Spiritual Formation Blog

The site was recently hacked by some anti-semitic hackers. I apologize for their awful propaganda.

A few months ago, I made a plea for others to start blogging, and no one responded. A site like this requires regular security updates which are very time-consuming when you have so many modifications to your content management system for the community builder elements of the site.

If others start using this site again, I will gladly do those updates, but I already have a blog and if it’s only going to be me I’ll just take this site down.

Sorry for being so negative, but I really don’t have the time to maintain this site if it’s not going to be used by others. I’ve been having a hard enough time doing the disciplines on my own.

Please let me know if you’d like this site to keep going or not.

Third time is a charm. I just found out the WYSIWYG editor for this WordPress installation does not work on Safari. I’ll try to fix that ASAP.

What I’ve been trying to write to you all about, is that time has been speeding by this year of 2006. And I know I’ve fallen far short of developing the consistancy I’d hoped for in practicing the disciplines. For certain, we’ve all lacked in at least one area… sharing our journey via this blog and the forums. I know that none of us are fulfilling that part of our commitment very well.

I’m not writing to berate you, as I’m most certainly a part of the “we” not participating in this website. I do want to hear how you all are doing, though. I know I need your support as I try to get back on track. I’ve had a very rough year, and through it all, God keeps nudging me to draw near.

I’d like to see us turn the corner and be an online community of support and encouragement for one another. One thing I’m sure of, there’s a ton of interest in spiritual formation right now. Even with our nonparticipation in the blog and the forums, we’re still averaging a sign-up a week. That’s with none of us advertising it or pushing it and very little (none the past couple of months) activity in the forums or the blog. The same thing that first drew us in to a commitment to practicing the disciplines is calling out to others. And, if you’re like me, it’s still calling out to us as well.

So… how are you doing? What’s God been whispering in your ear lately? How have you grown? How have you stumbled? As a community, what can we do for you right now?

God’s been speaking to me about intimacy… giving me a gentle, though constant, nudge to move back into a close relationship. I’m resistant, though I feel like it’s my heart’s cry. I’m at war wtih  myself, and most of the time, the bad part’s been winning.

Please take a minute and post here and/or in the forums. Comment if you’re not a blog author. All registered users can write forum posts. Tell us what’s going on with your life and the practice of the disciplines…

For me it is a great help to communicate with others to do the same thing.

I know that i am responsible by myself for the things i do or not, but I know, too, that we as a little community can help each other to stay on the road, to keep going consequently with the diciplines.

Thinking of that I know that i got more questions than answers, so I will try to let you know the questions, and hope, someone feels the same or has an answer for me

To speak for myself I am not very disciplined by nature. The last week was a bad week for me regarding to the disciplines…. The service-part is still one of the hardest parts for me, but I want to grow in having an eye for others…. What helps you to do the service-part ?

Would be glad to hear from you

In a real prayer, you ask only for the things you really need, things that are necessary for your well-being, such as peace, solidity, and freedom – freedom from anger, fear, and craving…You also touch the wholesome seeds in your consciousness and water them. These are seeds of compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness, and joy.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

hello !

my name is martin gommel, and i am from germany. my current job is photography and i love it ! i am in a emerging church here, playing bass in a hardcore band, too.

so…. why am i here ?

i am hearing the podcast of alan. that inspires me [sometimes it could be a little bit louder in the sound] and there was a podcast about this thing here and i thought “oh, why not”… why not.

at the moment i am at one of my lowest points in spirituality. i am definately not happy with my life the same with my life with god. i depende on emotions too much and so this is a perferct way of finding a rythm for my life connected with god.

very often i think of new forms in prayer or in relationshipliving with god. so. here i am, write any questions you got. i am hoping that this will rock our lives

