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
Drawing Hope | A Livestream Contemplative Art Experience
A Special Invitation This Advent I will offer a livestream contemplative art experience on YouTube. Each Tuesday at 7:00pm CST I will spend an hour creating a unique piece of art based on the theme of that week. If you join me live you will be able to chat with me to...
What is the Purpose of Sabbath? | A Visual Meditation
Take a visual tour of the Sabbath Law. See how it changed from Exodus to Deuteronomy and how Jesus thought about it in the Gospels.
Overflow: An Introduction to Growing in Faith
This is a course I created for Faith+Lead Academy. It is built on my ongoing development of the Overflow Principle and how to grow in the love of God. If you sign up for my newsletter, I will be happy to give you the code for 25% off this course.
A Declaration of Interdependence | Reflections on Independence Day
Does the American Dream of independence reflect Jesus’ dream of the Kingdom of God? In this post we reflect on dependence, independence, and interdependence.
Kintsugi Communion
This post includes a Slide Deck I used during lunch church at Luther Seminary where we did some spiritual exercises by reflecting on the art of Kintsugi and the work of Makoto Fujimura.
What is Spirituality? | Visual Notes of Philip Sheldrake’s Book
Visual notes from Spirituality: A Brief History by Philip Sheldrake. “What is Spirituality”
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
