A Wesleyan Paradigm: Spiritual Formation

Always have compassion, be humble in what my assigned duties are, give respect and reverence unto God, and continue to equip myself for mission work unto God. Keep up with my prayer life, daily devotion and meditational times.

That is one of the areas of my life that I know God is really working on right now; the idea that I will probably never find time, but that I need to make time for these disciplines to happen in my life. With that being said, I have decided that I will start off by journaling once a week. My goal will be to work through the example questions that are offered on page 52 of Calhoun’s book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. For example, the first two questions that I will aim to answer are: “For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful?.” Just because I know that Tuesdays, next semester, are filled with less activities than other days of the week, I am going to try very hard to journal every Tuesday. I would love to see the amount that I journal increase every few weeks, but I know that a goal like that would not be attainable for me. My ambition is to allow myself thirty minutes every Tuesday to analyze my walk with the Lord and others; however, I hope to allow the Spirt to lead me to think about other things in my journals. In other words, I hope that what I write when answering the predetermined questions will inspire me to begin writing other burdens that may be on my

The book is divided into seven parts. The book focuses spiritual growth and it is a manual for building a Spirit-filled life in a world where perfection can only be found in God’s loving vision. Ortberg helps us gauge your spiritual health and measure the gap between where you are now and where God intends you to be. As the author emphasizes on

As a “cradle Methodist,” the standards and theological tasks mentioned in Part III of the Discipline are ingrained in how I understand and apply my faith. These aspects of the United Methodist tradition have been a foundation from which I have grown during my formative years. Although I have not always been able to articulate these beliefs, I have learned the power in living them in addition to teaching them. I believe that much of the affirming, teaching, and applying of our standards and theological task that I do in my ministry is out of this same foundation that was formative to my faith. It informs how I preach, the lead Bible studies I lead, how I lead youth group, and my interactions with congregants and the community.

First off Congrats on the promotion to a very distinguished rank, part of the elite officers of the Armed Forces. I know it is well deserved. I appreciate the opportunity I was bestowed to meet you and also having my spouse be a part of your leadership team. I wish the best for you and your family as you pursue the next leg of your military

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for your many years of service. I truly appreciate the stands you have taken to uphold the values that have made this country and state such a wonderful place to raise a family.

My Platoon Sergeant has a newfound respect for me as a mortarman and a leader. It was now known how knowledgeable I was and how well I could perform under duress. This was the new image I had created for myself. I was very proud of everything I had accomplished, and my platoon was impressed by my accomplishments as well. I had completed a very long and tiring day, but it was well worth it.

For those who have left the church behind but don’t want to entirely abandon spiritual practice, and also for those who were never a part of the church but are still seeking to foster meaningful spiritual development, Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s new book, Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a

First and foremost, thank you for your military service. As a fellow service member I often feel that we don’t thank each other on a more personal basis.

Spiritual disciplines will prepare us for our journey in Christ. I feel if understanding correctly, the classical Christian Pilgrimage remind us that we all have issues requiring regular examination. In chapter eight, the classical Christian Pilgrimage tells us we are at different stages on the path of wholeness in Christ. However, in my thoughts some areas of our Christian journey we may be doing well, but in other areas we have not touched at all. Not to mention, these are the place we are not ready or capable of handling yet, however, as we mature in God and He knows what we can handle, then we are awakened. God awakens us to our true selves which have not been completely revealed. In reality, once we reach maturity to God, he reveals all that is hidden deep inside of us (the real us/you). By the same token, he let us see the inner behaviors, attitudes, desires, in fact how we measure up in them being Christ-like. I feel the awakening stage deals with the comfort of being set free of these issues that are holding us back also causing detours on our path to wholeness in Christ. Equally, the threat is being afraid to see who we really are; also how far from Christ-like we really are. We must first be awakened from our separation also alienation from God (Mulholland 79-82).

I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this

As a Christian counseling, I realize that I am an adjunct, specializing in a practice that is appropriately attached to and derived from the core practice, as it is legally defined (Clinton and Ohlschlager, p133). I also realize that I am more than a counselor; however, I have become a soul-care artisan, a disciple, a mentor, a spiritual director, and a guide into the deeper way of Christ (p132). Therefore, every Christian counseling session, I have encountered, has started with a prayer, to welcome God into the midst, as the Holy Spirit take the lead and guides what is said by me, as the counselor. As a Christian counselor, it is my hope that my knowledge of Spiritual formation reshapes the inner man, by being formed spiritually from the inside out, transforming from a selfish and carnal existence to a holy and joyful one; by one’s faith, as well as, the client’s faith, in God (Clinton and Ohlschlager, p130)

Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, was first published in 1978. It presented sets of Disciplines that, if followed, would serve as vehicles for a deeper relationship with Christ as well as preparation for service. These disciplines are divided into three broad categories: the Inward Disciplines, the Outward Disciplines, and the Corporate Disciplines (Foster, 2003). Each category contains four Disciplines, which indicated by their titles, moves the disciple from the very personal to the larger congregational community (Foster, 2003). Recognizing humanity’s trend to make any process a law or regulation to follow, Foster warned against this by reminding the disciple that to do so would turn

God expects individuals that call themselves “Christian” to grow spiritually. The Word of God encourages personal examination as a part of the growth process, as found in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” Becoming more Christ-like focuses on how He works in us and not on our work for Him. The Cycle of Works demonstrates that regardless of work we complete, the acceptance of others, the sustainability of our works and the significance it brings, we cannot compete with God’s Cycle of Grace that show us that we are significant in His sight and that brings us sustenance and acceptance

As religious men, we should avoid the peril of becoming so engrossed in our theological studies that we neglect our personal devotion. Warfield’s caveat to us is Christian service or work alone cannot replace the depth of Christian affection to God. Work does not equal prayer it is the combination of work and prayer that will develop as ministers. By maintaining a strong devotion to God we are setting an example of holding fast to the confession of our hope. We must frequently examine ourselves against God’s Word to verify our hearts. It is as Warfield says, we should have our hearts on fire brightly so that in our innermost being we are men of God. The greatness of our calling as ministers should flow from the depth of our understanding of the unsurpassed greatness of God. This understanding should motivate, empower, equip and direct us in our