greetings from germany

i’m new here…thought i’d share my bit of the journey with you.
i will be turning 21 in september, and not once in my entire life have i ever trusted God.
i grew up at a ‘non-denominational’ mega-church my great grandmother helped found. I went to school at a private Mennonite school in the country. I went to ‘public’ school in junior high, and two years ago graduated from a hyper-conservative private college preparatory highschool.
All my life christianity has always been a thing of cement; a religion, something to be defended. I ran away to the Carribean the summer after my sophmore year of highschool, after three months, i still didn’t know what i was looking for. coming back, i started abusing narcotics. there was never a period of experimentation, it was like i had had an addiction from birth. i now know i was using to cover up shame and guilt…mostly shame. i’ve been clean for a little over two years now, but my stuggle changed. i went from a group of socially un-accepteable substances, to a new, more legal group of substances. again, it was as if i had been drinking since my birth. there’d be times of sobriety, mostly when my health had been adversly affected, but after a month me and whiskey would start seeing eachother again.
Lent, 2006. i say now, miraculously i decided to observe lent. i was going to ‘get clean’ again…this would take nothing more than a little will power. i figured, no alcohol for 40 days, i can pull this off. however, i started reading the Prayer of St. Andrew of Crete. my eyes have been dramatically opened to my own disgustingness, wretchedness, and pride. this is where i am now, i’ve quit everything in my life, including my job. i’m starting completely over, relearning things i must have learned years ago, but through truth…discovery. right now trusting God is #1 on my list of things to learn. through the year of drug abuse, i know Jesus was near, but not once did i turn to ask him for help. every time i would drink, i was still convinced of my own self righteousness.
Soren Kierkegaard talks alot about ‘Admires of Christ, and folllowers of Christ.’ i was a ‘christian’ who had converted when i was young, and then relied on religion. not once did i ever make a conscience decision to follow Jesus Christ. Kiekegaard says that forgetting to make this decision, forgetting the ‘either/or’ is the same as walking away from christ. i’ve made a recent decision to follow Christ, committed to the world around me in his name.
peace.

First Take the Blog Out of Your Own Eye: Reflecting on Fasting

Jason Zahariades shares some interesting thoughts on fasting from Isaiah 58 and Jesus’ ministry on earth.

Being involved with the emerging church provides the opportunity to see the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Church today. I try to avoid talking about it here, as my desire is for all types of Christians to feel comfortable here. Some may have a bias against the emerging church because of the very people I’m about to talk about.

There’s been a lot of criticism over the past year, some of it much needed and helpful for the development of local churches. Other criticism is nothing more than venemous accusations and hateful  words purposed to inspire disdain and disgust towards individuals and the entire movement. I’ve tried engaging some of these latter types to no avail. I feel the type of hatred being poured out by some is damaging to the Kingdom of God, but I feel helpless to do anything. So a couple of times a month, I’m dedicating my fast day to pray for those who hate me and my friends.

I hope through this God will act, and also that I will be changed as well. I have a passion for the Church as a whole, but I have little love for these brothers and sisters in Christ right now. I think it is worth consideration for each of you to consider not only praying but fasting for those who hate you. I’ll let you know how my fasting and prayer times turn out as we journey together…

I tried upgrading the CMS for this site, and the newest version did not play well with some of the components. When I tried to reinstall the backup, all hell broke loose. I’ve been able to restore nearly all the functions and no content has been lost.

You are safe to post on the blog and the message boards, as the minor issues left to be resolved are all related to the user profiles.

Sorry for the site being down… I know it’s frustrating. I was up until 6 in the A.M. trying to get it fixed last night. Then I had to get some sleep.

Update: All features seem to be running at full speed
I learned a lot about the Joomla! content managment system through this, so the next time I attempt an upgrade it will go much more smoothly!

I just took a look at the things I have posted, most of what I have put out here on Spiritual formation.com is about a struggle or difficulty. We are supposed to share the good stuff too, right?

The piece of this commitment that has been the biggest blessing has been praying with others. I have lots of opportunities to pray with people as part weekend services, as an obligatory precursor to church business or leadership meetings (not that those times of prayer can’t be great). But getting together with other people simply for the purpose of seeking God in prayer was not something that I was in a regular practice of doing. So I asked a couple of friends if they would join me and made a few announcements on a Sunday morning.
Since the middle of January every Thursday night a small group of us have been gathering to pray; with no agenda other then prayer. We don’t spend anytime sharing prayer rquests or gabbing.

It has been amazing. Each person who has prayed with us said that they have been drawn into God’s presence. As individuals and a group, we have come to know God more intimately. We have grown closer together. We have experienced God answering prayers. We have been convicted of sin or steps that need to be taken. We have shared in the discovery of gifts. We are being transformed as individuals and as a group.
So please join me in celebrating the growth and transformation that has begun… Please join me in celebrating the ripple effect of transformation that Alan started when he launched this site… Please join me in celebrating with and for folks who are regularly being drawn into the presence of the God of the Universe.