Posted in spiritual formation on September 25, 2007 | No Comments »
When Paul said to the Galatians, “I am in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” he was speaking of Spiritual Formation. When he told the Romans, “Those whom God forknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son,” he was speaking of Spiritual Formation. When he reminded [...]
Posted in spiritual disciplines on September 12, 2007 | No Comments »
This is that has deceived Christians in this business; they have thought that meditation is nothing but the bare thinking on truths and the rolling of them in the understanding and memory…therefore this is the great task in hand, and this is the work I would set you on: to get these truths from your [...]
Posted in spiritual disciplines on September 6, 2007 | No Comments »
The Spiritual Disciplines are intended for our good. They are meant to bring the abundance of God into our lives. It is possible, however, to turn them into another set of soul-killing laws. Law-bound Disciplines breathe death.
Jesus teaches that we must go beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes (Matt. 5:20). Yet we [...]
Posted in spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation on September 6, 2007 | No Comments »
When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within is God’s work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from [...]
Posted in spiritual formation on September 6, 2007 | No Comments »
“Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”—Richard Foster
The Slavery of Ingrained Habits
We are accustomed to thinking of sin as individual acts of disobedience to God. [...]
Posted in Prayer, spiritual disciplines on September 2, 2007 | No Comments »
the most holy, common, and necessary practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God; that is, habitually to take pleasure in His divine company, speaking humbly and conversing with Him livingly at all seasons, at every minute, without rule our measure—above all, in the time of temptation, sorrows, dryness, distaste, even of infidelities [...]
Posted in Prayer, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation on September 2, 2007 | No Comments »
Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father. Meditation introduces us to the inner life, fasting is an accompanying means, study transforms our minds, but it is the Discipline of prayer that brings [...]
