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mullholland Jr.
Acts of Faith: Meditations For People of Color by Iyanla Vanzant
Earth Crammed with Heaven: A Spirituality of Everyday Life by Elizabeth Dreyer
Thirsty for God by Bradley Holt
Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices by Brian McLaren
We Make the Road by Walking by Brian McLaren
Cultivating Sent Communities edited by Dwight Zscheile
Power Surge by Michael Foss
I have two favorite metaphors to discuss spiritual formation.
The first is a journey. Jesus called to his first disciples, “Follow me!” and they traveled with him as he demonstrated what it looks like to live in fellowship with God.
The first disciples in John 1:38 asked Jesus, “Where do you dwell?”
Jesus replied, “Come and See,” so they followed him.
To be a disciple of Jesus is to move, to explore, to grow.
But what is the destination?
That leads me to my second favorite metaphor. The Vine and the Branches.
Jesus said in John 15:1-5, “I am the vine and you are the branches…remain/dwell in me and I will remain in you, and you will bear much fruit.”
The destination of this journey is not a physical time or place. The destination is the love of God.
God’s love is infinite, therefore we will never arrive. We simply keep growing.
We go and grow in two directions.
First, we grow deeper roots to be grounded in the love of God.
Second, we grow taller and wider branches to spread the fruit of God’s love wider.
Cultivating A Spiritual Formation Plan for the Local Congregation
The local church is the ideal place to grow spiritually. However, it is often difficult to do so. One of my ongoing projects is to experiment with how to cultivate spaces for people to grow spiritually. This article gives some basic outlines for how to think about this.
Check Out My Spiritual Formation Resources
Mindful Sketching
Learn how to connect your breath to your body and use the process of mark-making to become present with God.
Other Spiritual Formation Sites
Journeying in the Wilderness
