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A Short List Of Christian Spiritual Discipines

June 2, 2011 By 2 Comments

I do not believe spiritual disciplines are rules to follow let me get that out-of-the-way before I even start this post, they are only helps to put us in the path of God.  I use 1 Timothy 4:7 as a guide for the disciplines.  Not all spiritual disciplines are for everyone and not one of these will make God love you more than he already does.  That being said, here is the list.

Prayer – Prayer is communicating with God.  When we communicate, we talk and listen and prayer should be no different.  Praying allows us to enter the throne room of God.  Many of us are nervous about this and are reluctant to do it, but Jesus has made a way and we can without hesitation.  When we pray we can use the Lord’s Prayer as a model, or pray the scriptures, and we can even journal our prayers.  In my opinion we should always be listening no matter what method we choose.

Fasting – This may be the most controversial of the spiritual disciplines, Jesus did say, “When you fast.” in Matthew 6.  Several times in my life I have fasted from food all together, but I have also fasted from certain types of food, television, and all electronic devices.  If you fast it should be a time where you Give up one thing to spend more time with God.  Nothing more.

Bible Reading – While this is the second most common discipline practiced, it is not always done the same.  We can go from a straight forward reading of the bible every day, to and extensive reading of several books in a short time.  We can study the bible with or without commentaries and other helps.  One popular study method is the S.O.A.P. bible study method, another is a questioning style,

  • What does this passage mean for me?
  • Is there a promise in this passage?
  • Is there a lesson in this passage?
  • What is the key idea?
  • How can I apply this passage?
  • Who do I know that may benefit from this passage?

No matter what way you chose to study the bible, study it with and open heart for God.

Simplicity - Richard Foster makes the case for simplicity in Celebration of Discipline  by showing how our American excess is harming poorer people in other countries.  We also have to realize that as Christians, Jesus says our needs will be met, not our wants.  How much is enough, and who can you help by having less.

Meditation - Philippians 4:8-9 says,

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

When we meditate on scripture or on what Christ has done for us, we are not emptying ourselves like eastern philosophies tell us to do.  We are filling ourselves with the knowledge and work of Jesus Christ.  We are letting the Holy Spirit transform us into new men and women of God.

Corporate Worship – Coming from a liturgical worship in the Methodist church to the contemporary style I have been a part of for the last 12 years I see the value of both styles of worship.  I love being able to go into worship on Sundays and pour out my heart in music that is meaningful to me I love hear our pastor preach and worship God through his message.  I also like to go to my sisters traditional Methodist church where the liturgy has been repeated since the 1800′s and Go still shows up every time, because he is praised.  My point is this, it does not matter what type of church you go to, you are there to praise God and give him glory. We worship him, and not music.

Personal Worship – We need to worship God with all of our lives.  Many of us are fine showing up on Sunday to worship at church, but few are willing to take that worship into their lives.  God is always with us and we should shoe that in our actions.  I am not saying to be overly obnoxious in your work environment, but I am saying people need to know there has been some sort of change in your life.  Find a way to worship God in your personal life.

From here spiritual disciplines vary widely and include but are not exclusive to:

  • spiritual direction
  • tithing or giving
  • lecto divina or spiritual reading
  • solitude
  • serving others or hospitality
  • confession
  • communion
  • footwashing
  • And many more
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The Coming Spiritual Change

June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I see it in many parts of my life.  People who are yearning, wanting, and needing a spiritual change in their lives. Many of these people are Christians already, but some aren’t.  The one thing they all have in common is they are looking for a deeper meaning to life than the stuff we have accumulated in our American culture.

As a Christian I believe spiritual change can only come from one place, Jesus Christ, so that is the point of view I will write from.   As a Christian I believe Jesus brings fulfillment and wholeness to life that can not come from anywhere else.  If that is true why are so many in our churches still looking for answers, or not looking at all.

We have to overcome our fear.

Our world will never be impacted, and our lives will never be changed if we continue to stand at the door to the throne room and not go in.  I stood at that door for many years looking at God and Jesus from a distance but not wanting to risk what might happen if I walked in and gave everything to Jesus.  We see ourselves as small and insignificant compared to God, as we should, but he sent Christ to make a way for us to come to him and lay our lives down so He could pick them up and use them.

