Prayer. Fasting. Solitude. Worship. Stewardship. What exactly are the spiritual disciplines and how do they help us grow into disciples of Jesus? How do the spiritual disciplines lead us on the path to Godliness? That's a question I plan to explore quite a bit over the next two months.
But while it is still March, there is a free resource that provides a ton of insight into these questions, and prepares us for an exciting journey into a deeper walk with God. That book is "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life," by Donald S. Whitney, and it is available through the end of March 2009 as a free audiobook download from ChristianAudio.com. (My thanks to Justin Taylor for pointing this out. ChristianAudio has a free audiobook available for download every month, so check back again later.)
In April and May, from Easter to Pentecost, I'm going to be studying and experimenting with Spiritual Disciplines. That's something recommended to me by Rockbridge Seminary, and I'm excited about it! I'll look at some excellent resources for this including Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, John Ortberg's "The Life You've Always Wanted", the "Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us" by an old friend from Boston, Adele Calhoun, "Sacred Pathways" by Gary Thomas, and "The Spirit of the Disciplines" by Dallas Willard.
If you're interested in exploring the spiritual disciplines in pursuit of godliness, I invite you to join me on this journey!
2 comments:
This will be an interesting journey. While it is one thing to learn about spiritual disciplines, I have found that it really takes me about a year to really integrate one new discipline into my life. Or, it takes me that long to let go of something and give it to Jesus. May I also suggest Ruth Barton's book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence. It is very good and written as a journal/guide with practice exercises at the end of each chapter.
Peace,
Mark
Thanks Mark, I believe it will be! I definitely view this as a mere introduction, even though compared to some other topics two months would be a long time. A year to integrate a new discipline?? Wow :) I'll try to look at Barton's book. Despite being normally a Type-A person, my introvert nature makes solitude seem appealing. - Larry
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