Your Life - A Dead Stump, or a Flourishing Tree?

                                                        (The Wailing (Praying) Wall, Jerusalem)

For several years Super Bowl weekend was an opportunity to get away. Linda and I would take our boys to a hotel that had a pool and a hot tub and, this one's for me, a sauna. [Pronounced "sow-na."]

This was family time, enjoying being together, playing in the pool, eating good food, and, occasionally, turning on the game to see what's going on.

One of our escape weekends was in a nice hotel in the north suburbs of Detroit. We discovered that, on Super Bowl weekends, we had the entire place to ourselves!

My background is Finnish. My Upper Peninsula relatives had saunas on their property. On one of our hotel getaways Daniel and I went into the sauna. A man was there, heating up. He had a long scar down the middle of his chest, indicating open heart surgery.

This man started talking to Dan. He said, "I have kids, I miss them. I don't get to see them much any more."

"I gave her over a million dollars in the settlement," he said. "She got the kids, and a lot of money."

Our hotel getaway was taking a dark turn.

He looked at me and said, "I had not planned for that to happen."

I was thinking, "Just what did you plan to happen, and how did you plan for it? What, anyway, was your goal in life?"

The sauna was really getting hot, so I asked the man, "Want to talk outside by the pool?"

We exited the sauna. Dan jumped back in the pool. The man and I took poolside seats. He told me his story.

He was the CEO of a corporation in the Detroit area. He had worked and worked to build a fortune that he could comfortably live with in retirement. It was clear to me that this man worked so much on making money that he neglected to work harder on his marriage and his kids. He was mostly absent, but bought them lots of stuff.

His wife was alone in the marriage. Eventually, she divorced him.

I told him that if he wanted to talk more he could contact me. As he got up and walked away, he turned around to give me a piece of advice. "Enjoy your family," he said.

Well, that is exactly what I am doing, and why we got away together, and why we were playing in the pool, and why we were having meals together.

Proverbs 11:28 says,

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;

a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

This man's life was ending as a dead stump. Mine felt like a flourishing tree.

Self-Forgiveness and Liberation from the Past

If you struggle with self-hatred I recommend Everett Worthington's book Moving Forward: Six Steps to Forgiving Yourself and Breaking Free From the Past. Worthington is Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a follower of Jesus.

                        (Maumee Bay State Park, Ohio)

If you struggle with self-hatred and an inability to forgive yourself, I strongly recommend Everett Worthington's Moving Forward: Six Steps to Forgiving Yourself and Breaking Free from the Past.

I meet many who cannot forgive their own selves from past failures, whether real or imagined. Un-self-forgiveness is a mental and spiritual assassin. Self-forgiveness rooted in God's great act of forgiveness in Christ is liberating.

Self-forgiveness will free you from guilt. "Sometimes guilt arises over unrealistic expectations and standards of perfection that none of us can achieve. When you are able to forgive yourself, that weight is lifted." (Worthington, p. 45)

Self-forgiveness will free you from self-blame. "Self-forgiveness frees you from the chattering, accusing voice in your head." (Ib., 46)

Self-forgiveness will free you from stress-related illness. "Self-forgiveness can improve your health, 1 and here’s why. Holding on to self-condemnation elevates your stress, which has been associated with a long list of physical and psychological harm." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness can liberate you from alcohol misuse. "Forgiveness of the self might be, for alcoholics, the most difficult type of forgiveness to achieve. But if they were able to do so, it could help control their drinking." (Ib., p. 47)

Self-forgiveness can liberate you from accusation. "By bringing our sins to God and receiving God’s forgiveness, we can then forgive ourselves and we can rest in the knowledge that the accusations of Satan are groundless. If we forgive ourselves, we can silence the oppressive voice of the enemy." (Ib., 47)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for flourishing. "By not being so wrapped up in self-condemnation, you can enjoy more pleasurable and positive experiences." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for focusing on God. "Instead of being wrapped up in condemning yourself for past failures, you can seek God and enjoy that relationship." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for focusing on others. "Self-forgiveness allows you to focus on others, with the goal of helping to meet their needs." (Ib., p. 48)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for health. "Self-forgiveness provides energy and vitality. It supplies both a freedom from the past and a forward-thinking orientation that helps you seek the benefits of exercise, a healthy diet, and energetic work." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for a better quality of life. "Self-forgiveness can matter greatly in enhancing one’s quality of life." (Ib., 50)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for peace. "People who continue to wrestle with self-blame are unsettled. They find it difficult to exhale and relax. Forgiving yourself will help you live at peace." (Ib.)

