Spiritual Formation Research Paper

While reading the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, I did not expect to come across a spiritual discipline that would be a perfect combination of my own idea of spiritual formation, and a wonderful way to connect with the Lord. What I mean by this, is that I was wanting to create a gratitude journal, but I wanted it to be deeper than just a list of things that I was thankful for. That is why I fell in love with the idea of writing responses to the questions that were posed in the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, but still taking a few minutes to write a list of things that I am grateful for! A journal like this is also a great way for me to see the strong points in my day or week, and the areas where I need improvement. Since journaling has always

I noticed in the Fall term my directees did not fully understand what spiritual direction session was about. Hence in the Winter term, I provided them with the article "Spiritual Direction - A Brief Introduction" written by Dahlia Fraser. Fraser mentions in it what spiritual direction is, the process, the history and the goal of spiritual direction. I note for those directees with major in counselling they will find it helpful as Fraser provides a brief explanation that spiritual direction is not counselling.

al (2005) suggest that minimal evidence and research has been conducted on spiritual development, however, they hypothesize that spiritual development is a dimension of human life that is as important as cognitive, social, or emotional development and interrelated to each other. It is a dimension that is a person's effort to mix various aspects of development. Spiritual development introduces questions about the nature of spiritual change, transformation, growth, or maturity through life phases or stages. The authors emphasize that "understanding the continuity of childhood and adolescence is as vital to understanding spiritual development as it is to recognizing the phases and stages that are part of that process" (Roehlkepartain et. al,

The spiritual formation book that I chose to read was, The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. Mark Batterson begins his book by telling a story about a guy named Honi. Honi and his community were in the middle of a long drought. If rain did not come soon to their land than lives were going to be in jeopardy. Honi began to draw a circle on in the sand. He gets on his knees and begins to pray to Elijah for a torrential downpour of rain. He makes it clear to God that he will not move from the circle he drew until he sends rain to his land. Lo and behold God sends rain to the land

The previous three questions are helpful in focusing on what is important and not important in one’s life and what has worth, and assists in redirecting one’s desires and gaining insight into what is most important in life.

I agree, the fourth element in our definition of spiritual formation, for the sake of others, is the one we must never forget (Mulholland, p. 48). Spiritual formation is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others (Mulholland, p. 12), upholding the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and becoming the people of God. Jesus summarized the whole law in the command to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). These two command supersedes all other commands and the bedrock of spiritual formation process. Therefore, we are to uphold these two commands as we work out our context of a community.

Chapter Summaries Chapter 1. Of Our Spiritual Strivings In this book W.E.B Du Bois explains how he experience racial diversity at a very young age and he also spoke about two major ______ the “double consciousness” and “the veil”. “Double consciousness” is the belief that African-Americans in the United States live with two different identities. Du bois describes that one of the most important thing to the black experience is the black identity, the second thing was the American identity.

For this paper I decided to sit down with my childhood friend from my St. Thomas More Catholic School days. Katarina and I have known each other since we were 5 years old. I remember attending church with her family on Sunday morning, spending the night at her house, occasionally attending her family's BBQ's on Easter Sunday, and inviting her to all my birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese. Though we lost touch after high school we found each other again thanks to social media. We are both from Hispanic Catholic families so it was always assumed that we would grow up to be Catholic too. To my surprise I found that on Katie's social media page under religious views it did not say Catholic as I expected but rather Wicca. Turns out Katie decided that the Catholic faith wasn't for her and opted instead to convert to Wicca.

Spiritual Model relies more on the theological aspect of the matter. Problems developed is the

From about the early 1600s-mid 1800s, African-American spiritual were very popular amongst the black community. They were originally formed to provide comfort and ease the boredom of daily tasks. Also, they were a form of spiritual devotion and a longing for freedom from slavery. You may be surprised to hear that some popular songs, such as “Amazing Grace”, were originally African-American spirituals. Another famous spiritual is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” by Wallis Willis. The term “spiritual” comes from the Kings James Bible translation of Ephesians 5:19: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Typically when singing spirituals,

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).

Spiritual. Daily time spent in prayer along with a regular, unhurried time in the Bible is essential for growth. In the Bible, growth is linked to spiritual maturity and becoming more like Jesus (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:18). Time in prayer, at the beginning and the end of day

The principles of discipleship can be found throughout the Bible. One of the ultimate goals of discipleship is to become more Christ like which makes Jesus's life and grace an excellent basis for discipleship. Jesus invested in twelve men, the first Disciples, and entrusted them to continue the process. Peter, James, and John were a part of Christ's inner circle and he fostered and encouraged an exalted spiritual life and growth in these three. Paul was a Pharisee who was murdering Christians and then his life was transformed and he became an apostle. He gave his life over to God's purpose not only in a broad perspective, bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, but also personal. Timothy was a disciple of Paul; Paul was personally involved in Timothy's life. The Great Commission commands the Disciples, in Matthew 28:19, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". The Disciples followed the Great Commission and Christianity spread. Believers are meant to follow the

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

Throughout the book, the author carefully details the need for balance between theology and spirituality, and psychology and Christianity. Though the author discusses methods and approaches that are spiritual but based on a strong theological foundation. “Nothing is more crucial to an effective Christian life that a clear awareness of its foundation” (p. 25). Essentially Crabb (1977) maintains that spirituality is a product of the correct thinking associated with strong theological foundation.