Archive for: spiritual formation

Free Audio Book: The Cost of Discipleship-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I love to read. And I’m a big fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His book, The Cost of Discipleship, is a classic on what it means to follow Jesus. If you spend any amount of time in the car, want something to listen to while working out on the elliptical or prefer to listen rather than read, you might want to download this book. Of course, since it’s free, there’s no downside…

This book is quite simply, one of the most profound and important books of the 20th century. Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived a testimony of his thoughtful and engaging writers.

What to Expect:

Focusing on the most treasured part of Christ’s teaching – the Sermon on the Mount with its call to discipleship, and on the grace of God and the sacrifice which that demands.

Viewed against the background of Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer’s book is striking enough. At the same time, it shares with many great Christian classics a quality of timelessness, so that it has spoken, and continues to speak powerfully, to the varied concerns of the contemporary world.

To get the book, check go to Christian Audio’s free section. Add it to your cart and use coupon code MAR2010 during checkout. Then, simply download the files. (Of course, all good things come to an end, and this expires at the end of the month, so download it now if you’re interested.) If you like free stuff, follow Christian Audio on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Of course, you can always buy it in print at Amazon and read it.

Into the Deep-How Sermons Typically Come Together for Me

I had the opportunity to preach this Sunday. I love preaching. It’s challenging and rewarding. I’m always blown away at how God uses my personal time seeking Him to challenge and encourage others in their faith.

From the beginning of my life as a blogger, I have always sought to share my life and what God is doing in it. Preaching is an enigma to most people. The average person who listens to sermons gets up, goes to church, hears a sermon–and probably has no idea how that sermon came to be. While I can’t speak for others, I can show you how the sermon I preached this morning came to be–and through the convenience of mp3s, you can even listen to the final product.

Stage 1: Reading & Praying
I read the Bible–and I love to study it. It’s the primary way God speaks to me. When I read it, often passages stand out. When they Read More→

SOAP

Several years ago, I worked with Young Life while living in New England. I’ll never forget a Bible study one morning at the home of one of our high school students. We met regularly to share what we learning in the Scriptures, cast the vision for the ministry we were doing at the high school and pray for the people at the school. One morning, we decided to go back to the basics of how to study Scripture. As we handed out the worksheets with the Bible Study method, the eyes of the students lit up. They excitedly asked for more copies. I ran out and promised to email more to them.

I marveled at this because these were our solid, spiritually growing kids. Many of them regularly read their Bibles and shared what they were learning. It was at that moment I realized that even though I regularly emphasized reading the Bible, I had rarely given people the tools to study the Scriptures.

Regular Bible reading and study has changed my life more than any other spiritual discipline. Study methods come naturally for some people. But, for many, these methods must be learned and practiced. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes the role of church leadership as using their roles and gifts “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (v. 12)”. Since the morning of that Bible study, I have tried to equip people with the tools they need to study. Once practiced, these methods can become such a habit that we no longer need to think about each step of the method.

So, what tools should we use to study Scripture? Looking back, the method we used that morning was far from simple. It has been replaced with a simpler one, to which we were introduced. Here’s the simple method: SOAP.

SOAP is an acronym for Scripture, Observation, Application & Pray. So, when reading the Bible, follow these steps…

Scripture
Start with the Bible. Have a reading plan, pick something out of the scripture that you like

Observation
Make some observations about what is happening in the passage. What do you know? What is God saying?

Application
Reading and studying Scripture is of no use unless you actually apply it to your life. (Matt 7:24) How can I apply this today??

Pray
Spend time talking to God like you would your friend. Ask for the wisdom and strength to apply what you just learned.

So, try doing these steps with a Scripture. Write out and journal (or blog) your thoughts and prayers.

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Shape of Faith to Come

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Shape of Faith to Come

I love to read. And my appetite for books usually exceeds my budget for buying them, so I am always on the lookout for free books. I just got this, so I wanted to share it with those of you who study the Church in North America.

shape-of-faith-to-come1Some studies suggest Christians in North America are not qualitatively different in their character and practices than nonbelievers. Could that be true?

In The Shape of Faith to Come, research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of twenty-five hundred active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of biblical spiritual formation. The unpredictable findings reveal the current state and potential forecast of discipleship in the United States.

LIMITED TIME OFFER: download the first 175 pages of The Shape of Faith to Come at no cost here. The first two thousand entries will also gain access to a FREE Online Spiritual Formation Assessment!