Disciples Have Healthy Boundaries

Dear Redeemer Family,

Disciples of Jesus know when to say "yes," and when to say "no."

Disciples say "yes" to Jesus, and "no" to the secular values of their culture.

They do this by establishing godly, healthy boundaries.

Before I became a disciple of Christ, I had few boundaries. When I became a follower of Jesus, He began to teach me about them. 

One week after I became committed to Jesus as my Lord, I was invited by friends to a party. Drugs were there. I believed I had been set free from a daily habit of smoking marijuana. At this party, joints of marijuana were being passed around. My friend, Bob, took a hit, and then passed the joint to me.

I took it, said "No, thanks," and passed it on. A few minutes later I left the party.

I had set a boundary. This was an important lesson for me!

A boundary is like a fence. A fence keeps good things in, and bad things out. Disciples of Christ set a fence around their hearts. They learn to say "yes" to the values of God's Kingdom, and "no" to the falsehoods of the kingdom of darkness.

When the Boundaries materials came out in the 1990s, they were a huge help to me and Linda. Much of our counseling ministry is about helping people understand and apply godly, healthy boundaries.

We have learned that sometimes we even say "no" to things that are, in themselves, godly and good. For example, one of our habits in marriage is having a date night, every Friday night. Linda and I estimate we have had at least 2,400 Friday night dates, spanning forty-six and a half years of marriage! This habit is rooted in a core value: We will take time to invest in our marriage.

One Wednesday night a friend called. He was putting on a conference, and the main speaker got sick. My friend was under pressure as he asked if I could fill in on Friday night. I said, "I'm sorry, but I cannot." He asked, "Why not?"

I said, "Linda and I have a date, and have the evening scheduled."

I could tell this answer frustrated him. I did not feel I had to defend myself. We said good-bye. Five minutes later, he called to apologize. He told me he understood and valued my commitment to my marriage.

What would you have said? Maybe you would have agreed to speak. As for Linda and I, we have set a fence around Friday nights. Only weddings, funerals, and medical emergencies may interrupt this.

The first disciples said "no" to many things in order to say "yes" to. I have learned to do this.

I want the freedom of boundary-setting for you, too.

Love,

PJ


DECLARATIONS

Every day I say "yes" to Jesus, and "no" to the values of this world.

I place the cross before me, and the world behind me.

I have placed a godly guard around my heart.

Having boundaries has set me free to love as Jesus loves.

I walk in the wisdom of knowing what to do, and knowing what not to do.

I often help others establish godly boundaries in their lives.

Decline of Christianity May Be Stabilizing

 

Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off

Findings from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study

US Christian Decline May Be Stabilizing: 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study | Pew Research Center

(Thanks J.H.)

Disciples of Jesus Experience Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

 

Dear Redeemer Family,

In 1972 I read, in the Bible, about the manifestation of "tongues." 1 Corinthians 14 says a lot about this spiritual gift. Verses 39-40 told me, Be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

I had never heard about this spiritual gift, or any other, for that matter. I had also never been exposed to the idea that the spiritual gifts have stopped manifesting. That idea would have confused me, since the Bible presents these wonderful manifestations as needed to strengthen, comfort, and encourage the church.

At that time I was the youth leader at Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Rockford, Illinois. This was my home church. One night I could not get away from the idea of this strange Spirit-manifestation called glossalalia ("tongues"). The thought came to me, "I want this."

After a youth group meeting, I went into Tabor's large, empty sanctuary. I lay on my face, on the carpeted floor, and said this to God: "God, if you want me to have this gift, I am willing to receive it."

Nothing happened. But I did not feel discouraged. I sensed that God was pleased that I was asking.  

Almost twenty years later, it happened. In 1991. Linda and I lived in East Lansing, but had driven a hundred miles to a gathering at Redeemer Church in Monroe. This is where we still are. After the meeting, some of Redeemer's people surrounded us and prayed for us. One of them prayed for me, saying, "God, give John all that he needs."

As we were driving back later that night, Linda fell asleep in the car. While she was sleeping, I began to pray in tongues. It did not feel pressured or forced. It felt natural, and beautiful.

This is not how it happens to every disciple of Jesus. It is the story of one disciple, me. I also do not think someone is not Spirit-filled if they do not manifest all the spiritual gifts. Remember: the gifts are essentially manifestations of the Spirit, for the edifying of the people of God, distributed by the Spirit as He wills.

Here is one way I see this. 

Some people, when it comes to spiritual things, are divers. I'm not. I am a wader. I have seen some enthusiastic divers fade away when the initial thrill is gone. Meanwhile, I am still wading, sometimes slowly, even methodically. I have seen all the spiritual manifestations, working around me in the Jesus community, and many of them through me. God has healed through me, delivered people from darkness through me, and prophesied through me, all to my amazement.

I just keep going deeper. Today, I lift my head and observe that I am swimming in the deep ocean waters of the Holy Spirit, expecting more to come.

I want this for you. I want you to pray, 

"Come Holy Spirit. Have Your way in me."

Love,

PJ


DECLARATIONS

Come, Holy Spirit, have your way in me.

Manifest spiritual gifts through me.

I see You working through me to strengthen, comfort, and encourage my brothers and sisters.

The Holy Spirit is having His way in me.

Breakthrough is always happening around me.

I love being God's Church, the body of Christ.

In my church spiritual gifts are manifesting all the time.

Disciples of Jesus Love as He Loves

 

My Teacher has instructed me that love is a great thing.

The love of God is a power. It is a weapon against darkness, hatred, and violence.  

The love of God is a force.  

My life with Jesus began when God told me that He loves me. As much as my parents loved me (which was a lot!), I needed to be touched by the One who is love, whose love is without limits. That moment was transcendent and transforming.   

The School of Jesus is a School of Love. All the power, and all the spiritual gifts and natural talents, are nothing if the love of God does not flourish in my heart.  

God's love continues to grow in me. More of it captures me today than ever before. The love of God is a bottomless well of supernatural treasures, to be discovered his disciples.  

I'm now thinking of a Promise Keepers event I attended. The main speaker was talking about "success." I have never forgotten what he said: "Success is being on your death bed surrounded by your family that loves you."

