The theology of Spiritual Formation assumes there is a level a spirituality that I can have if I do certain spiritual practices. Prayer is typically is one of those practices. Yet, the biblical picture of prayer is not a spiritual discipline that I use to reach a higher spiritual level. Rather prayer is an unavoidable mandatory battlefield in the war of faith.
Not only does the theology of spiritual formation aim at the wrong target, spiritual formation seeks the wrong kind of change. While spiritual disciplines focus on success at outward righteous behavior, the Bible teaches that the goal of spiritual maturity is a strong unshakeable faith.
The theology of Spiritual Formation sounds great on paper, but it is focused on the wrong target. Progress toward greater spirituality is measured by what can be seen (for example, how well I maintain the routines of sabbath, bible reading, confession; how loving my actions are toward others; how much I experience greater joy and contentment; how well I serve and sacrifice, etc.) which means success is measured by outward righteous behavior. But is outward righteous behavior the right target?
“Spiritual formation” is a hot topic today. But does it work? The Old Testament prophet Haggai would answer no.
A conference I attended gave each participant this simple and heartwarming “Conference Survival kit” which contained the following items and Scripture.
Most women’s ministries offer a discipleship program at some point. While there is no “one size fits all” model for how to implement discipleship, here are some ideas to help you get started.
After you’ve done your observation, word studies, outlining and answered the questions you generated, it’s time to start putting it all together. In this step, you want to collect, refine and organize all those details you observed into a coherent meaning. Observation primarily focuses on the questions: “what does it say and how do I know?” Interpretation focuses on the questions: “what does it mean and how do I know?”
https://wednesdayintheword.com/how-not-to-interpret-the-bible-dont-think-twice/
In the Christian Bible, the Old Testament is divided into 4 main parts based on genre. Within each genre, books are organized by author, chronology and size.
While not a complete list of early church heresies, these groups are the ones that the New Testament authors seem to write against and respond to most often
Today we often seek preachers who tell us stories, make us laugh, and tickle our ears with poetry and platitudes. We would rather listen to Jon Stewart than Jonathan Edwards. We ought to think critically about how far we have slipped down the slope of valuing style over substance.
So you’d like to teach the Bible? How do you get started? How do you decide if Bible teaching is your calling? Here’s my advice for aspiring teachers. First and foremost you need to learn to study the Bible well. Start with Bible Study 101. Then progress to the topics below.
Krisan Marotta is a Bible teacher and host of Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.