What is Spiritual Formation/Direction?

Wesley D. Tracy says; “The goal of spirituality in the Wesleyan mode is to bring converted believers into the experience of sanctifying grace whereby inner sin is cleansed, the image of God restored, and the heart so filled with divine love that the believer can love God with all the heart, mind, soul and strength and the neighbor as one’s self.”

Using Tracy’s understand of spirituality, Spiritual Formation becomes the experience of sanctifying grace of each and every believer. Spiritual Formation is the growth of the whole person, which is influenced by their relationship with God and others, along with spiritual practices or disciplines and ordinary life.

What are your thoughts about Spiritual Formation?

Working Definitions of “Spirituality”

Christian spirituality concerns the quest for a fulfilled and authentic Christian existence, involving the brining together of the fundamental ideas of Christianity and the whole experience of living on the basis of the within the scope of the Christian faith. -Alister E. McGrath

Spirituality is a lived experience, the effort to apply relevant elements in the deposit of Christian faith to the guidance of men and women towards their spiritual growth, the progressive development of their persons which flowers into a proportionately increased insight and joy. -George Ganss

What is your definition of "Christian Spirituality?"

Present Moment Quote

"To find contentment in the present moment is to relish and adore the divine will in the succession of all the things to be done and suffered which make up the duty to the present moment." - Jean-Pierre De Caussade

Final Year

Another semester has come and started. It is hard to fully comprehend that I have been enrolled in theological courses for almost eight years. This year is proving to hold challenges and joys that will shape the very core of my being. This semester I am taking three classes; Exegesis of Colossians, Theology and Practice of Preaching, and Spiritual Formation “The Life of Prayer.” This semester also holds new ministry opportunities with Stonewall and the Asbury Wesleyan Community; a new focus on spiritual formation is enriching both communities and impacting my journey towards Christ. As new people journey with me I am challenged to see faith in new ways and expand my own understanding of how God works. While those who have journeyed with me for three plus years hold me close to the rock of ages, reminding me of the story of God through out the human journey. This final year is bound to be a full and rich adventure.

Christian Community

I know it has been a long time since my last blog… I have been processing through the idea of holiness and how as Christians we need community in finding real holiness. Dietrich Bonhoeffer states: “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.” During this time of seeking wholeness and holiness, I have come to recognize a greater importance for Christian community in different forms. Many times in the past I only saw small groups as ‘real community,’ because it was a place of growth and transformation. In deed a small group is that, but working together repairing a tractor, or taking a car ride to Taco Bell for fourth meal, or even two guys working out at 6:45 a.m. can be a place of transformation. Anytime two or more Christians come together it should be a joy, because you are able to share spiritual truths. Bonhoeffer says: “There is probably no Christian to whom God has not given the uplifting experience of genuine Christian community at least once in his life.” So my question to you is, how do you experience Christian community on your journey?

Holiness

In the past few months I have been asking myself if a person can be apart of the Holiness Movement and be Evangelical at the same time. Through talking with professors and other seminary students, a metaphor of a ship has emerged. Think of the Holiness Movement as a large wooden sailing ship and Evangelicalism as a massive steamer.

U.S.S. Holiness is a ship sailing through the waters and spreading scriptural holiness. A major element of this movement is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to bring the cleaning power through faith of a person’s sins. The Holy Spirit brings an ability to maintain purity of heart as it blows through the sails on the Holiness ship.

Evangelicalism is a ship focused on evangelism and focus on personal conversion. The movement of this ship has a biblically oriented faith and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. The U.S.S. Evangelicalism moves through the waters of society by proclaiming and preaching justification.

So, which ship are you on? Can a person be an Evangelical and apart of the Holiness Movement?

Through history the Holiness Ship has been evacuated to lifeboats. Once on the lifeboats, they rowed toward Evangelicalism. Thinking the mainstreamist would bring new life and passion into the movement. Unfortunately, the Evangelical-zing of the Holiness Movement has watered down the message of sanctification. Mainstream Evangelical theology flows from a deep Reformed theology focused on the justification of people. Rediscovery of the Holiness Ship and that sanctification movement being echoed on the wind. As Wesleyan’s we need to unhook from the U.S.S. Evangelicalism and row toward our Holiness Ship.

True Holiness holds the best of the Evangelicalism of taking biblical faith into the society, but connects it with a hope of Holiness and recreation that society not just justification for the individual. The Holy Spirit is still moving in the hearts of people purifying and sanctifying them in order to take the Gospel message into the land. The Holy Spirit has the U.S.S. Holiness floating off the coast, calling all people back to a life of Holiness.

January in Wilmore

Like most people, attending a graduate program's special term can be quite different from the normal activities of a four-month semester. Currently I am in a j-term course that lasts only two weeks, which is great for doing other things during January. However, it also means that each day is like a normal week: assignments, papers, and readings due each day. While normally all this work would cause me to stress out, I am not feeling that way this time.

With the start of the New Year, I made some resolutions and goals. This year I want to be more holistic with my spiritual formation. I am going to walk or bike three times a week, stop drinking pop (soda, GA friends this is ‘coke’) and try to eat healthily portioned meals. Keeping with the holistic approach, I am putting a twist in my devotional time by adding a book on prayer by Mark Moore. Keeping with a journaling theme, I started this blog and plan on keeping a personal journal of thoughts and ideas for myself. In the area of reading scripture, I want to live in both the Old Testament and New Testament each day.

As I am writing this blog, I am excited about school, ministry, and life. I am feeling blessed with many friends that are in different stages of life. God’s blessings are also coming through reading books, conversations, and always a good cup of coffee.

Traveling...

Going to and coming from The Gathering I traveled with four godly and goofy men. I cannot remember the last time that I was so encouraged in my soul, while laughing to the point of bursting my capillaries. The start of the trip was classic: departure time 12:00 a.m. Tuesday morning to get into Orlando, FL by 2:30 p.m. During the trip, we made stops for food, fuel, and some fun. On our return trip, we stopped at ‘Bojangles: chicken ‘n biscuits.’ It was my first time inside a Bojangles and only my second time eating one of their famous pieces chicken. Oh, I cannot forget the Sweet tea that kept me in a sugar high for hours. I really cannot say much more or I think the guys will hunt me down, they all have wives.

Traveling with Josh & Matt LeRoy, Justin Simmons, and Jeremy Summers is and always will be a blast.

The Gathering 07

Over the past days, I attended ‘The Gathering ‘07’ conference of the Wesleyan Church. I must say that it was great and every rewarding to come together as leaders of the Wesleyan Church and talk about issues affecting our church. During the conference, I was able to hear and talk with many of the leading key denominational leaders. My favorite preacher was our own Anthony Graham, who brought a message entitled The Urgency of Personal Holiness. This message was meet with great response and was truly rich in biblical truth as it influenced the hearts and lives of it’s hears. Graham’s message focused on the personal elements of holiness while having a sprinkling of social justices and social holiness. His own bio reflects the importance of the two sides of the holiness coin.

Throughout the rest of the conference, I kept coming back to the urgency of holiness and the need for our church to move toward both sides of the holiness coin. I believe our church, through conferences, blogs, and discussion groups will move towards this harmony.