Worthington cites empirical studies supporting these conclusions. Given the great benefits of self-forgiveness, why would anyone choose to wallow in self-condemnation?

***

My Books

 Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Encounters with the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)

Deconstructing Progressive Christianity

31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship 

31 Letters to the Church on Praying

 

Overcoming Anxiety and Trauma with Mike Hutchings & Craig Miller

In the Culture Wars, Our Job Is to Be Faithful

 

Robert P. George is one of my intellectual heroes (author; Prof. of Law, Princeton). Here is an interview with George, on the spiritual and intellectual battles we are fighting against deeply entrenched woke-ism (which he calls a fundamentalist and increasingly militant pseudo-religion) and secular progressive ideology. (For an excellent article on wokeism as religion, see "Wokeness and the New Religious Establishment.")

George closes the interview by quoting Richard John Neuhaus, as a reminder of the perspective we must keep.

“Remember, our job is to be faithful—ever faithful—standing boldly and fighting for what’s right; the victory will surely come, but its timing and terms are not up to us. The victory will come in God’s time and on his terms. We must stick to doing our job, and not try to do His. We are merely His instruments. So, however dark things may seem, never yield to despair. Leave the timing and terms of the victory to God. Be faithful—ever faithful.”

Remember, as Mother Teresa said,

Practicing the Discipline of Secrecy

 

A good portion of what happens on social media is about the need to be liked. Or, the need to be noticed. 

Or, the need to be pitied. 

The need to be loved. 

The unloved, unpitied, unnoticed, and disliked, write about themselves, too much, thus exposing their fundamental insecurity.

We get less information from those who consciously refrain from making known their good qualities and accomplishments. This disciplines their longing for recognition.

Richard Foster writes,

"We often long to talk about the good deeds that we do, wanting others to think well of us. The danger of this inclination is that approval will become our motivation." (Foster, Year with God, p. 139)

We all need to love and be loved. We all need to belong. As these basic human needs are increasingly realized, we hunger less for human approval on social media. We look to God for approval, rather than frail and finite people like ourselves. 

Foster writes,

"That is not to say that our good qualities will never be recognized by others, just that we leave it to God to point them out... Practicing the discipline of secrecy simply relinquishes to God the power to reveal our light. This submission is only appropriate, because everything in us that is good comes from God." (Ib.)

Oral Exams in my Philosophy Classes

 

                                                  (Monroe County Community College)

I taught philosophy (logic, philosophy of religion, Western philosophy) for eighteen years at Monroe County Community College (Michigan). My favorite course to teach was Philosophy of Religion.

Student grades were based on three, one-on-one, oral exams. Each exam had five     questions. Students knew in advance what the questions were, and how to answer each one of them.

I graded each exam from E-A, at an introductory class level.

The first exam.

1. State and explain Anselm's Ontological Argument for God's Existence.
2. State and explain Gaunilo's objection to Anselm's Ontological Argument, and how to respond back to Gaunilo.
3. State and explain Kant's criticism of the Ontological Argument that 'exists' is not a predicate.
4. State and explain the Kalam Cosmological Argument for God's existence.
5. State and explain the Argument for God's Existence Based on Anthropic Coincidences at the Origin of the Universe.

My lectures were formed around responding to and explaining these questions. 