Spiritual change does not come from anything we do. While I talk about spiritual disciplines on this site, I make it clear that they are only means to help us still ourselves, not to gain Jesus’ favor.  Jesus changes us, and draws us into a deeper relationship.  It is time to let go and let Jesus take control of your entire life not just parts of it.  There are other people who are yearning as well and when you begin to see the change in your life through Christ others will see it as well.  When we as Christian give our lives over fully to Christ we will begin to see the spiritual change in our nation and the world.

A couple of good books on this are Radical by David Platt and WEIRD by Craig Groeschel

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What Are Spiritual Disciplines

May 3, 2011 By 2 Comments

Spiritual disciplines are a way that God uses to transform us into the men and women we are supposed to be.

Spiritual disciplines mean different things to different people.  A Catholic will name many more than a Baptist.  A non-Christian religious person may name different ones than most Christians.  For the sake of this post I will define Christian Spiritual Disciplines since that is what I know.

The Christian disciplines are at their base a means to help us get closer to the heart of God.  What they are not is a formula or a trick to get God to love us or forgive us more than he already has.

The basis I find for spiritual disciplines is in 1st Timothy 4:7-9 Paul says this,

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promises for both the present life and the life to come.  This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.”

Our lives in Christ are not supposed to be static.  We’re supposed to learn and grow and follow Christ in all we do. Again quoting Paul from Romans 12:2,

Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. (CEV)

I want to make it clear that spiritual disciplines are not a set of rules.  Following a set of rules does not transform us.  Christ transforms us and spiritual disciplines are way he uses to open us up.  Donald Whitney says in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (affiliate link) that God uses people, circumstances, and spiritual disciplines.  People and circumstances work form the outside while the disciplines are from the inside.

We need to be open to God and listen to his guiding in all of our life especially when we are starting our journey into the disciplines.

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Five Books Every Christian Needs To Read

April 1, 2011 By 4 Comments


I read daily.

Jim Rohn said, books are the ladder we climb to success. While I don’t think I want the earthly success Mr. Rohn referred to I do want to be a success in my walk with Christ. I have highlighted several book that in my opinion should be a staple in every Christian library. These books challenge your thinking, and the modern American view that Jesus wants us all to be happy and have a lot of stuff.

These book are books that expanded my thinking, and probed my heart. They have, in my opinion, been used by God to draw me closer to Him. I hope you find them as useful in your walk as I have in mine.

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

Celebration Of Discipline by Richard FosterI read this book for the first time in 2000. I had been a Christian for about three years, and had never heard anyone talk about living a life filled with God. To me God was distant and removed. While he did care about our well-being, we could not get close to him.

Richard Foster Changed My Thinking

Celebration of Discipline is not a how to get close to God guide. It explains 12 discipline that have been practiced in the church for 2000 years, that many modern Christians do not do, or think about. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more. There are things you can do to put you in a correct frame of mind to see God for who he really is. And this book will give you suggestions on what those things are.

 

 

C. S. Lewis

I know C. S. Lewis is an author and not a book, but I think you should read most of his books.

Mere Christianity
 is derived from radio spots done by Lewis during WWII. Mere Christianity deals with the intellectual side of Christianity. Lewis makes the case for God, Jesus as savior, and moral issues. If you are already a Christian this book will help you deepen your faith. It is a good book for non-believers who are looking into Christianity.

The Screwtape Letters
 is a series of letter sent by the demon Screwtape to his young pupil and nephew demon Wormwood. Wormwood is tempting a human and Screwtape is instructing him in the fine art. This book gives us a look at the reverse side of temptation in our lives and help us understand the lure.

The Chronicles of Narnia
 this now popular series follows children during the great war who escape through a wardrobe to find the land of Narnia. In Narnia they are kings and queens who lead talking animals against their foes. Their story is much like our own story of learning to rely on Christ in dealing with our worries of life.

 

 

The Cost of Discipleship By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Cost of DiscipleshipDietrich Bonhoeffer died because he tried to stop the Nazi’s. He died because he lived out his faith in a way many can’t accept. From the book:

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.