I think this way. If love is the greatest, then the end-game of not only my life, but of all reality, is love. Therefore: people get ready.  

I am ready.  

Love has a Name.

DECLARATIONS

I love You, Lord.

I walk through the day filled to overflowing with God's love.

 I never ceased to be amazed at how much Jesus loves me.

 I never take God's love for me for granted.

 The love of God, in me, changes atmospheres.

 The love of God, flowing through me, brings healing to the people I meet.

 I experience the love of Jesus as a force that defeats my enemies!

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship.) 

NOW READING....

 

I... love... reading and studying.

Studying biblical and theological and philosophical texts form part of my devotional life.

For example, I once was invited to write an article on spiritual formation for a magazine. The editor also asked me to write a "Top 10 Devotional Book" list. On the list I included Gordon Fee's commentary on 1 Corinthians. Fee's book serves as an example of great biblical scholarship that works inspirationally. 

It seems like the older I get (76 this April) the more I am reading and studying. My life is narrowing, more focused. And, the more I read and study, the more I don't know. (This phenomenon has been called "the paradox of analysis.")

Here's what is on my desk now.

Rod Dreher - Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning In a Secular Age.

Christine Rosen - The Extinction of Experience: Being Human In a Disembodied World.

Dallas Willard - The Scandal of the Kingdom: How the Parables of Jesus Revolutionize Life with God.

Neil Shenvi - Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology - Implications for the Church and Society.

Grant Macaskill - Living in Union with Christ: Paul's Gospel and Christian Moral Identity.

Disciples of Christ Are Humble

 

 

A humble heart is the key to experiencing the grace of God.  

One of the first books I read as a new Jesus-follower was C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. One of the chapters is called "The Great Sin." What, I wondered, could that be?  

Lewis said it was pride, or self-conceit. Pride is the complete anti-God state of mind. Francis Frangipane calls pride "the armor of darkness." As I read Lewis, I am sure I agreed with him. I am also sure I did not realize how much pride I had in me.  

In 1993 Jesus gave me a lesson about pride. It began with a dream.

One night I dreamed I was driving a tour bus in the Smoky Mountains. The roads were curved and twisted. I could barely get the bus around the corners. Then, after an exceptionally sharp curve, the bus came to a cliff, with a deep drop-off. That's when I woke up.  

The dream shook me up inside. Nevertheless, I eventually lost sight of it and went through my day. When I came home in the afternoon Linda had bought a card for me. She sensed I was struggling with things in the church. When I opened the card and saw the cover, I was stunned. It was a drawing of a road, twisting through mountains, that came to a cliff that dropped off into nothing. How could she know? I had not told her, or anyone, about my dream.  

God was trying to tell me something! 

I decided to take some praying time. I opened to a devotional book I was reading. It was on James 4:6: God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It was like God took a bright highlighter and lit this verse up for me to see.   

When I drove to pick up my boys at school, I was early, and went into the gym. I walked around the gym several times, repeating James 4:6. While doing this I felt led to fast from food until God revealed the meaning of the dream to me.  

Two days later, the revelation came. 

I was driving to a leaders meeting at the church building. I was still praying about James 4:6, still stunned by the dream and the card Linda gave me. Another Bible verse came into my head - Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall.

That's it! God was telling me if I don't get rid of pride in my heart, I will take this church for a fall.  

I felt relieved, and joyful. Every warning God gives contains a rescue. I shared the entire story with our leaders. None of them disagreed. This was another important lesson in the School of Jesus. Humble disciples experience the outpouring of God's grace.  

A humble heart is one that is good soil for God's Spirit to plant seeds of renewal in. A humble heart is teachable. Humility is the foundational attitude for spiritual transformation.  

May this attitude be formed in you.

DECLARATIONS

 Lord, if there is any conceit in me, remove it.

 I have a teachable, trainable spirit.

 I am growing in humility.

My constant prayer is, more of Jesus, less of me.

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship.)

Giving Advice as a Form of Judgmentalism

(Our kitchen - I tool the photo of the damselfly)

(I re-post this periodically.)

Unasked-for advice is often received as criticism.

Imagine I come to you and say, "Did you know there are some really nice shirts on sale at Kohls today?" 

The thought comes to you: "He doesn't like my clothes." 

This "friendly advice" is received as a form of criticism and judgmentalism.

Often (but not entirely), people give unasked-for advice in an attempt to change people. 

If you want to advise someone because you see they are having a problem, and you've got the answer, try asking their permission: "May I suggest something?" Or, I may ask you "What is a good restaurant to eat at?" Then, you give me your thoughts on this.

Or: "I advise you not to drive down Telegraph Road today. There's major construction going on." To which I say, "Thank you."

That's cool. But a lot of advice-giving is about control and manipulation. It produces anger and bitterness. Who likes a controlling person who is out to change them? 

Linda and I ask each other for lots of advice. We give each other permission to speak into our lives. When this happens, we don't feel criticized, because we don't criticize each other.

Sometimes, giving advice comes out of a person who is angry (frustrated, irritated). A person who advises you with a smile on their face may be upset with you. Not always. But this is common. 

On changing other people: you cannot do it. Period. You can force people to do something. You can threaten them, imprison them, and guilt-manipulate them. But the human heart, the human spirit, cannot be changed by other people. 

The human heart is influenced by other people. That's different. Many people have influenced me. One now comes to mind. 

He was in my church. I was privileged to be in a small group with him and his wife that met weekly. He was a great scholar, which I admired. He spoke when asked, and never advised when not asked. I found this intriguing because he was a psychologist, and psychologists (so I thought) were there to give advice. His character and demeanor, humility and Christ-in-him were compelling. So much so that, eventually, I sought him out to advise me about some things. Which he did, with wisdom and love.

Instead of advising others whether they ask for it or not, focus on connecting with Jesus, and allow Jesus to work on the stuff inside of you that he knows about and is able to change.

I need to be continually rescued from my own self. You, "the other," cannot do this. You are not my Savior. But if you remain connected to Jesus and allow him to change your heart about things, the chances increase that God will use you to effect real heart-change in me.

The life goal is to know Christ, not advise others. God can use the brokenness effected in you to bring breakthrough to the people around you.

