Tag: Spiritual Formation

  • Dan

    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.

  • Dan

    Why we care so little for humility

    Richard Foster titled his new book: Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue. It makes more sense as I think back over the past few years in our culture and in the world.

  • Dan

    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 and whose he was. He had…

  • Dan

    Learning Humility

    I remember a saying I probably first heard in high school: “Humility is the virtue of which I am most proud.” Another thought is: “Just when you think you’ve attained humility… you lost it.”

  • Dan

    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. My desire is to slow down…

  • Dan

    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 was to recommend a book, Messy…

  • Dan

    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 on the outside because he was…

  • Dan

    The centering place of Christ and love

    “My belief that God is love — that love is everything, our true destiny — sustains me. I affirm these beliefs through daily meditation and prayer, through contemplation and service, through worship and loving kindness.” — bell hooks, All About Love

  • Dan

    Constant rhythms in my life

    “Without grace, the Christian liturgy is hollow, and fruitful participation in it is impossible. The liturgy, like everything good in life, is an instance of grace.” — Patrick Malloy, Celebrating the Eucharist

  • Dan

    No surprises for God

    I am beginning a brand new book out called Shaky Ground: What to Do After the Bottom Drops Out by Traci Rhoades. It is an invitation to learn from the broader Church and its history rather than one narrow slice of what we have experienced in our lives.