Formation Articles

We observe that the term “spiritual formation” has become a mysterious and even controversial subject in the evangelical church today. We provide a definition, a brief history, and a justification for the term.

As I scanned the yard, noticing all of my adult kids and grandkids playing, talking, and enjoying a meal together, it had every appearance of a normal Father’s Day celebration. All except one striking element. A small, bare head.

Within the past two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to engage in conversation with two authors who are greatly impacting the local church. First, we welcomed Winn Collier, author of “A Burning In My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson,” to the Colorado front range for two evenings of discussion on the life and legacy of Eugene Peterson. Pastors, ministry leaders, spiritual directors, formational practitioners, and many others gathered together with a shared desire to be encouraged, strengthened, and challenged to live and serve out of a healthy relationship with God and others.

2018 will always be the year of the child in my mind.

It began in early February when I was challenged to imagine a curriculum that would bring the concepts of our Life with God journey to children. Since that time, children’s formation and spirituality have not been far from my thoughts.

The Christian worldview mandates nothing less than a view of God who longs to be relationally engaged with human beings. If we are going to inhabit these intellectual commitments fully and take them to their logical conclusion, this can only be done by living in a vibrant, consistent relationship with God.