Brief Outline Introduction: “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4 esv). Here is God’s major answer to the struggles of the prophet. It became the foundational doctrine of the Protestant Reformation and is a rock for the darkest days in [...]
Spiritual formation is often talked about in terms of how it is accomplished. This means that when the conversation turns to formation, it generally rotates on the fulcrum of how one becomes spiritually mature or pursues formation. Most of the time, spiritual formation is talked about in terms of the kinds of disciplines one practices [...]
Today I want to make the point that spiritual formation is unique to each person. Its practices and roots are ancient, but its application is always in the present. It never happens “tomorrow.” And we can’t count on its past formative realities to carry us forward. Spiritual formation necessarily takes place today. It is not [...]
Brief Outline Introduction: The world of violence and injustice that faces the prophet is all too familiar to people of all generations, locations, and tribes. News of wars, injustice, oppression, and threats bombard us from all sides. Many are petrified with fear as they sit wringing their hands and wondering what will happen as tensions [...]
So what does it mean to be spiritually formed? Perhaps a better question is to ask: What does it look like when we are being formed spiritually? I don’t know that the job of spiritual formation is ever done. For the Christian, who is called to become like Christ, I am not sure that arrival [...]
Merriam-Webster defines formation as an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking form: development. This is how the term is used when talking about spiritual formation. It is talking about the idea of being developed or grown in one’s capacity to be and function spiritually. When pastors, theologians, or students of [...]
Brief Outline: Introduction If you come to the book of Job hoping to find the final answer to the age-old issue of human suffering, then you will probably be disappointed. As we read Job’s story, we do not gain a definitive answer for why humans suffer. What we do discover is an amazing display of [...]
What does it mean to be spiritual? There are many ideas about spirituality these days, but what does (or should) a Christian mean when they use the term? What does it mean for a Christian to be “spiritual”? And does being a spiritual person differ in any real and substantial way(s) from what it means [...]
I wish change was easy. Don’t you? I wish that I could demolish and then rebuild the back deck at my house without the pain of labor or the expense of material. I wish my kids would learn from the mistakes of others and not have to experience the pain of personal sin, struggle, and [...]
What do you lead with? Are you a head or a heart person? Most of the time people have a tendency to be one or the other. I don’t mean that the head people are unfeeling or that the heart people are incapable of thinking. I am simply pointing out that in most cases individuals [...]
During high school, my closest friend and I took a pair of horses out for an afternoon ride. We slowly roamed through fields of wildflowers and wooded groves. But when…
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