***
SEE ALSO:

The Vicious Circularity of Judgmentalism

Judgmentalism Is a Form of Violence

Judgmentalism and Making Judgments

Judgment Grows In the Soil of Forgetfulness

Studying Jesus - Some Resources

(Jerusalem street)



One of my PhD qualifying exams was in Ancient Christology. Christology is still, for me, an area I study in. This is my first love: knowing Jesus, and making Jesus known. 

Galatians 4:19 compels me. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you

Christ. Formed in me. My heart, taking on the shape of Christ's heart.

Like this.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy.

I study Jesus, compelled by my love for him. Here are some books I have read in my Jesus-studies. They have helped me to think Christologically, and, increasingly, to separate the real from the false.

BOOKS ON JESUS

Gustav Aulen

• Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement

Ruth Haley Barton

• Life Together in Christ: Experiencing Transformation in Community

Richard Bauckham

• Jesus: A Very Short Introduction - a beautiful introduction to the Real Jesus by a great scholar.
• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony - Bauckham delivers a strong case that the four Gospels are closely based on eyewitness testimony of those who knew Jesus. Note: all four Gospels.
• Bauckham's website is HERE. 

James Beilby and Paul Eddy, eds. The Historical Jesus: Five Views

Michael Brown

• The Real Kosher Jesus: Revealing the Mysteries of the Hidden Messiah

Greg Boyd

• Cynic Sage or Son of God?: Recovering the Real Jesus in an Age of Revisionist Replies - I was talking with Craig Keener in his office and asked, "What books do you recommend on Jesus studies?" Craig pulled Greg's book off the shelf and said, "This is very good."
• Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting the Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross
• Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence
• Boyd's website is HERE. 

Greg Boyd & Paul Eddy

• The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition - Among other things Boyd and Eddy debunk the idea that the Jesus story emerged from surrounding pagan myths.
• Lord or Legend?: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma - A more accessible version of their book The Jesus Legend.

James Charlesworth

• The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide - By Princeton New Testament scholar Charlesworth.

William Lane Craig

• The Atonement
• Atonement and the Death of Christ: An Exegetical, Historical, and Philosophical Exploration

Paul Eddy and James Beilby

• The Historical Jesus: Five Views

Craig Evans

• Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels - The great New Testament scholar debunks, among others, Bart Ehrman.
• Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence - I got this book as a Christmas gift, and began to read it last night. It is highly reviewed. 

Craig Evans and N.T. Wright

• Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened. This would be an excellent little book to read leading up to Easter 2013. 

Gordon Fee

• Pauline Christology

Gordon Fee and Cherith Nordling Fee

• Jesus the Lord According to Paul the Apostle: A Concise Introduction

Simon Gathercole, Robert Stewart, N. T. Wright

• What Did the Cross Accomplish? A Conversation About the Atonement

Larry Hurtado and Chris Keith

•  Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels. I recently picked up this book and have begun to read it. 

Craig Keener

• The Historical Jesus of the Gospels
• Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts 
• Any of Craig's New Testament commentaries.
• Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels
• Lots of great, free material on the Real Jesus at Craig's blog HERE. 

J. N. D. Kelly

• Early Christian Doctrines

George Ladd

• Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God. This is one of the books to be read on the nature of "the kingdom of God." 
• A Theology of the New Testament (This was one of my seminary texts, which I have worn out (it's falling apart!)).

Michael McClymond

• Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazereth. This is a book Craig Keener strongly recommended to me. 

Scot McKnight

• The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited. Why read this book? Because it has two Forewards, by N.T. Wright and Dallas Willard. This book is about the Real Jesus and the actual Gospel. 
• Any of McKnight's New Testament commentaries. 
• McKnight's excellent blog is HERE. 

Richard Norris and William Rusch

• The Christological Controversies (Sources of Early Christian Thought)

Eugene Peterson

• Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers
• Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ
• The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus Is the Way

Stephen Porter, Gary Moon, J. P. Moreland

• Until Christ Is Formed In You: Dallas Willard and Spiritual Formation

Stephen Prothero

• American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon - A good read on who the Real Jesus is not.  

Fleming Rutledge

• The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ

Klyne Snodgrass

• Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus. The best book on the parables ever written?

Lee Strobel

• The Case for Christ
• The Case for the Real Jesus

Rankin Wilbourne 

• One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

Dallas Willard 

• Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God
• Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ

Ben Witherington

• The Christology of Jesus
• The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth
• What Have They Done with Jesus?: Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History--Why We Can Trust the Bible
• Witherington's blog is HERE. 

N.T. Wright (No one, except Craig Keener, is writing more about Jesus than Wright is.)

• How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels . Remember that understanding the "kingdom of God" is the hermeneutical key to understanding the Real Jesus.
• Jesus and the Victory of God
• The Resurrection of the Son of God
• Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters
• Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship
• Wright's website is HERE. 

NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES

When the following New Testament scholars write a commentary, it's going to be worth reading.

• Richard Bauckham
• Craig Blomberg
• D.A. Carson
• Craig Evans
• Gordon Fee
• R.T. France
• David Garland
• Joel Green
• Craig Keener
• Andreas Kostenberger
• Scot McKnight
• Douglas Moo
• Klyne Snodgrass
• Ben Witherington
• N.T. Wright - especially see Wright's "For Everyone" series.

And many others...

Spiritual Formation and Transformation: A Phenomenology

(Lake Erie. Monroe, MI.)

I am still writing my book How God Changes the Human Heart. I have 900 pages of notes!

Here are some of the ideas I am putting in the book.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION – A PHENOMENOLOGY (A DESCRIPTION)

Since 1977 I have been developing my theory of spiritual transformation, which is about How God Changes Lives. The inputs for my outline of spiritual transformation have been and are:

1. the countless hours, over the past thirty-plus years, that I have gone alone to a quiet place and prayed.
2. my ongoing saturation in the Christian scriptures, to include study and meditation on them.
3. the 3500+ pastors, Christian leaders, seminary students, and lay people I have been privileged to spiritually mentor and coach through class lectures, dialogue, and the submission of their spiritual journals for me to respond to.
4. my past and ongoing study of the history of Christian spirituality.

