Progress To A Transformed Christian Life
Each week, I will be providing a glimpse into the discipleship training program that I have just started. This is a way for me to show you what I am learning and also allow you to progress along with me. For more information, I encourage you to read this. Also, if you like what you... Continue Reading →
Each week, I will be providing a glimpse into the discipleship training program that I have just started. This is a way for me to show you what I am learning and also allow you to progress along with me. For more information, I encourage you to read this. Also, if you like what you... Continue Reading →
I have been hesitant in this space to offer recipes and tactics for spiritual growth. You can find those in previous versions of the blog. Tactics and exercises without an understanding of the goal and the purpose behind them easily become instruments for pride and moralism. Through reading this blog, I hope you have had... Continue Reading →
I often have been confused by the role and responsibility of the Holy Spirit in spiritual growth. One book that helped clarify this for me was James Bryan Smith's Good and Beautiful God. In it he presents a model of four components to life change - personal narrative (the way we think), spiritual disciplines, community,... Continue Reading →
Now that we know who our teacher is we have to watch out for a major pitfall - trying to do what Jesus says. Our goal is not to try but to train ourselves to become like Jesus. This is the power of off-the-spot training (spiritual disciplines) that reorients our lives and begins to work... Continue Reading →
I have a confession to make. I don't like church music. No, I am not trying to start a debate about worship styles, instruments, or lyrics. I basically have the same reaction during worship with an organ and a hymn book as I do with electric guitars and lyrics written last month. Church music and... Continue Reading →
I have an idealist streak in me and I take injustices and problems, especially in churches, as a blow to my sense of what is right in the world. I get easily discouraged and angry. I fantasize about churches where people "get it" and the life and work of Jesus is taken seriously. I romanticized... Continue Reading →
In Jesus' letters to the seven church in Revelation, each letter includes the words, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." I find it interesting that we are called, like the seven churches, to listen for the what the Spirit says. But is there a book in... Continue Reading →
Let's look at two more terms that are often misunderstood - Spiritual Disciplines and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual Disciplines - If you don't have a grasp of the concept of Grace then Spiritual Disciplines will seem like a set of legalistic requirements that if you are not practicing indicate your poor faith and lack of... Continue Reading →
In a physical workout or a spiritual workout I am all about focus. If you want to get the most out of a strength workout you set aside one day to focus on your lower body and one day to focus on your upper body. In the Spiritual Enrichment Workout the strength portion is my... Continue Reading →
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