As an exposition on, The Sermon on the Mount, The Cost of Discipleship
 is Bonhoeffer’s call to the church and Christians to come back to Christ as its center.

 

 

 

 

The Reason for God

Timothy Keller is pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He has been posed many objections to God, and the gospel of Christ. In The Reason For God, Keller takes those objections and one by one gives the Christian view and why the objection will not hold up to scrutiny.

The Reason for God is a Good book for newer Christians or agnostics and atheists who are willing to be challenged in their beliefs. Don’t go around throwing this or any other book at people who don’t agree with you. Love first and then challenge. A challenge without love make you and Christ look bad.

 

Intro image on home page used under cc2.0 license from flicker user http://www.flickr.com/photos/hashir/

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Don’t Worry About Anything

August 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Countdown to Zero

Countdown to Zero (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

Paul Tells us in Philippians 4:6-7 that as believers in Christ we are supposed to pray instead of worry.  I just watched Lawrence Bender being interviewed on the Charlie Rose program (Watch the interview here).  Mr. Bender has a documentary coming out called Countdown to Zero. The movie is about nuclear proliferation and how close we are to a nuclear catastrophe.  He says that within the next 50 years there is a 99% chance that we could have a major nuclear attack somewhere in the world.  As I watched the program I could not help but think of how information like this affects people in their daily lives.  How people lose their happiness because they can not stop worrying about when this or an event like this will happen.

My Bible Study this morning was on Philippians 4:8, but backing up a couple of verses it struck me how this show and this verse collide.  As a Christian we are not supposed to let the world around us get so deeply ingrained that it affects our lives.  When we worry, we are letting that thing take the place of thinking about God, and the good things he has done and is doing in our lives.  When we spend time worrying about global catastrophes that we can not change we are actually hurting ourselves and not helping.

Worry does not just come from the global catastrophes.  It comes from heart disease and cancer, from teenagers and young adults.  It lives in so many forms that we can not escape it even for one day.

What are you worrying about that you can not change? Instead of worrying take the advice in Philippians 4:8

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.(NLT)

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Personal Development-Why It’s Important

January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Why can we not just show up? We hear all the time about the kid that makes a million dollars just because he or she just did one small thing. So why can’t we just show up and be successful. I know a couple that was in the right place at the right time and are now millionaires. The problem is the right place was managing McDonald’s. Are you willing to start at the bottom cooking fries and flipping burgers to make a million dollars? Probably not; so you waste tens of thousands of dollars trying to find the next get rich scheme on the internet or in mail order or where ever it may come from.

Personal Development is the key to changing your life.  John Maxwell once said, “What your are reading today, is who you will be ten years from now.” Do you understand the implications of watching the news or just television in general everyday for hours on end. It consumes you it becomes who you are. you begin to see that life is bad. everyone is out to get everyone else. Our government is out to get us. You lose your will to be the success you were called to be. You take on the personification of someone you are not.

If you want to succeed tomorrow then start by bettering your life. Go Buy a book or get some coaching. If you think coaching is to expensive then try email coaching or hit me up on Facebook. I do email coaching all the time because it is more affordable for some people. Some books you can read are Zig Ziglars Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live and John Maxwell’s Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow’s Success. Both of these books will start you on the road to personal development. But don’t stop with two. Read every book you can find on personal development and if you need someone to keep you accountable get a coach.  I am not saying read self-help books that tell you that you need a better view of yourself.  Read books that give you an outline of how to succeed.  You are not going to agree with or enjoy every book you read but if you get one nugget out of each book you will see yourself begin to change.  Over time ever thing you read and do adds up to help you rise above the rest. 

I have a coach to help me get better and my coach has a coach. Tiger, Oprah, and countless others have coaches.  Successful people have others around them that can speak encouragement to them and help them develop themselves.  If you have friends that are of the same mindset then begin to meet with them and start to sharpen each other.  If your friends are people who make fun of you and try to pull you down to their level then they are not the ones to speak encouragement into your life.  Get someone in your life you can count on to help in your development. 