I think my theory can be applied not only to the issue of spiritual transformation but also to the ideas of spiritual “renewal,” “restoration,” “renovation,” and “formation.” All of these concepts have to do with “change,” and in Christian spirituality change is good, stasis is bad. One is either growing or dead. Spiritually, to not be growing is to be dying. As my friend Jim Hunter has said, “We’re either green and growing or ripe and rotting.” Or, as Robert Quinn has written, it’s either “deep change” or “slow death.”

My approach to spiritual formation (I feel free to use “formation” and “:transformation” interchangeably) applies and works cross-culturally, cross-temporally (concerning both old and young; and past, present, and future), and with both men and women. This is because the locus of spiritual formation is “the heart.” Thus change and renewal happen at a deep, ontological level. Because the deeper we go inside persons the more we are all the same, the principles of Christian spiritual formation speak to everyone, everywhere. This is my experience over the years as I have been privileged to teach this material to Chinese in Singapore, New York City, and Vancouver, Indians in India, African Americans at Payne Theological Seminary, Palmer Theological Seminary, and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, African pastors (Kenyan and Ugandan) in Kenya, and hundreds of Anglo pastors and Christian leaders from the U.S., in Canada, and beyond. In my seminary classes I think I have taught this material to pastors and seminary students from every continent and, it seems, representing most of this world’s countries. All of this interaction and input has served to help me refine my teachings to the following major points.

How does God change a human heart? Here is a Phenomenology of Spiritual Renewal and Transformation. (Viz., a description of what I see happening when lives are renewed and transformed in Christ.)

1 – THE NEED (Recognize how needy you are)
Without this step growth will not occur. To recognize one’s own neediness is to be in a very good place, spiritually. Isaiah 6 serves us well here. Isaiah, who is arguably the most righteous person among the people of Israel, enters the temple and sees a vision of a holy God. The result is that Isaiah is “undone,” or “unraveled,” or “dis-integrated.” There is a huge gap between the holy-otherness of God and Isaiah with his dirty mouth.

To recognize, to internalize, the gap between self and God is crucial to one’s inner change.

2 – THE GAP (Understand the magnitude of the needed transformation)
The Jesus-idea is that God wants to morph us into Christlikeness. Paul, in Galatians 4:19, longs that “Christ be formed” in his Galatian brothers and sisters.

The issue here is not asking “what would Jesus do?” but rather doing what Jesus did, as a matter of the heart. For example, if I had the heart of a great soccer player I would do what a great soccer player does. Jesus, as he hung dying on a cross, did not have took look at a wristband and ask the question, “Now what would I do?” Rather, Jesus forgave his persecutors, and we must believe he did so not as a matter of ethical protocol but because this was, indeed, his very heart.

The word Romans 12:2 uses is, in Greek, metamorphe. Literally, this is about “a change of form.” What is needed here are not more ethical rules to follow, since one can obey laws without having a heart for them. This concerns what Dallas Willard has called “the renovation of the heart.” To be morphed into like-Christ-ness.

Because the magnitude of the transformation is so great, we realize we can’t do this by means of our own will power.

Therefore…

3. I CAN’T SELF-TRANSFORM

Spiritual formation and transformation into like-Christness is not something we can do on our own. Indeed, if it were something we could do on our own, then we will have greatly diminished Christ. When it comes to this kind of change it is good to realize that we can’t “self-transform.” This is one thing we cannot do in our own wisdom and strength.

There is some good news here. This realization, if it is a heart-reality, frees us from “striving.” When it comes to personal transformation no striving is allowed. It simply won’t do any good to “try harder.” The goal of heart-morphing into Christlikeness is so beyond us that striving is useless. If we are to be transformed, only God can do it.
4- ONLY GOD CAN EFFECT THE NEEDED TRANSFORMATION

Therefore…

5 – GET INTO GOD'S PRESENCE AND DWELL THERE/ABIDE IN CHRIST

Enter into the “spiritual gymnasium” and “exercise unto godliness.” But isn’t that a kind of “striving?” No, because the spiritual exercises or disciplines are simply ways of ushering us into God’s presence. Once we abide there, God himself changes us. We are then like lumps of clay on a potter’s wheel, with God himself the shaper of our hearts.

John 14-16 is important here, as Jesus gives his “final discourse” to his disciples. Be a branch, connected to Jesus the true Vine. The stuff and life and resources and joy and peace and power of “the Vine” begins to course through the arteries of “the branch.” Just as a branch could not be attached to a healthy apply tree and fail to produce apples, so you and I cannot consistently dwell in God’s presence & remain unchanged.

This raises the question of the locus, or “place” of spiritual transformation.

1 – The transformation is a matter of “the deep waters of the heart.”

Proverbs 20:5.says: “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” God’s Spirit moves in the deep waters of the human heart. Here is where the morphing happens.

This spiritual formation is not an external, physical makeover. It is internal, deep, and concerns the human heart. And, it is helpful to note that the deeper we go inside people the more we are all the same. This truth explains why, among other things, the Jesus-message has gone global.

2 – The dismantling of the false self

A major part of spiritual formation is the dismantling of the false, or fallen self. Using recent language by N.T. Wright, God wants to rescue us from our subhumanity and form Christ in us, who was truly human (as well as “very God”).

In my own process of spiritual transformation, and in coaching others, here are examples of the false self’s dismantling. God want to remove from us:

* self-love
* self-hatred
* self-pity
* self-hiding
* self-justification
* self-righteousness
* self-will
* self-centeredness
* self-seriousness
* self-attention
* self-inflation
* self-ignorance

This dismantling of the false self relates to what Jesus said about denying our self daily and taking up our cross. Jesus, the fully human One, was an other-centered Servant. As we enter into God’s presence he wants to morph our hearts into the sacrificial selflessness of Jesus.

3 – Ontological dualities
In the deep waters of the human heart we are all the same. This is why the good news of Jesus and his Kingdom speaks to all persons in all times and all places.

Spiritual transformation has a vectorial dimension in that it is a shifting or moving from one place to another. For example, all persons struggle with control and trust. God wants to shift our hearts from controlling to trusting. This movement is, precisely, the change; viz., one’s heart changes from a control-shaped heart to a trust-shaped heart.

