Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth

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It would seem best that he takes up his own discipline of silence and eradicate this book from the poor bookshelves of many Americans. As a reader I came across some useful fuzzy idea or concepts, but they were often associated with practices I would never employ. And while I was listening to these chapters, I realize it's because I'm intimidated by them, thinking I don't know enough to do them well.

Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother. I particularly needed to see Foster’s discussion of “true service” as not being about “results” or being a means of manipulation (pp.Our prayer is that when we get to the other side of these 12 weeks we will look just a little bit more like Jesus. Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic disciplines", or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. To read successfully we need the extrinsic aids of experience, other books, and live discussion” (p68). It felt a little elementary, but at the same time, they were great reminders on prayer, studying, joy, and a handful of other disciplines. He hints at what he means; he employs scripture and writings--but he never really pins down what exactly he means.

meditation is the one things that can sufficiently redirect our lives so that we can deal with human life successfully” (p22). The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Thomas Merton is quoted with regard to solitude as indicating that it helps him love his brothers (p.Sometimes it rubbed off and helped others engage a little more, sometimes I would open one eye and wish I hadn't! A newly repackaged and updated 40th anniversary edition of the timeless guide that has helped numerous seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God, updated with a new introduction by the author and a new section: "Entering the Great Conversation about the Growth of the Soul. If you’re reading the book alongside us then have a read and choose whichever route you want to practise. I often wonder how insecure God must be that He needs my attention 24-7, but the answers to such questions are above my pay grade, and I just roll on regardless.

In the beginning there were some things that felt off-putting, but I think that’s more about my sin than the writing😅 By the end I was comforted and encouraged by the disciplines of the spiritual life.Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father” (p33). Although influenced by Dallas Willard (prior to his publication of The Spirit of the Disciplines), Richard J.

What I love the most about the book is his reminder that the pursuit of a Christ-centered life is all about change and bringing ourselves closer to God. I think this book probably functions best as a reference for whichever discipline you might be interested in diving deeper into. He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others. Foster’s division of spiritual disciplines is a trinity of Inward Individual (meditation, prayer, fasting, study), Outward Individual (simplicity, solitude, submission, service), and Corporate (confession, worship, guidance, celebration).He says the posture you use isn't important at all, then he talked about the posture he used and immediately said why it should be done that way and how doing it some other ways might not work as well. Oh, and by the way, let me throw in that one of the reasons I am distant from God is that, sometimes when I come to him, he says nothing--or it just seems dry and stale. He also indicates that there is something of a paradox with regard to silence, “If we are silent when we should speak, we are not living in the Discipline of silence. Prayer is a very important discipline because it takes us into "perpetual communion with the Father. What I learned from this book is, that is normal and, even in those time, He appreciated my perseverance to "press through" and remain disciplined!