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
Resources for the Study of Evangelical Spirituality
http://www.evangelicalspirituality.org/sites/default/files/Resources%20for%20the%20Study%20of%20Evangelical%20Spirituality.pdfThis is posted by Evan B. Howard at evangelicalspirituality.org
Sketches of Spiritual Formation
Book | Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa
Boa, Kenneth. Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001. Author: Kenneth Boa Boa outlines twelve distinct types of Christian spiritualities. He describes them each as facets to the diamond that...
The Work of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Formation
My rereading of Dallas Willard's Renovation of the Heart sparked many questions for me. One of them has to do with the role of our individual will as it relates to the work of the Holy Spirit. In search of conversation partners, I first turned to Stanley Grenz's tome,...
Book | Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ by Dallas Willard I must confess my bias and internal struggle before I begin a review of this book. God used this book to move me from the mega-church experience to the house church experience in 2002. I...
Book | Spirituality and Theology: Christian Living and the Doctrine of God by Philip Sheldrake
Spirituality and Theology by Philip Sheldrake This book is a gold mine for my research. Sheldrake connects the contemporary study of Christian Spirituality directly to the Social Trinity. He also provides an excellent historical summary of why spirituality and...
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