I have discovered the following “ontological dualities” that lie at the base of the human heart. They are:

1. From Pride/Shame to Humility
2. From Control to Trust
3. From Rejection to Affirmation
4. From Evil to Good
5. From Fear to Faith
6. From Materialism to Simplicity
7. From Death to Life

As we continually abide in Christ there is a slow movement from the left ontological condition to the right side. I think that, using these deep dualities, one could thus measure spiritual transformation.


HUMILITY – the foundational attitude of authentic spiritual transformation

Finally, and in some ways back to the beginning, the foundational attitude needed so that one’s heart is “good soil” for the changes God desires to bring about is: humility. Pride, C.S. Lewis said, is "the complete anto-God state of mind." Francis Frangipane called pride "the armor of darkness." If these things are true, as I think they are, then of course the proud heart cannot expect to experience being formed into Christ.

Spiritual Formation: The Journey Inward Precedes the Journey Outward

In the spiritual life being comes before doing. This is a hard one for people who want to "do" great things for God and see time spent alone with God as wasted time. A number of pastors and Christian leaders fall into this category. They may say "I want to pray," but unless this translates into a life of actually praying their desire is an illusion. Ontologically (in the order of being) the Jesus-life works this way: 1) Abide in Christ; 2) Out of the abiding, obey (this is the "doing" part).

I like how Henri Nouwen expresses this:

"Only out of the prayerful place of solitude and introspection can we hope for community and ministry. The journey inward precedes the journey outward, and the chronology is important. Spiritually, we need to know our selves and God in order to know other people. We need to love our selves and God in order to love each other. Communion with God precedes community with others and ministry in the world. Once the inward journey has begun, we can move outwardly from solitude to community and ministry." (Nouwen, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, Kindle Locations 2106-2109)

What the Bible Says About Spiritual Formation

This is from Renovare's website.

"Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand" (Matt 3:2, 4:17, 10:7).
This is a call for us to reconsider how we have been approaching our life, in light of the fact that we now, in the presence of Jesus, have the option of living within the surrounding movements of God’s eternal purposes, of taking our life into his life.
~ Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

The Bible has a lot to say about spiritual formation.  Here are a few relevant passages.

2 Corinthians 3:18 
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Ephesians 4:20-24 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life . . . Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

1 Timothy 4:7-8
. . . train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Colossians 3:10-11Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better. It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Blessed Are the Mono-Taskers, for They Shall See God

I currently teach at two theological seminaries, one Chinese and the other African-American, and in our own Redeemer Ministry School. My core seminary class is called Spiritual Formation, also called Personal Transformation. My main assignment: set apart one hour a day, five days a week, to pray and listen to God, keeping a record of the voice and activity of God in a spiritual journal. Needed: listening skills; ability to meditate and ponder; desire and focus to allow God to go deep (see, e.g., Proverbs 20:5).

I also teach two philosophy courses at Monroe County Community College: Intro to Logic, and Philosophy of Religion. Needed to learn philosophy and think philosophically: the ability to think; ability to focus and stay on task; desire and ability to go deep; ability to ponder and meditate.

Both spiritual formation and philosophy are slow cookers, not microwaves. Both, if attended to, produce much lasting fruit in a person's life. Oak trees grow out of the soil of pondering deep and important life-themes.

Deep, lasting relationships are slow-cookers, too. This includes the God-relationship. Knowing God means way more than theoretical knowledge. As an analogy, one learns to ride a bike by actually riding it, not by reading books on it or spending a few hurried minutes with it here and there.

Sadly, it's time to say good-bye to both spiritual formation and philosophizing, at least in North America and any culture that continues to be "wired." An entire generation has formed that is, now, neurally incapable of deep thought. To understand this begin by reading Nicholas Carr's The Shallows. See the various Shallows-posts I've already made here.

Or check out this nytimes essay "Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction." The bullets are:

·                     “A book takes so long. I prefer the immediate gratification,” says a bright 17-year-old student. Professors take note. This student cannot attend to you for long. So he's not being rebellious if he's not paying attention.

·                    
"Developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention." So, in my spiritual formation classes, it is beyond-hard for more and more seminary students to pray, listen to God, and meditate on God-things for even a few minutes.

·                     “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

·                     Don't simply blame the kids for this. We've programmed them to Mc-think. "Even as some parents and educators express unease about students’ digital diets, they are intensifying efforts to use technology in the classroom, seeing it as a way to connect with students and give them essential skills. Across the country, schools are equipping themselves with computers, Internet access and mobile devices so they can teach on the students’ technological territory."

·                     I ban texting and laptops in my classes. I put this in my syllabus next to a picture of a skull-and-crossbones. Death to the multitaskers!  Because, e.g., "unchecked use of digital devices can create a culture in which students are addicted to the virtual world and lost in it." 

·                     Today's kids are "caught between two worlds, one that is virtual and one with real-life demands."

·                     "Research also shows that students often juggle homework and entertainment. The Kaiser Family Foundation found earlier this year that half of students from 8 to 18 are using the Internet, watching TV or using some other form of media either “most” (31 percent) or “some” (25 percent) of the time that they are doing homework." So what's so bad about this? It's only that you can't learn doing this, that's all. Yes, you can learn to multitask. "But this proficiency comes at a cost: [one student] blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report."  

·                     "Sean, a senior, concedes that video games take a physical toll: “I haven’t done exercise since my sophomore year. But that doesn’t seem like a big deal. I still look the same.”"

·                     "Some neuroscientists have been studying people like [these students]. They have begun to understand what happens to the brains of young people who are constantly online and in touch."

·                     "The heavy use of devices... worries Daniel Anderson, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who is known for research showing that children are not as harmed by TV viewing as some researchers have suggested. Multitasking using ubiquitous, interactive and highly stimulating computers and phones, Professor Anderson says, appears to have a more powerful effect than TV. Like Dr. [Michael] Rich [Harvard Medical School], he says he believes that young, developing brains are becoming habituated to distraction and to switching tasks, not to focus. “If you’ve grown up processing multiple media, that’s exactly the mode you’re going to fall into when put in that environment — you develop a need for that stimulation,” he said."

·                     "Students now lack the attention span to read the assignments on their own."

Ability to focus...  to deep-think... going...  going... gone... and with it the God-relationship going... going... gone...  at least in terms of the wired generation.

