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
Framing Discipleship in Clip Studio Paint on the iPad
What does it mean to frame a subject? Join me as we discuss different frameworks for discussing discipleship and watch as I begin to draw the frames of our conversation in Clip Studio Paint on the iPad.
Visualizing Discipleship: Exploring the Metaphor of Disciple-ship as Being an Apprentice of Jesus
In this session of Art Pastor Live I define the term discipleship and then play with the metaphor by drawing a disciple ship in procreate on my iPad. Enjoy!
Drawing the Why Jesus Images in Photoshop
In this episode of The Art Pastor Live you are invited to watch me create the images in Photoshop for the Why Jesus presentation. We geek out about the theology of discipleship and the process of creating digital paintings
Why Jesus? A Visual Guide to Why We Think God Showed Up in Human Form
Why do we make such a big deal about Jesus? Can’t we just talk about God, or be spiritual. What does a 1st century Jewish Rabbi have to do with life today?
Join Me on A Journey of Discipleship
We begin our journey in the Art of Discipleship on August 1. In this post I lay out some big opportunities for you to grow deeper in the love of God as a disciple of Jesus.
The Universe in Your Backyard
In this session of Art Pastor Live I interview photographer Ethan Thomason and am filled with awe and wonder as we view his gallery of photographs in which he captures the vast universe of the tiniest life forms that grow in our backyard. You don’t want to miss it.
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
