Tag Archives: Spiritual Formation

Quit separating faith and works

“The basic problem is: What is right living? And life is indivisible. The inner sphere is never isolated from outward activities. Deed and thought are bound into one. All a person thinks and feels enters everything he does, and all he does is involved in everything he thinks and feels.” — Thunder in the Soul:Continue reading “Quit separating faith and works”

Apathy and our current spiritual malaise

So, I ran across this book on overcoming apathy and thought it might be a good read, but I just didn’t care enough to buy it. Actually, I came across an article about a book on apathy, suppressed a yawn, and began reading. Before long I was introduced to an old term I had studiedContinue reading “Apathy and our current spiritual malaise”

What we don’t do

I am reading Richard Foster’s book on humility at the same time I am reading my way through Revelation as part of my daily office. Revelation 2-3, along with Foster’s book, remind me of two things we deeply lack in the American Church, which is reflecting too much of our current cultural problems.

Humility is NOT worthlessness

Humility is to see things as they are. It isn’t to think of oneself as a worthless worm who God reluctantly redeemed. It is to fix our heart on God’s worth—which is the literal definition of worship—and know our worth in light of God’s worth. Jesus could be lowly and humble of heart because he knew who andContinue reading “Humility is NOT worthlessness”

Accumulating knowledge or using knowledge?

Renovare Ministries was started by a group led by Richard Foster several decades ago. The focus was to turn the Church back to the joy of spiritual formation and help the Church walk in transformation. This week’s email letter was thought-provoking as I wrote a post about trying to tackle Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. MyContinue reading “Accumulating knowledge or using knowledge?”

Spiritual growth and chaos

A few days ago I reflected on the death of Rich Mullins 25 years ago and shared thoughts from Tish Harrison Warren when she wrote about the impact of Rich Mullins. There was a lot of interaction from that post from friends who remembered how Rich Mullins’ music impacted them as well. One comment wasContinue reading “Spiritual growth and chaos”

The messy spirituality of Rich Mullins

Rich Mullins was a musical hero to me. I didn’t have the Beatles or Bob Dylan. But in the Christian world and the plastic music of that time, Rich was real to me. In a time and place when you felt like you had to “look good” on the outside, Rich was a mess onContinue reading “The messy spirituality of Rich Mullins”