What am I doing about this? In my philosophy classes I assign little or no reading homework, since I assume 95% of my students won't read it anyway. I ban texting and laptops in class. In my lectures I look for dialogue and interaction, exposing students to the wonder of thinking. I give seminarians prayer assignments (not books to read on prayer, which may or may not be read anyway), and require that spiritual journals be kept. In some cases, they are met by God. A new-yet-ancient habit is formed, new neural connections are made, the joy and value of heart-stillness and heart purity are learned, and it's like life begins.

Remember that Kierkegaard told us Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing. To "will one thing." To focus on, attend to, be captivated by, be still before, one thing. What is the benefit of that? Blessed are the mono-taskers, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

(For more see The God-Shaped Brain: How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life, by Timothy Jennings, M.D.)

It's You That Needs Changing

A few years ago some University of Michigan film students who are making a movie about our Monroe community interviewed me. I enjoyed spending time with them. One of them was a student named Jordan who has been part of Redeemer in the past.

Jordan asked me, "What's the main thing you see about Monroe that needs to be changed?" My immediate answer was: "Me." I am serious about this. If I can change for the better, into greater Christlikeness, our community will be better off.

If I can change and be a better husband to Linda, Linda will be better off. If God changes me into a greater Jesus-like compassionate servant, then the people in my church family will be better off. Others will benefit from what God is doing in me. There's an old gospel song that goes "It's me, it's me, it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer." Another worship song pleads change my heart O God," not "change their hearts O God."

I can't change other people. With God's help I can change.

Focus on your own change before God.

Square One

When a person loses their way we sometimes hear them say, “I’ve got to get back to “square one.” For them “square one” means something like: the place of origin; the place where it all began; the beginning place from where the journey began; and so on. Square one is: the beginning. Eugene Peterson, in Subversive Spirituality, uses the idea of “square one” to make some excellent spiritual points.


Peterson writes: “Square One is the place from which we begin learning how to live with Absence with the same ease with which we have come to live with Presence. The generic word that we use for this is Faith – in its classic and never yet improved upon definition, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).” (Subversive Spirituality, 18)

“The characteristic element of Square One is this: God said.” (Ib., 19) When we live at Square One “the absolutely indispensable word that we learn is: God.” (Ib.)

When we “return to Square One” we return not only to a realization that God or of God, but to a listening. Listening to what God says. “God said.” (23) Now… we’re at Square One! Everything meaningful, relevant, and authentic follows from this. At Square One it’s not about spiritual chatter or spiritual platitudes or talking “Christian-eze.” It is a being-addressed, a being-talked-to, by God. This is not about us talking or even bragging about our spiritual experiences and accomplishments, but rather about “listening to God call us, heal us, forgive us.” (27) Peterson writes:

“This is hard to get into our heads. We talk habitually to ourselves and about ourselves. We don’t listen. If we do listen to each other it is almost always with the purpose of getting something we can use in our turn. Much of our listening is a form of politeness, courteously waiting our turn to talk about ourselves. But in relation to God especially we must break the habit and let him speak to us. God not only is; God Says. Christian spirituality, in addition to being an attentive spirituality, is a listening spirituality.” (27)

Christian spirituality begins with God. God speaks. We listen. We respond. In obedience. To not listen to God is to not respond to him. One can’t respond to a voice they don’t even hear. “Non-listening obedience” is self-contradictory. Henri Nouwen has pointed out that the word “obedience,” from the Latin ob + audire, contains the idea of “listening” (audire, from which we get “audio”). An audiologist tests our hearing. Of course if we cannot hear then we cannot be expected to obey. Not to be in a continual listening-relationship to God is to be in perpetual dis-audire; dis-obedience. If that’s the case, it’s time to get back to Square One, the place of listening, the place where GodSays.

I love how Peterson expands on this as he describes the causal efficacy of God Says. He writes:

“Something remarkable takes place when we return to Square One, to the place of adoration and listening – a terrific infusion of energy within us; a release of adrenaline in our souls which becomes obedience. The reason is that the word that God speaks to us is the kind of word that makes things happen. When God speaks it is not in order to give us information on the economy so that we will know how to do our financial planning. When God speaks it is not as a fortune teller, looking into our personal future and satisfying curiosity regarding our romantic prospects or the best horse to bet on. No, when God speaks it is not in explanation of all the things that we have not been able to find answers to from our parents or in books or from reading tea leaves. God’s Word is not, in essence, information or gossip or explanation. God’s Word makes things happen – he makes something happen in us. The imperative is a primary verb form in Holy Scripture: “Let there be light… Go… Come… Repent… Believe… Be still… Be healed… Get up… Ask… Love… Pray…” (28)

And the consequence, the intended result, of God Says? It is: obedience. “I will run in the way of your commandments, when you give me understanding.” (Ps. 119:32) Peterson says:

“Yes, run. Square One, with its attentiveness and listening, is that place of understanding – we know who we are and where we are… and who God is and where he is. At that place and in that condition, there is an inward gathering and concentration of energy that on signal from God’s imperative expresses itself in, precisely, obedience – running in the way of God’s commandments.” (28)

Get back to Square One. Stay there.

***

Spiritual Formation: Annotated Bibliography

Arnold, Eberhard. Inner Land: A Guide Into the Heart and Soul of the Bible (Rifton, N.Y: Plough Publishing House, 1976). A classic in Anabaptist spirituality.

Baldwin, Lewis. Never to Leave Us Alone: The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Baldwin. Revives My Soul Again: The Spirituality of Martin Luther King Jr.Black, Jr., Gary. Preparing for Heaven: What Dallas Willard Taught Me About Living, Dying, and Eternal Life

Barton, Ruth Haley. Pursuing God's Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups

Barton. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry

Barton. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

Beilby, James K., and Eddy, Paul Rhodes. Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Arguably, this is the book to read on the current state of spiritual warfare studies.

Blackaby, Henry T., and King, Claude V. Experiencing God. An excellent, clearly written text that is especially good for church study.

Boyd, Greg. Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy

(IVP: 2001). An excellent study on the kingdom of God, esp. on spiritual battle and the kingdom ofSatan. A coherent Christian response to the philosophical problem of evil.