Advantages of giving oral exams included:

• students knew exactly what I, the professor, wanted
• plagiarism was impossible
• cheating was impossible
• memorization and repetition deepened the correct responses in students
• years later, I occasionally run into a student who remembers these arguments
• no grading written papers
• getting to personally converse with and relate to my students

For some validation, see HERE.

What Makes Jesus Different From Other Gods? - Questions With God

I am with Robby Dawkins, Brian Schwartz, and Jamie Galloway in this episode of the TV series Questions with God.

Here's my answer.

10 Reasons I Pray for the Sick

(Chicago)

Why pray for the sick? Here are ten reasons.

1. I pray for the sick because Jesus prayed for the sick.

2. I pray for the sick because I love people.

3. I pray for the sick because, in Normal Church, that's what is done. (See, e.g., the book of Acts.)

4. I pray for the sick because God commands me to pray for healing..

5. I pray for the sick because I have testimonies of the sick being healed. (This encourages me, creating faith and expectation.)

6. I pray for the sick because I am a person of faith, not sight.

7. I pray for the sick because my concept of God, while incomplete, is vast. (I believe God is omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Hence, by using logic, God loves us, knows if we are sick, and has more than enough power to heal people.)

8. I pray for the sick because I do not believe sickness is a sign of God's working all things together for good. (No sickness in eternity, right? Yes, we live in a fallen creation. So, sickness exists. God can redeem our sickness. But I have problems with the idea that God is the causal agent of sickness. At least at Redeemer I'm not telling people, "Yay, you have cancer! God is working all things together for good in you!" That, to me, is so non-Hebraic. Luke 4:40 does not read: "At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of diseases, and laying his hands on some but not others because he wanted those others to stay sick, he healed some of them." The theological position that comprehensive healing (a Hebraic idea) is in the atonement helps here. See Bruce Reichenbach's contribution in The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views.)

9. I pray for the sick because I love seeing God glorified.

10. I pray for the sick because medicine, as wonderful as it is, is unable to cure everything.

Note: All this is out of my comfort zone. I am becoming comfortable with that, since nearly everything Jesus is and does is out of my comfort zone.

National Day of Prayer - May 4

 

Being Unwoke at Harvard

 

                                             (Grand Haven, Michigan)

In 1974 I graduated, from Northern Illinois University, with a Bachelor's degree in philosophy. My time in NIU's philosophy department was exhilarating. I was a new Christian, working out my worldview. Several of my professors were of a different worldview. And yet, they allowed me to reason together with them.

"Come, let us reason together." (Isaiah 1:18)

As I was nearing the end of this degree program, I received a call from the head of the philosophy department. He and another professor would like to meet with me. I went to his office, sat down, and the department head said, "We think you should enter a PhD program in philosophy. We'll support you, and write your recommendations."

Note this: these two professors were not professing followers of Jesus. I was. We had our differences. Yet, they wanted to champion me. I have not forgotten this.

Ahhh, those were the days when a university education allowed for dialoguing and reasoning together over ideas, many of which ran contrary to one's own. There was no mocking or ridiculing in my philosophy classes. Just rational discussion. What a fertile ground for learning! Because you won't really understand your own worldview without understanding other worldviews that challenge yours.

I am one who came out of the secular university stronger in my faith than when I entered in. I was allowed to engage ideas, not be triggered by them. To engage with that which threatens you can strengthen you. 

This is not the case in today's American university. "Students at many colleges these days operate like Red Guards in China’s Cultural Revolution. Being unwoke is socially punished. Breaking that culture of conformity will take reinforcement across the institution." (Wall Street Journal, "Harvard Has a Free Speech Moment: Fifty Professors Form an Alliance on Academic Freedom")

Most of the Woke Red Guard I encounter are asleep at the wheel of reason. They can bully. They cannot think. Or, in a Nietzschean move, they prefer bullying over thinking. (See here.)

But, perhaps there is some hope for the woke. At Harvard, Stephen Pinker (an atheist, btw), and fifty diverse Harvard professors, are forming "a new faculty-led Council on Academic Freedom dedicated to the free exchange of ideas as a cornerstone of “reason and rational discourse.”"

