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
Tisdell on Whiteness
This is a section from Exploring Spirituality in Adult and Higher Education. Tisdell addresses the fact that white people in the United States are generally blind to culture, like a fish is unaware of water. A path to spiritual transformation is to wrestle with white...
Book | Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult and Higher Education by Elizabeth Tisdell
Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult and Higher Education by Elizabeth Tisdell My Notes... Assumptions about Spirituality: spirituality and religion are not the same, but for many people they are interrelated spirituality is an awareness and honoring of...
Read moreThe sin, the error, is not our hunger for knowledge, –and the way back to Paradise is not via intentional ignorance (despite some latter-day Christian claims). Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden because of the kind of knowledge they reached for–a knowledge that distrusted and excluded God. Their drive to know arose not from love but from curiosity and control, from the desire to possess powers belonging to God alone. They failed to honor the fact that God knew them first, knew them in their limits as well as their potentials. In their refusal to know as they were known, they reached for a kind of knowledge that always leads to death. (To Know as We Are Known, p. 25)
Quote from Parker Palmer
The sin, the error, is not our hunger for knowledge, --and the way back to Paradise is not via intentional ignorance (despite some latter-day Christian claims). Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden because of the kind of knowledge they reached for--a knowledge...
Book | Learning as Transformation by Jack Mezirow and Associates
Mezirow, Jack. Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress. 1st ed. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000. The Author - Jack Mezirow a pdf of learning as Transformation by Jack Mezirow my...
Article | FROM INDIVIDUAL TO CORPORATE PRAXIS: A SYSTEMIC RE-IMAGINING OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION by Barbara Fleischer
From Individual to Corporate Praxis my annotated copy ABSTRACT - While praxis-oriented educational methodologies have become nearly normative in adult Christian religious education, an individualist framework still colors many of the approaches involved....
Article | Critical Interiority by Mary Frohlich
Critical Interiority by Mary Frohlich my annotated copy The discipline of studying spirituality deals with: What we know How we know How we deal with "unknowing" Definition of Christian Spirituality: The living and concrete human person in dynamic transformation...
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
