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The no flash, no glitz world we can’t stand
It’s serving. It is the discipline of service. We want to serve… as long as we get our selfie in and posted somewhere in the social media world. Richard Foster gives me this harsh reminder: There is no flash, no glitz, no titanic anything. Today’s celebrity culture, captive to its pretentious egoism, simply finds such realities hard to grasp.
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Free me from the tyranny of STUFF
I am in a reading group with Renovare online and we are currently working our way through a book on spiritual disciplines by Nathan Foster, son of Richard Foster. Nathan is much more raw in his struggle with spiritual discipline. What Richard Foster wrote on always sounded like a glide into tranquility. I knew it wasn’t, but it just sounded…
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The intolerance of “tolerance”
Europe is becoming a “NO GOD” zone. I am not advocating for our American version of “wearing your faith on your sleeve”… or bumper sticker… or T Shirt. I have been advocating for simple awareness in our lives as believers that we truly need to function in a different way than before. We need to learn what it is to…
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It is goal setting time
Goals. Resolutions. It is that time of year. Then will come the week of about January 15 when we realize it’s useless… There aren’t yearly goals I can think of in this context, though I still set them. The goal I think of right now is Christlikeness. Leading the way in that process is a gift I received from IVP: Eternal…
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Do we truly EXPECT transformation?
Do we honestly expect transformation in the life of the believer? Do we walk in a way that brings instruction? Would we hesitate at Paul’s bold instruction these days? Would WE say these words: As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask…
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The church is a mess
“The churches of Revelation show us that churches are not Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and ready for guests. They are messy family rooms. Entering a person’s house unexpectedly, we are sometimes met with a barrage of apologies. St. John does not apologize. Things are out of order, to be sure, but that is what happens to…
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The need for spiritual community
“People are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods: God is looking for better people.” — EM Bounds We get so fooled into trying build a better mousetrap in ministry rather than taking people God gives us and seeing the image of Christ formed in them. God consistently took people in the Bible who were in lousy shape…
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“Jesus is Lord” is a confession… and call to ACTION
Christianity touches ALL of a person. We are to understand the need for transformation in thinking, feeling, and doing. It’s not a matter of simply changing behavior. It is a matter of changing DNA so that the fruit is different. We don’t produce the fruit of the Spirit by behavior modification. The fruit of the Spirit flows from the Spirit’s work in…
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The strong AND the weak belong together in the community of Christ
“Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The expectation of transformation
I came across this synopsis of transformational change that comes when our hearts are being renewed. (David Henderson, “The Art of Voice Recognition”, which I found in James Wilhoit’s book, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered) As our hearts are transformed by faith, we will move: — from self-absorption to concern for God’s Kingdom (Matt. 6:33) — from defiance to…
Category: Spiritual Formation