Boyd. Present Perfect: Finding God In the Now. (Zondervan: 2010) This is an excellent, clearly written little book that contains some deep spiritual insights that are not found in other spirituality texts. Greg’s meditation on “death” is worth the price of the book.

Bridges, Flora Wilson. Resurrection Song: African American Spirituality

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. The Practice of the Presence of God (Garden City: Image, 1977). A spiritual classic by a 17^th-century monk that is still relevant today, and is especially good at knowing God in the everyday, mundane tasks of life.

Buechner, Frederick. Godric (New York: Harper and Row, 1980). A beautiful novel, spiritually deep and uplifting. The character of Godric reminds me of Thomas Merton.

Campolo, Tony, and Darling, Mary Albert. The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice. Nicely puts together the spiritual disciplines and social activism.

Carson, Clayborne. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Collins, Kenneth J. Exploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader (Baker Book House: 2000). An excellent one-volume text.

Cone, James. The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

Costen, Melva Wilson. African American Christian Worship.

Dawn, Marva. Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living In An Affluent Society (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation: 2003). This is a deep, profound study allowing us to see our materialistic world and our spiritual place in it through God’s eyes.

Deere, Jack. Surprised By the Voice of God: How God Speaks Today Through Prophecies, Dreams, and Visions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996). A very good, clearly written biblical and historical presentation of how one hears God speaking to them.

DeGroat, Chuck. When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse

Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (Harper and Row). This makes my personal top ten ever-read list. A beautiful meditation of the creation, especially its microscopic aspects.

Fee, Gordon. God’s Empowering Presence (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994). This massive text is, arguably, the definitive statement of the apostle Paul’s spirituality. A detailed study of every Pauline reference to the Holy Spirit.

Fee. The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987). Superb, meditative, scholarly commentary on what it means to be pneumatikos (“spiritual”).

Felder, Cain Hope. Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. (Augsburg: 1991) This edited collection does an excellent job distinguishing the Eurocentric bias in biblical hermeneutics from an African American perspective which gives place to the now-experiential reality of God’s Spirit speaking to us through the written text.

Foster, Richard. A Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper and Row). The modern classic on the spiritual disciplines. If you have not yet read this it should be one of your choices.

Foster. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (Harper and Row: 1992). Examines several different types of prayer that are both biblically and historically Christian.

Foster. Life With God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation. (HarperOne: 2010)

Foster. Longing for God: Seven Paths of Spiritual Devotion. (Intervarsity Press: 2009)

Foster, and Griffin, Emilie. Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines (Harper and Row: Feb. 2000). A very good collection representing the great Christian types of spirituality.

Foster. Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith (Harper and Row: 1998). On the following traditions: contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational.

Goggin, Jamin, and Strobel, Kyle. The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus' Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

Grenz, Stanley. Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom. One of our great theologians positions praying within the context of the kingdom of God.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1988). Excellent, especially in its emphasis on corporate spirituality.

Hayes, Diana. Forged In the Fiery Furnace: African American Spirituality

Hernandez, Will. Henri Nouwen and Spiritual Polarities: A Life of Tension.

Holmes, Urban T. Spirituality for Ministry. Still one of the best books on this subject.

Jones, Cheslyn, et. al., eds. The Study of Spirituality (New York: Oxford, 1986). A very good one-volume source on the history of Christian spirituality.

Keener, Craig. Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World

Kelleman, Robert, and Edwards, Karole A. Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. (Baker: 2007)

Kelly, Thomas. A Testament Of Devotion (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941). This brilliant, provocative little text makes my top ten ever-read books on Christian spirituality. A modern classic.

King, Martin Luther. "Thou Dear God: Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits

Kraft, Charles. Christianity With Power: Your Worldview and Understanding of the Supernatural(Ann Arbor, Mi.: Servant, 1989). A brilliant study in paradigm theology by an anthropologist and missiologist at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Ladd, George. The Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God (Eerdmans: 1959). A classic, still-used examination of the kingdom of God as both present and future. Schoalrly, but it often reads devotionally.

Leech, Kenneth. Experiencing God: Theology As Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985). An excellent historical study, from biblical times to the present, of the experience of God.

Leech. Soul Friend: The Practice of Christian Spirituality (New York: Harper and Row, 1980). The best book available on spiritual direction.

Leech. True Prayer: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1980).

Lwqia, C.S. How to Pray: Reflections and Essays

Lovelace, Richard. Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1979).

Lovelace. Renewal As a Way of Life: A Guidebook for Spiritual Growth (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1985).

Manning, Brennan. The Ragamuffin Gospel. A beautiful, very thoughtful meditation on the grace of God.

Manning, Abba’s Child. This book spoke deeply to me about my need for experiential knowledge of the love of God.

Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus. Very good as it gets at the real Jesus.

May, Gerald. Addiction and Grace (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1991). An excellent, clearly written book with an especially helpful section on addiction to control.

May. Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction (New York: Harper and Row, 1992). A very good text on the nature of spiritual direction.

May. Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology (Harper and Row: 1987). An excellent text.

Mbiti, John. African Religions and Philosophy.

Mbiti. Introduction to African Religion.

McGinn, Bernard. The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism. McGinn  is arguably our greatest scholar on the nature of Christian mysticism. This is the text to read on mysticism in the early church father, and in the West.

McKnight, Scot; Tickle, Phyllis. . Fasting: The Ancient Practices.

McManus, Erwin. The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within (Thomas Nelson: 2005)  Don’t be put off by the title. I loved this book about what it means to be a real follower of Jesus.

McLaren, Brian. The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything (Thomas Nelson: 2007). I loved this book about the kingdom of God.

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes On Contemplation (Harper: 2003). This is Merton’s final book. Few write about contemplation as well as he does.

Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961). Merton at his best.

Merton. No Man Is an Island (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983). Contains the classic chapter, “Being and Doing.”

Merton. Seeds (Shambala: 2002). A killer collection of Merton quotes. A tremendous introduction to the depth, wisdom, and discernment of Thomas Merton. Prophetic.

Merton. The Sign of Jonas (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981). One of Merton’s journals, containing many spiritual gems,

Merton. Spiritual Direction and Meditation.

Moreland, J. P. Finding Quiet: My Story of Overcoming Anxiety and the Practices that Brough Peace

Miller, J. Keith. A Hunger for Healing: The Twelve Steps as a Classic Model for Christian Spiritual Growth (New York: Harper and Row, 1991).