If you want to be truly successful then you must develop yourself. I want to also suggest the bible as daily reading. If you are of a different faith then by all means read your holy books. But as a Christian I read the bible and suggest it to those I coach. Don’t let the rest of your life slip away. Make the choice today to become the person you were called to be.

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New Believer Class

March 3, 2009 By 2 Comments

I am releasing this in segments on the blog first.  I plan on having it up as a download before the end of the month.  Feel free to share and share alike. This is a work in progress.  If you make changes or add to it, please send me your update and I will credit you and link back to your site on the page if I use the update.

You can Find Part Two Here and Part three Here

What is a Christian?

A Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Christ.  Romans 10:8ff says:

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(NIV)

Why do a Class on Being a Christian?

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(NIV)

I wish I had a class like this when I gave my life to Jesus.  It could have saved me years of development in my Christian walk.

So what did Christ teach?

Christ taught mainly this, 30”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37-38, Luke 10:27-28)

But Christ modeled so much more.  Prayer, Bible Study, Worship, Scripture Memorization, Fasting, Service…

In this class you will be given the basics for:
1) Prayer
2) Bible Study
3) Scripture Memorization

I.  Your salvation is not based on ________________.

Read 1 John 5:11-12 What does it say about eternal life?

Who gives it?_____________________________________________________

Who has it?_______________________________________________________

Why did John write 1 John look at 5:13_________________________________

He also wrote the book of John it says 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The Life of a Christian is not easy read John 16:33.  Jesus does not promise ease he promises eternal life.  When you feel like you are falling away or doubting, go back to God’s word and reaffirm what you believe even when you feel as if you don’t.

Read John 3:16-17, Acts 16:31, and Romans 10:9.  What do all these verses say about salvation? _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Commit these verses to memory, and return to them often.  They will stand as a platform for the rest of your journey in Christ.

But always remember it is not you that is doing the saving.  Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and Ephesians 2:8-10

We can not boast because we can not save ourselves.  We must put our trust in Christ and him alone for our salvation.

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What is a Steward?

February 18, 2009 By 1 Comment

In Matthew 25 we see a king going off to a far away land and leaving a very large sum of money in the possession of three stewards.  A steward is the one given the responsibility to manage a household. The Greek word translated into English literally is economy. In God’s economy he owns everything and entrusts us to manage what he gives us. No it is not biblical for our government to own everything and distribute it evenly but they think it is.  It is also not biblical for Christian to put so much of their trust in the government to provide for their needs or wants.

God gives to each of us and you are the steward of your portion, and whether it is handled wisely or poorly is strictly up to you. We see this played out in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). First the seeds are people who either accept the gospel of Christ or deny the gospel of Christ. Those who accept the Gospel of Christ will produce either 30, 60, or 100 fold. But what ever you produce you will be held accountable for.

The talents given in Mathew 25 are money not talents like we think of.  A talent is said to equal about 6000 denari and a denari is a day’s wage.  We work about 260 days per year so this would be equal to 23 years of wages.  In those days the man with 5 denari would have at least 2 1/2 life times worth of money.  But he did not use it unwisely, nor did the second man.  They both used what they were given to get more.  They multiplied their gifts for the kingdom and were exemplary stewards.

I retrieved the following quote from Preaching Today.com:

In his Books & Culture article “A Lot of Lattés,” Ron Sider reviews Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money
, a book “about the pitifully small charitable donations of the richest Christians in history.” Sider offers a synopsis of some of the authors’ findings:

Twenty percent of American Christians (19 percent of Protestants; 28 percent of Catholics) give nothing to the church. Among Protestants, 10 percent of evangelicals, 28 percent of mainliners, 33 percent of fundamentalists, and 40 percent of liberal Protestants give nothing. The majority of American Christians give very little—the mean average is 2.9 percent. Only 12 percent of Protestants and 4 percent of Catholics tithe.

A small minority of American Christians give most of the total donated. Twenty percent of all Christians give 86.4 percent of the total. The most generous five percent give well over half (59.6 percent) of all contributions. But higher-income American Christians give less as a percentage of household income than poorer American Christians. In the course of the 20th century, as our personal disposable income quadrupled, the percentage donated by American Christians actually declined.

