Hello all! Here is chapter 1 of the book! Hope you enjoy it!
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: I learned a few new things, and thus a couple of corrections about Donald Whitney since yesterday. Since 2005, Don Whitney has been Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also serves as Senior Associate Dean. Before that, he held a similar position (the first such position in the six Southern Baptist seminaries) at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, for ten years. He is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality. He is the author of several books, some of which are: Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian?
You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life...
Emphasis is my own.
The book, Spiritual Disciplines, covers the following topics: The purpose of spiritual disciplines, Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, learning and perseverance in the disciplines.
The basis of the book is centered around I Timothy 4: 7--"Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." (NASB)
Chapter 1, entitled "The Spiritual Disciplines....For the Purpose of Godliness"
Spiritual Disciplines according to Donald Whitney are: "Those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth. They are the habits of devotion and experiential Christianity that have been practiced by people of God since biblical times." (p. 17) (he covers the ones I just mentioned, Bible intake, worship, etc.)
Chapter 1 begins with the following quote:
"Ours is an undisciplined age. The old disciplines are breaking down...Above all, the discipline of divine grace is derided as legalism or is entirely unknown to a generation that is largely illiterate in the Scriptures. We need the rugged strength of Christian character that can come only from discipline.--V. Raymond Edman, "The Disciplines of Life" " (p. 15)
After the quote, Donald Whitney, begins his chapter by saying "Discipline without direction is drudgery." (p. 15) He then illustrates this point by giving an illustration about a six-year old boy who is taking music lessons. Every day after school this boy practices his music and watches his friends play across the street. Whitney goes on with the illustration, to have us imagine that this boy is later visited by an angel. (okay, that's a little weird in my opinion, but that's what he said!) So, this angel shows the boy, someone in Carnegie Hall, this guitar virtuoso is giving a beautiful concert, the boy is amazed by what he hears, the angel then tells him, that this virtuoso, will be him years later, but first he must practice. This boy now has a purpose in practicing!
Whitney goes on to use this illustration to point out that many believers feel the same way this boy does when it comes to practicing disciplines in the Christian life.
Whitney writes: "First we must understand what we shall become. It is said of God's elect in Romans 8: 29, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." God's eternal plan ensures that every Christian will ultimately conform to Christlikeness. We will be changed "when he appears" so that "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). This is no vision; this is you, Christian, in a few years." (p. 16)
In the meantime, until Christ comes, he tells us, that we "aren't merely to wait for holiness, we're to pursue it." (p. 16)
He also says: "I will emphasize that Godliness is the goal of the Disciplines, and when we remember this, the Spiritual Disciplines become a delight instead of drudgery." (p. 17)
He then begins his section on how the Spiritual Disciplines are the means to godliness. He tells us which disciplines this book will cover, and reminds us that whatever the discipline is, the most important feature is, its purpose. He also says:
"Godly people are disciplined people. It has always been so. Call to mind some heroes of church history---Augustine, Marti Luther, John Calvin, John Bunyan, Susanna Wesley, George Whitefield, Lady Huntingdon, Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, George Muller--they were all disciplined people" (p. 17)
He then writes that God uses three "...primary catalysts for changing us and conforming us to Christlikeness..." (p. 17)
One is people, this can include, friends, parents, family, church family, co-workers, enemies, etc.
Second is circumstances, this can include, he says, physical conditions, financial pressures, etc.
This is what he writes about the third one: "Then there is the catalyst of the Spiritual Disciplines. This catalyst differs from the first two in that when He uses the Disciplines, God works from the inside out. When He changes us through people and circumstances, the process work from the outside in." (p. 18) He then goes on some more about how we don't have much choice about people and circumstances, but we can decide whether or not we will read our Bible etc.
He writes some more about how we must view the Spiritual Disciplines as exercise and he uses two Bible stories to illustrate the point. (Luke 18:35-43 and Luke 19:1-10)
He then says: "Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as ways we can place ourselves in the path of God's grace and seek Him much as Bartimaeous and Zacchaeus placed themselves in Jesus' path and sought Him." (p. 19)
He writes some more and summarizing quickly, he talks about how God expects us to do the Spiritual Disciplines, the danger of neglecting them, the freedom in embracing the Spiritual Disciplines, and how there is an invitation to all Christians to enjoy the Spiritual Disciplines.
Okay, almost done here, I will leave you with two more thoughts/quotes from the book...
Whitney writes: "Consider the people who will work hard at learning to play an instrument, knowing that it takes years to acquire the skills, who will practice hard to lower their golf score or to improve their sports performance, knowing it takes years to become proficient..." He then goes on to give more examples and then says: "These same people will give up quickly when they find the Spiritual Disciplines don't come easily, as though becoming like Jesus was not supposed to take much effort." (p. 21)
He then concludes chapter 1 by saying:
"Discipline without direction is drudgery. But the Spiritual Disciplines are never drudgery as long as we practice them with the goal of Godliness in mind. If your picture of a disciplined Christian is one of a grim, tight-lipped, joyless half-robot, then you've missed the point. Jesus was the most discipline Man who ever lived and yet the most joyful and passionately alive. He is our Example of discipline. Let us follow Him to joy through the Spiritual Disciplines." (p. 24)
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! It's a great book, and very convicting! The next part deals with Bible Intake, I will cover that this week or next week. I haven't decided yet! :-)
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this first part though!
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