Miller. Hope In the Fast Lane: A New Look at Faith in a Compulsive World (New York: Harper and Row, 1987). An excellent text on overcoming sin in one’s life. Especially good on identifying the deep source of stress and overcoming stress.

Miller. The Secret Life of the Soul (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1997). About the vulnerability needed for the transformation of the soul.

Muse, J. Stephen, ed. Beside Still Waters: Resources for Shepherds in the Marketplace (Smyth and Helwys: 2000). An excellent text that uses Psalm 23 to speak to Christian leaders regarding spiritual issues. Very good on our need to care for ourselves physically.

Mulholland, Robert. Shaped By the Word: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation (Nashville: Upper Room Press, 1985). An excellent book on how the Bible interprets us.

Nelson, Alan. Broken In the Right Place: How God Tames the Soul (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994). A very good book on how spiritual brokenness effects personal transformation.

Nouwen, Henri. A Cry for Mercy: Prayers From the Genesee (Garden City, New York: Image, 1981). A beautiful book of prayers expressing our heart’s fears, struggles, and longings.

Nouwen. Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1987).

Nouwen. Gracias! A Latin American Journal (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983). One of Nouwen’s spiritual journals.

Nouwen. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (Harper and Row). A brilliant little book, among the best I have ever read on pastoral leadership.

Nouwen. Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective (New York: Image, 1986).

Nouwen. Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (New York: Harper and Row, 1981).

Nouwen. Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Spiritual Life (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1980).

Nouwen. Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Garden City, New York: Image, 1976).

An excellent text; a modern classic. On solitude, hospitality, and prayer.

Nouwen. Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith.

Nouwen. Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit.

Nouwen. The Genesee Diary: Report From A Trappist Monastery (Garden City, New York: Image, 1976). This book makes my top ten ever-read list in terms of spiritual impact. An excellent example of journaling that is of spiritual value.

Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love (Image Books: 1999). I find it hard to express how much God used a slow, meditative reading of this book to effect changes in my life.

Nouwen. The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ (New York: Harper and Row). A tremendous book for pastors and Christian leaders.

Nouwen. The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life.

Nouwen. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (New York: Image, 1992). Simply put, one of Nouwen’s best and one of my very favorites.

Nouwen, and Dear, John. The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice. This is a spectacular book to read devotionally, with Nouwen's deep insights clarifying real Jesus-following and the blessedness of peacemaking.

Nouwen. The Way of the Heart (New York: Ballantine, 1981). A beautiful, meditative little book on solitude, silence, and prayer.

Paris, Peter. The Spirituality of African Peoples.

Payne, Leanne. Listening Prayer: Learning to Hear God’s Voice and Keep a Prayer Journal(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991). A very good, well-written text on what it means to hear God’s voice.

Peterson, Eugene. The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Dallas: Word, 1989). I have read this book two or three times. It always reminds me of my priorities in pastoral ministry.

Peterson. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. The first of five books in Peterson’s summary of his spiritual theology.

Piippo, John. Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.

Piippo. Leading the Presence-Driven Church. (December 2017)

Quinn, Robert. Deep Change (Jossey-Bass: 1996). A very good book, written from a leadership-business perspective, on the inner transformation required to lead effectively.

Renovare, et. al. The Life with God Bible NRSV. The spiritual exercises are woven into this study Bible.

Seamands, Stephen. Ministry In the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service

Senn, Frank, ed. Protestant Spiritual Traditions (New York: Paulist, 1986). Various authors writing from the following perspectives: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Puritan, Pietist, and Methodist.

Sittser, Jerry. A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss. Perhaps the best book on a spirituality of grieving ever written, by a deep thinker and excellent writer.

Sittser. A Grace revealed: How God Redeems the Story of Your Life. The follow-up to A Grace Disguised.

Smedes, Lewis. Shame and Grace. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1994). For me, a beautiful book on overcoming self-condemnation by a deeper understanding and experience of the grace of God.

Storey, Benjamin; and Storey, Jenna Silber. Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment

St. Teresa of Avila. Interior Castle. (Image Books: 1972) A spiritual classic.

Thomas, Gary. Sacred Pathways (Zondervan: 2000). Very good on showing different spiritual styles and various ways persons experience God (the naturalist, sensate, traditionalist, ascetic, activist, caregiver, enthusiast, contemplative, and intellectual).

Thurman, Howard. For the Inward Journey: The Writings of Howard Thurman (Harcourt Brace: 1984). An excellent anthology of Thurman’s spiritual writings.

Thurman. Jesus and the Disinherited (Beacon: 1996). If you’re going to read one book by Thurman this is the one to read. He is brilliant, insightful, and extremely relevant for even today. There s a timelessness about Thurman’s writings.

Thurman. Howard Thurman: Essential Writings. (Orbis: 2006) Edited by Luther Smith. Smith is one of our great, if not our greatest, Thurman scholars. His introduction to Thurman’s writing is very helpful.

Thurman. Meditations of the Heart. (Beacon: 1999)

Thurman. A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life

Thurman. With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman.

van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Walters, Kerry (ed.). Rufus Jones: The Essential Writings. Howard Thurman was deeply indebted to the mentoring of the Quaker mystic Rufus Jones.

Weems, Renita. Listening for God: A Minister’s Journey Through Silence and Doubt (Simon and Schuster: 1999). An excellent reflection of the silence of God and intimacy with God.

West, Cornel, and Glaube Jr., Eddie S. African American Religious Thought: An Anthology. (Westminster John Knox: 2003)

Wilborne, Rankin. Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God

Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (Harper Collins: 1998). What a deep, beautiful book on the kingdom of God.

Willard. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (IVP: 1999)

Willard. Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks

Willard. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (Navpress:2002). This excellent book is all about spiritual transformation and is especially helpful in defining biblical terms like “soul,” “heart,” “spirit,” and “body.”

Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (Harper and Row: 1988). A great book, profound, clearly written. Richard Foster called it “the book of the decade.”

Wilmore, Gayraud. Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of African Americans.

Wimber, John. Power Healing (Harper and Row). An excellent, encouraging text filled with realism and hope.