If just the “committed Christians” (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess to be “strong” or “very strong” Christians) would tithe, there would be an extra 46 billion dollars a year available for kingdom work. To make that figure more concrete, the authors suggest dozens of different things that $46 billion would fund each year: for example, 150,000 new indigenous missionaries; 50,000 additional theological students in the developing world; 5 million more micro loans to poor entrepreneurs; the food, clothing and shelter for all 6,500,000 current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; all the money for a global campaign to prevent and treat malaria; resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide. [The conclusion of the authors] is surely right: “Reasonably generous financial giving of ordinary American Christians would generate staggering amounts of money that could literally change the world.”

That is all total if you did not get it. Those things and more could be done if just the committed Christians would start giving.   Take care of what you have by being faithful with it.  It is not about success it is not about the big  house or car.  If you focus on those things they will end up letting you down.  It is o.k. to have money and be a Christian but you need to remember where it came from.  Every good gift is a gift from God.

If you go to a church that is not  at least tithing what they bring in.  Find a church that is and support them with all you have.

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Introduction to the Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity

August 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Pendle Hill, a landmark in the history of the ...
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The word simplicity is almost like the word love. Everyone has an opinion on what the exact definition is. From Answers.com we get this definition:
n., pl. -ties.

  1. The property, condition, or quality of being simple or uncombined.
  2. Absence of luxury or showiness; plainness.
  3. Absence of affectation or pretense.
    1. Lack of sophistication or subtlety; naiveté.
    2. Lack of good sense or intelligence; foolishness.
    1. Clarity of expression.
    2. Austerity in embellishment.

Wikipedia gives this definition:Simplicity is the property, condition, or quality of being simple or un-combined. It often denotes beauty, purity or clarity. Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand than complicated ones. Simplicity can mean freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. It may also refer to a simple living lifestyle. Go to Wikipedia to see the rest

Another problem I face in trying to define Christian simplicity is Voluntary Simplicity for the sake of saving the Earth. That is not what this post is about. I am someone who will not tell you that simplicity is something you must do for the sake of all humanity. I am writing this post so that I can start a dialog with respect to the Christian Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity.

And finally, simplicity in any form is not in fashion today. There are several Catholic and Quaker books on simplicity but today most of the popular protestant Christian books deal with how God wants us to have more here on Earth. That is the dominant view we must cut through to return to responsibility in Christ.

So What is Christian Simplicity?

Living on what we need.  We ask for daily bread so we can learn to trust God.  Our time, our money, and even our families belong to God.  Everything we have is a gift to be grateful for.  Simplicity is trusting God and not looking at the world to tell us what we are supposed to drive, where we are supposed to live, and what we are supposed to wear.  Listen to Christ and let the Holy Spirit be your guide.

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What Happened To Christian Simplicity?

August 8, 2008 By 2 Comments

I guess asking that question while writing on a computer that cost me $600 is absurd.  I want to challenge you to look around and see if you are living life more abundantly by the world’s standards or by God’s standards.  If we were to send some of our American get rich quick prayer books to the Christians in Sudan or China they would not know what to think of them.  They are persecuted everyday because they have strong faith, much stronger than that which is required to have thousands of dollars in credit card debt and still want more.

Our future is not here.  Our future is in heaven and for eternity.  Our abundance is the saving grace of Christ not the 55″ plasma television or the house in the suburbs.  Christian simplicity is not a requirement, but I still don’t think Jesus came so we can all drive Mercedes.  I don’t think you must be a monk and give up everything you have, however that is the model given by the disciples.  What I want you to see is that when Christ said we must, “Take up our cross daily and follow him” he meant that.  I know so many pastors that try everything that comes down the pipe to help them make more money.  Most are making good salaries and they still can’t be satisfied.  If your leaders are doing it, how are you supposed to do it? You need to lead from the middle of the pack.  You must be faithful to your church and not bad mouth those in charge.  Be an example to those around you.  If you subscribe to the belief that Jesus wanted you to have everything that this earth offers leave me a comment and help me understand the teaching.

Love and Peace

Steve

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