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
How to Have a Quiet Time p. 2
What is a Quiet Time? Here's the simple explanation. Any relationship worth having -- friend, family, lover -- requires work. If you want the relationship to grow you need to invest time and energy into the process. These are things you typically do to get to...
How to Have a Quiet Time p. 1
I'm working on a lesson for our Own Your Faith weekend at High School Youth Group. Each month we highlight one of the Spiritual Disciplines. This month's topic is Spending Time with God. I just came up with this graphic and I kinda liked it... Here are the full...
The Butterfly Circus
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Okoboji
Last weekend we took 67 Junior High Students to Camp Okoboji for a Recharge event. It was amazing. On the way there our bus had a blowout. Exciting stuff!
Sex, Drugs, and Social Status
Sex, drugs, and social status. As a youth pastor, it's important to talk about these three topics. When I think about them, two words come to mind: Good and Fire. Good. Great even. Sex, drugs, and social status are really good things. Just like fire. Fire is a part of...
Weekend Review
The weekend's are full for me each week. Four worship services, High School Youth Group, and Bible A-Z. Worship Service. It was All Saints Day. Growing up in a Baptist, anti-liturgical culture, I had always thought that All Saints was a day that people worshipped the...
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
