Spiritual Growth
Items on spiritual disciplines and better following Jesus
A Life Worth Emulating
Fri 07 Mar 2008 by Luder G. Whitlock, Jr.
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Aitken (Crossway, 2007), 400pp., $22.
Jonathan Aitken, a skilled biographer and author of the award-winning Nixon: A Life and, more recently, Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed, has produced a valuable biography of John Newton illumined by important, unpublished letters and diary entries. He embellishes a compelling narrative by inserting thoughtful assessments of Newton’s life and ministry at appropriate points.
A flurry of books, articles, and films about William Wilberforce have been published recently in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. Appropriately so, for in addition to his pivotal role in Parliament leading to decisive action against the slave trade, Wilberforce was an extraordinary figure of great influence in England.
Intimations of Spirit
Mon 29 Oct 2007 • Responses: 2 • by T. M. Moore
Reflections on Spiritual Realities in the Art of Andrew Wyeth
T. M. Moore looks at the spiritual themes in the paintings of Andrew Wyeth and the different ways they challenge different audiences.
The Glory of Kings
Wed 25 Jul 2007 by T. M. Moore
Searching Out the Glory of God in Creation
T. M. Moore discusses the way God reveals himself in creation, drawing on the practices of the medieval Celtic saints to demonstrate practical ways you can profit by reading “the book of nature,” looking carefully at creation to deepen your spiritual life.
Dialogue in an Age of Narcissism
Wed 06 Jun 2007 • Responses: 1 • by Fred Harburg
Advice to a graduate on moving from preoccupation with self to a healthy and enriched perspective.
A graduating senior recently asked me, “How can I develop character in my life?” I think I mumbled something about the importance of reflection and living an examined life. I even gave him an empty leather-bound journal with the advice to be attentive to capture his observations, feelings, and questions.
With the benefit of greater reflection, I realize that my answer was a half-truth. What I left out was the practice of dialogue that can move one from preoccupation with self to a healthy enrichment of perspective.
The World in a Ray of Sun
Mon 23 Apr 2007 • Responses: 1 • by T. M. Moore
Poetry as Spiritual Discipline
T. M. Moore introduces the reading of poetry as a means of cultivating “second sight”—the ability to see through the here and now to the deeper realities behind all things. Seen this way, poetry can be a useful aid to spiritual growth. He illustrates with three poems and offers some practical guidelines to get started.
On Not Leaving Theology to the Professionals
Thu 12 Oct 2006 by Peter Edman
Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian: A Reader, compiled and introduced by Paul Weston (Eerdmans/SPCK, 2006, ISBN 0802829821); 264 pages plus notes, bibliography, and index.
Since Implications is directed at business and professional leaders you may wonder why our first formal book review is about theology. The reason is that all of us, consciously or not, are theologians, and as Andrzej Turkanik said at a recent emerging leaders forum, the question is, what kind of theologians are we?
Most of us tend to leave the deep thinking to the “professionals,” and as Lesslie Newbigin says, “Theology has been largely the preserve of clergy and academics.” He said this as a challenge to the average follower of Jesus, reminding us that we have a deeper responsibility than we sometimes wish to acknowledge. We must not be satisfied with a superficial understanding and there are significant dangers when you leave everything to the professionals. We thus start with this collection of writings of the great missionary bishop and theologian who died in 1998, for it offers a framework for the type of approach we will often take.
Freeing the Slaves of the Market
Fri 08 Sep 2006 • Responses: 3 • by Vigen Guroian
Why (and how) we should teach literature to business students
Dr. Vigen Guroian has concluded that his college is “complicit in producing so-called educated people who are deaf to wisdom, blind to beauty, and incapable of mounting an argument for goodness and truth against evil and falsehood.” In response, he decided this spring to try an experiment with a class of business undergrads, helping them to make the distinction between a truly liberating education and mere training for work, showing them how literature can help make them—and us—more fully human. This is his story.
On Spiritual Resources
Mon 28 Nov 2005 by TTF Staff
We have a deep hunger for “spirituality,” but often little idea of how to meet it. Fortunately, the Christian faith has a deep tradition that addresses the need. The earliest versions of the curriculum now called Entrepreneurs of Life had a section on “Our Spiritual Resources” that dealt with the spiritual disciplines and practical advice for following Jesus. This list includes some of those selections as well as other related recommendations for moving deeper in your faith. These resources can help you direct your hunger toward constructive ends by focusing on the resources of the spiritual disciplines (like study, prayer, silence, and solitude) and the ways we can use them to become disciples of Jesus.
The introduction to that section included these comments, and the list below is assembled in this spirit:
Anyone who knows the modern world and discovers the compelling power of answering the call of Christ soon confronts the need for more than ordinary resources. As G. K. Chesterton quipped, the Christian life is not difficult, it is impossible. . . .
How then can we develop a spiritual life that leads toward spiritual maturity yet can be simple, practical, and regular? The readings in this session open up a view of the spiritual disciplines that is straightforward for those who are just setting out on the pilgrimage of faith, yet offers many possibilities of deeper growth for those who have been on the pilgrimage longer.
On Friendship
Mon 28 Nov 2005 by TTF Staff
These are some books we recommend for further reading on the topic of Friendship, the subject of our Reading by Cicero.
- Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1974).
- Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (books 8 & 9). One of the classic treatments of friendship.
Richard Lamb, The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003). An in-depth and practical contemporary handbook on spiritual friendship with annotated bibliography.- C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (Harvest Books, 1960, 1971).
- Lilian B. Rubin, Just Friends: The Role of Friendship in Our Lives (New York: Harper & Row, 1985). A psychological study.
- Caroline J. Simon, The Disciplined Heart: Love, Destiny, & Imagination (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997). Discusses friendship and other loves in the context of literature and philosophy. Accessible and insightful.
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