These professors confess, sadly, that Harvard has seen “cases of disinvitation, sanctioning, harassment, public shaming, and threats of firing and boycotts for the expression of disfavored opinions.”

Being unwoke at Harvard. A ray of hope?

Now Reading... (on Emotions)

 

Are our emotions cognitive, or non-cognitive?

To be epistemically trusted, or distrusted?

To be valued, or not?

I'm now reading two excellent books on this.

Faithful Feelings: Rethinking Emotion in the New Testament, by Matthew Elliott

Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith, by Clifford Williams

Unilateral and Corporate Leadership

(In my home office, making lots of decisions.)

I met a man who told me he bought a house for his wife and children to live in. OK. Then he told me, "I bought it without her and the kids seeing it." Not OK.

Big mistake.

Unsurprisingly, this did not go over well. It was a pattern in this marriage, causing many problems.

Many leaders simply announce, to their employees, decisions they have made, without consulting the employees. That is top-down leadership, which breeds insecurity and resentment among the people.

When I desire a cup of coffee at Starbucks, I don't call Linda and ask her permission. I can make that decision unilaterally. As for our house, this is the only one we have ever bought. Linda picked it out. And suggested we both look at it. Together, we discerned we were to make an offer. We made this decision corporately.

Note the word "together." Every person must know what decisions they should make corporately, and what decisions they can make unilaterally. When in doubt, take the corporate route.

Unilateral leaders are either dictators or fools, or both. A leader must not go more than one step ahead of their people. If they get two steps ahead, they are a martyr. That's foolish.

Unilateral leaders fear authentic community. Any group of two has at least two different perspectives. For example, a wife and husband. Corporate leaders understand and honor this.

Unilateral leaders are narcissistic. [Pastors, see here for the data.) They demand uniformity. This never turns out well for the community. 

Corporate leaders aim higher, going after unity. When this happens in a  church all experience blessing. As we read in Psalm 133:1-3,

How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
    even life forevermore.

***

My leadership book is: Leading the Presence-Driven Church.

Spiritual Formation Bibliography

(Monroe County Community College)

Here's my spiritual formation bibliography, with some annotations.

I highlight in bold red books that I strongly recommend. 

Annotated Bibliography

Arnold, Eberhard. Inner Land: A Guide Into the Heart and Soul of the Bible (Rifton, N.Y: Plough Publishing House, 1976). A classic in Anabaptist spirituality.

Baldwin, Lewis. Revives My Soul Again: The Spirituality of Martin Luther King Jr.

Baldwin. Never to Leave Us Alone: The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King Jr.

Barton, Ruth Haley

- Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence
- Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of ministry
- Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

Beilby, James K., and Eddy, Paul Rhodes. Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Arguably, this is the book to read on the current state of spiritual warfare studies.

Black, Gary. Preparing for Heaven: What Dallas Willard Taught Me About Living, Dying, and Eternal Life. A beautiful, inspiring book I could not put down.

Blackaby, Henry T., and King, Claude V. Experiencing God. An excellent, clearly written text that is especially good for church study.

Boyd, Greg. Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy

(IVP: 2001). An excellent study on the kingdom of God, esp. on spiritual battle and the kingdom of Satan. A coherent Christian response to the philosophical problem of evil.

Boyd. Present Perfect: Finding God In the Now. (Zondervan: 2010) This is an excellent, clearly written little book that contains some deep spiritual insights that are not found in other spirituality texts. Greg’s meditation on “death” is worth the price of the book.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. The Practice of the Presence of God (Garden City: Image, 1977). A spiritual classic by a 17^th-century monk that is still relevant today, and is especially good at knowing God in the everyday, mundane tasks of life.

Buechner, Frederick. Godric (New York: Harper and Row, 1980). A beautiful novel, spiritually deep and uplifting. The character of Godric reminds me of Thomas Merton.

Campolo, Tony, and Darling, Mary Albert. The God of Intimnacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice. Nicely puts together the spiritual disciplines and social activism.

