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
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Spiritual Formation Posts
Thinking about Suburban Spirituality
I decided to read The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. It has occured to me that I have become bogged down in the epistemological concerns section of the dissertation and have not attended well to the actual core of my research, which is the topic of...
Read moreSandra Schneiders defines spirituality as the ‘experience of conscious involvement in the project of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives,’ which for Christians is the triune God revealed in Jesus, approached via the paschal mystery and the church community and lived through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Her understanding implies the radical capacity of the human spirit to engage God’s Spirit and the importance of Scripture to mediate the foundational revelation and to supply the basic symbol system into which each individual and communal Christian story is integrated ((Schneiders, Sandra. “The Study of Christian Spirituality: Contours and dynamics of a Discipline” Christian Spirituality Bulletin. 6(1). 1998. 1, 3-21.)) Christian spirituality begins as Jesus, steeped in the rich Jewish tradition of divine self-disclosure, interacts with those who respond to him; and that experience is converted into language and shared with others.
Great Definition of Christian Spirituality from Schneiders and Green
Sandra Schneiders defines spirituality as the 'experience of conscious involvement in the project of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives,' which for Christians is the triune God revealed in Jesus, approached via the...
Notes from the Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly 2014
Special thanks to Lord of Life in Ramsey for hosting the Assembly this year. Great job! These are the notes I took during some of the plenary sessions of the Assembly. I really valued the themes "Sent" and "Acts Now." It's just what we needed to hear.
Article | Near-Death Experiences and Spirituality by Greyson
Greyson, Bruce. "Near-Death Experiences and Spirituality." Zygon 41, no. 2 (2006): 393-414. NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND SPIRITUALITY by Greyson - flattened my annotated copy Annotation Summary for: NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND SPIRITUALITY by Greyson Page 1, Underline...
Parker Palmer on Transcendence
We must resist the popular tendency to think of transcendence as an upward and outward escape from the realities of self and world. instead, transcendence is a breaking-in, a breathing of the Spirit of love into the heart of our existence, a literal in-spiration that...
The Geese are Back | An Easter Meditation on Life in the Suburbs
The weather cooperated nicely with Easter yesterday. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The sun was bright, and warm, and unhindered by clouds. The air was dry and warm. Sounds of life buzzed through the still naked, but hopeful trees. Shoots of green...
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
