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
Current Reading Update
I finished reading Learning in Adulthood. I also reviewed Critical Social Theory for class discussion today. The really cool part is that Critical Social Theory was well summarized in Learning in Adulthood. I like it when things intersect like that!
Experimenting with Digital Media for Teaching
This video is not supposed to make sense in its content. It is a test to see if I could use iShowUHD to record a Prezi presentation while recording a voice over, as if I were giving the lecture right then. I also have Corel Painter up behind the Prezi window so that I...
A Reflection on the Trinity and the Me-We Principle
I woke up this morning with this image in my head. I'm working on the interface of the social Trinity and Spiritual Formation for my dissertation, so it isn't just a random idea. These concepts are slowly percolating and I'm sure there will be many revisions of the...
The Story of England and My Research
On the first full day of my vacation I decided to watch an episode of Michael Wood's The Story of England. The whole series centers around the story of one village right in the middle of the country. It is the story of the common people, not the rich rulers. The...
How Do We Fit Project
This summer I've been planning the study for the upcoming year in our high school ministry. Some things are starting to come together and I'm really excited about it. My plan is to blog about it as the journey unfurls. The Project is called How Do I Fit? It came...
Haiti, Spiritual Formation, and Global Responsibility
Our team that went to Haiti returned late Friday night (View their Tumblr account). We heard amazing reports all during the day yesterday. The biggest theme that I've detected from this group so far is that poverty is more complicated than they ever knew. They saw...
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