Collins, Kenneth J. Exploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader (Baker Book House: 2000). An excellent one-volume text.

Cone, James. The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

Costen, Melva Wilson. African American Christian Worship.

Dawn, Marva. Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living In An Affluent Society (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation: 2003). This is a deep, profound study allowing us to see our materialistic world and our spiritual place in it through God’s eyes.

Dawn, Eugene Peterson. The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call

Davis, John Jefferson. Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence

Deere, Jack. Surprised By the Voice of God: How God Speaks Today Through Prophecies, Dreams, and Visions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996). A very good, clearly written biblical and historical presentation of how one hears God speaking to them.

Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (Harper and Row). This makes my personal top ten ever-read list. A beautiful meditation of the creation, especially its microscopic aspects.

Fee, Gordon. God’s Empowering Presence (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994). This massive text is, arguably, the definitive statement of the apostle Paul’s spirituality. A detailed study of every Pauline reference to the Holy Spirit.

Fee. The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987). Superb, meditative, scholarly commentary on what it means to be pneumatikos (“spiritual”).

Felder, Cain Hope. Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. (Augsburg: 1991) This edited collection does an excellent job distinguishing the Eurocentric bias in biblical hermeneutics from an African American perspective which gives place to the now-experiential reality of God’s Spirit speaking to us through the written text.

Foster, Richard. A Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper and Row). The modern classic on the spiritual disciplines. If you have not yet read this it should be one of your choices.

Foster. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (Harper and Row: 1992). Examines several different types of prayer that are both biblically and historically Christian.

Foster. Life With God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation. (HarperOne: 2010)

Foster. Longing for God: Seven Paths of Spiritual Devotion. (Intervarsity Press: 2009)

Foster, and Griffin, Emilie. Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines (Harper and Row: Feb. 2000). A very good collection representing the great Christian types of spirituality.

Foster. Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith (Harper and Row: 1998). On the following traditions: contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational.

Grenz, Stanley. Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom. One of our great theologians positions praying within the context of the kingdom of God.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1988). Excellent, especially in its emphasis on corporate spirituality.

Hernandez, Will. Henri Nouwen and Spiritual Polarities: A Life of Tension.

Holmes, Urban T. Spirituality for Ministry. Still one of the best books on this subject.

Jones, Cheslyn, et. al., eds. The Study of Spirituality (New York: Oxford, 1986). A very good one-volume source on the history of Christian spirituality.

Keener, Craig. Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in the Light of Pentecost.

Keener. The Mind of the Spirit: Paul's Approach to Transformed Thinking.

Keener. Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God In the Modern World.

Kelleman, Robert, and Edwards, Karole A. Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. (Baker: 2007)

Kelly, Thomas. A Testament Of Devotion (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941). This brilliant, provocative little text makes my top ten ever-read books on Christian spirituality. A modern classic.

Kraft, Charles. Christianity With Power: Your Worldview and Understanding of the Supernatural (Ann Arbor, Mi.: Servant, 1989). A brilliant study in paradigm theology by an anthropologist and missiologist at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Kruger, C. Baxter. The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited.

Ladd, George. The Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God (Eerdmans: 1959). A classic, still-used examination of the kingdom of God as both present and future. Schoalrly, but it often reads devotionally.

Leech, Kenneth. Experiencing God: Theology As Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985). An excellent historical study, from biblical times to the present, of the experience of God.

Leech. Soul Friend: The Practice of Christian Spirituality (New York: Harper and Row, 1980). The best book available on spiritual direction.

Leech. True Prayer: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1980).

C. S. Lewis. How to Pray: Reflections and Essays.

Lovelace, Richard. Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1979).

Lovelace. Renewal As a Way of Life: A Guidebook for Spiritual Growth (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1985).

Manning, Brennan. The Ragamuffin Gospel. A beautiful, very thoughtful meditation on the grace of God.

Manning, Abba’s Child. This book spoke deeply to me about my need for experiential knowledge of the love of God.

Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus. Very good as it gets at the real Jesus.

May, Gerald. Addiction and Grace (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1991). An excellent, clearly written book with an especially helpful section on addiction to control.

May. Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction (New York: Harper and Row, 1992). A very good text on the nature of spiritual direction.

May. Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology (Harper and Row: 1987). An excellent text, especially on May's distinction between willfulness and willingness.

Mbiti, John. African Religions and Philosophy.

Mbiti. Introduction to African Religion.

McGinn, Bernard. The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism. McGinn  is arguably our greatest scholar on the nature of Christian mysticism. This is the text to read on mysticism in the early church father, and in the West.

McKnight, Scot; Tickle, Phyllis.  Fasting: The Ancient Practices.

McLaren, Brian. The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything (Thomas Nelson: 2007). I loved this book about the kingdom of God.

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes On Contemplation (Harper: 2003). This is Merton’s final book. Few write about contemplation as well as he does.

Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961). Merton at his best.

Merton. No Man Is an Island (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983). Contains the classic chapter, “Being and Doing.”

Merton. Praying the Psalms

Merton. Seeds (Shambala: 2002). A killer collection of Merton quotes. A tremendous introduction to the depth, wisdom, and discernment of Thomas Merton. Prophetic.

Merton. The Sign of Jonas (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981). One of Merton’s journals, containing many spiritual gems,

Miller, J. Keith. A Hunger for Healing: The Twelve Steps as a Classic Model for Christian Spiritual Growth (New York: Harper and Row, 1991).

Miller. Hope In the Fast Lane: A New Look at Faith in a Compulsive World (New York: Harper and Row, 1987). An excellent text on overcoming sin in one’s life. Especially good on identifying the deep source of stress and overcoming stress.

Miller. The Secret Life of the Soul (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1997). About the vulnerability needed for the transformation of the soul.

Moreland, J.P. Finding Quiet: My Story of Overcoming Anxiety and the Practices that Brought Peace

Muse, J. Stephen, ed. Beside Still Waters: Resources for Shepherds in the Marketplace (Smyth and Helwys: 2000). An excellent text that uses Psalm 23 to speak to Christian leaders regarding spiritual issues. Very good on our need to care for ourselves physically.

Mulholland, Robert. Shaped By the Word: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation (Nashville: Upper Room Press, 1985). An excellent book on how the Bible interprets us.

Nelson, Alan. Broken In the Right Place: How God Tames the Soul (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994). A very good book on how spiritual brokenness effects personal transformation.

Nouwen, Henri. A Cry for Mercy: Prayers From the Genesee (Garden City, New York: Image, 1981). A beautiful book of prayers expressing our heart’s fears, struggles, and longings.

Nouwen. Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1987).

Nouwen. Gracias! A Latin American Journal (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983). One of Nouwen’s spiritual journals.

Nouwen. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (Harper and Row). A brilliant little book, among the best I have ever read on pastoral leadership.

Nouwen. Lifesigns: Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Christian Perspective (New York: Image, 1986).

Nouwen. Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (New York: Harper and Row, 1981).

Nouwen. Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Spiritual Life (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1980).

Nouwen. Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Garden City, New York: Image, 1976).

An excellent text; a modern classic. On solitude, hospitality, and prayer.

Nouwen. Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith.

Nouwen. Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit.

Nouwen. The Genesee Diary: Report From A Trappist Monastery (Garden City, New York: Image, 1976). This book makes my top ten ever-read list in terms of spiritual impact. An excellent example of journaling that is of spiritual value.

Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love (Image Books: 1999). I find it hard to express how much God used a slow, meditative reading of this book to effect changes in my life.

Nouwen. The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ (New York: Harper and Row). A tremendous book for pastors and Christian leaders.

Nouwen. The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life.

Nouwen. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (New York: Image, 1992). Simply put, one of Nouwen’s best and one of my very favorites.

Nouwen, and Dear, John. The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice. This is a spectacular book to read devotionally, with Nouwen's deep insights clarifying real Jesus-following and the blessedness of peacemaking.

Nouwen. The Way of the Heart (New York: Ballantine, 1981). A beautiful, meditative little book on solitude, silence, and prayer.

Paris, Peter. The Spirituality of African Peoples.

Payne, Leanne. Listening Prayer: Learning to Hear God’s Voice and Keep a Prayer Journal (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991). A very good, well-written text on what it means to hear God’s voice.

Peterson, Eugene. As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God

Peterson. The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Dallas: Word, 1989). I have read this book two or three times. It always reminds me of my priorities in pastoral ministry.

Peterson. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. The first of five books in Peterson’s summary of his spiritual theology.

Piippo, John. Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Piippo. Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.

Piippo, 31 Letters to the Church on Praying

Stephen Porter, Gary Moon, and J. P. Moreland, eds. Until Christ is Formed in You: Dallas Willard and Spiritual Formation. 

Quinn, Robert. Deep Change (Jossey-Bass: 1996). A very good book, written from a leadership-business perspective, on the inner transformation required to lead effectively.

Renovare, et. al. The Life with God Bible NRSV. The spiritual exercises are woven into this study Bible.

Seamands, Stephen. Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service

Senn, Frank, ed. Protestant Spiritual Traditions (New York: Paulist, 1986). Various authors writing from the following perspectives: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Puritan, Pietist, and Methodist.

Sittser, Jerry. A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss. Perhaps the best book on a spirituality of grieving ever written, by a deep thinker and excellent writer.

Sittser. A Grace revealed: How God Redeems the Story of Your Life. The follow-up to A Grace Disguised.

Smedes, Lewis. Shame and Grace. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1994). For me, a beautiful book on overcoming self-condemnation by a deeper understanding and experience of the grace of God.

St. Teresa of Avila. Interior Castle. (Image Books: 1972) A spiritual classic.

Thomas, Gary. Sacred Pathways (Zondervan: 2000). Very good on showing different spiritual styles and various ways persons experience God (the naturalist, sensate, traditionalist, ascetic, activist, caregiver, enthusiast, contemplative, and intellectual).

Thurman, Howard. For the Inward Journey: The Writings of Howard Thurman (Harcourt Brace: 1984). An excellent anthology of Thurman’s spiritual writings.

Thurman. Jesus and the Disinherited (Beacon: 1996). If you’re going to read one book by Thurman this is the one to read. He is brilliant, insightful, and extremely relevant for even today. There s a timelessness about Thurman’s writings.

Thurman. Howard Thurman: Essential Writings. (Orbis: 2006) Edited by Luther Smith. Smith is one of our great, if not our greatest, Thurman scholars. His introduction to Thurman’s writing is very helpful.

Thurman. Meditations of the Heart. (Beacon: 1999)

Thurman. With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman.

Van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Walters, Kerry (ed.). Rufus Jones: The Essential Writings. Howard Thurman was deeply indebted to the mentoring of the Quaker mystic Rufus Jones.

Weems, Renita. Listening for God: A Minister’s Journey Through Silence and Doubt (Simon and Schuster: 1999). An excellent reflection of the silence of God and intimacy with God.

West, Cornel, and Glaube Jr., Eddie S. African American Religious Thought: An Anthology. (Westminster John Knox: 2003)

Wilbourne, Rankin. Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God

Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (Harper Collins: 1998). What a deep, beautiful book on the kingdom of God.

Willard. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (IVP: 1999)

Willard. Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23

Willard. Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God

Willard and Gary Black. Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks

Willard. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (Navpress:2002). This excellent book is all about spiritual transformation and is especially helpful in defining biblical terms like “soul,” “heart,” “spirit,” and “body.”

Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (Harper and Row: 1988). A great book, profound, clearly written. Richard Foster called it “the book of the decade.”

Willard, Gary Moon, Richard Foster, et. al. Eternal Living: Reflections on Dallas Willard's Teaching on Faith and Formation

Wilmore, Gayraud. Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of African Americans.

Wimber, John. Power Healing (Harper and Row). An excellent, encouraging text filled with realism and hope.