Hello all! I'm finally going to do a book review! I'm continuing on with the Spiritual Disciplines book that I started last year. :-) This chapter is on prayer and once I finish the summary, I will be posting an article by Dad on prayer. You will notice a difference in this review from the previous three on the book. It should be shorter and more summarized. (I hope! :-) ) I also hope to get another book review done this week, if time and personal motivation permits! :-)
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
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. (all of that was taken from the website mentioned below)You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines, Chapter 4, entitled "Prayer...For the Purpose of Godliness"
Bold emphasis is my own.
The chapter begins with the following quote:
"We Protestants are an undisciplined people. Therein lies the reason for much of the dearth of spiritual insights and serious lack of moral power. --Albert Edward Day, quoted in Ronald Klug, How to Keep a Spiritual Journal" (p. 65)
Whitney begins by using an illustration on how people try very hard to hear messages from space, he then writes, "What great lengths people will go to searching for a faint message from space when God has spoken so clearly through His Son and His Word!" (p. 65) He continues to write about how God has not only spoken to us through His written Word, but that "He will hear every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake" (p. 66)
Whitney quotes Carl Lundquist on prayer, and Whitney then writes: "If Lundquist is right, as I believe he is, then one of the main reasons for a lack of Godliness is prayerlessness." (p. 66)
Whitney finishes the chapter by explaining each of these three points. 1. Prayer is Expected, 2. Prayer is Learned, and 3. Prayer is Answered. He gives several Scriptures to back up these points and quotes several people, primarily Puritans, on the subject of prayer.
Here are some highlights for you.
Whitney writes about how lack of prayer is often a lack of discipline, but also he says,
"Often we do not pray because we doubt that anything will actually happen if we pray. Of course, we don't admit this publicly. But if we felt certain of visible results within sixty seconds of every prayer there would be holes in the knees of every pair of Christian-owned pants in the world! Obviously the Bible never promises this, even though God does promise to answer prayer. Prayer involves communication in the spiritual realm. Many prayers are answered in ways that cannot be seen in the material realm. Many prayers are answered in ways different from what we asked. For a variety of reasons, after we open our eyes we do not always see tangible evidence of our prayers. When we are not vigilant, this tempts us to doubt the power of God through prayer." (p. 69)
He also makes the point of that when we sense a lack of nearness to God, this also discourages us from praying. (side note, there's a great song, called "When God is Near" :-) On a CD called "Soldiers of Christ, available through Majesty Music)
He also says: "When there is little awareness of real need there is little real prayer. Some circumstances drive us to our knees. But there are periods when life seems quite manageable. Although Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), this truth hits home more forcefully at some times than at others. In pride and self-sufficiency we may live for days as though prayer were needed only when something comes along that's too big for us to handle on our own. Until we see the danger and foolishness of this attitude, God's expectation for us to pray may seem irrelevant." (p. 69-70)
Under his heading, "Prayer is Learned" Whitney gives several ways of how prayer is learned.
First prayer is learned, by praying! He gives the illustration of learning a foreign language, and the best way to learn another language is to actually speak it.
Another way to learn how to pray is by meditating on Scriptures. Whitney writes:
"This is one of the most compelling concepts on prayer I've ever learned. Meditation is the missing link between Bible intake and prayer. The two are often disjointed when they should be united. We read the Bible, close it, and then try to shift gears into prayer. But many times it seems as if the gears between the two won't mesh. In fact, after some forward progress in our time in the Word, shifting to prayer sometimes is like suddenly moving back into neutral or even reverse. Instead there should be a smooth , almost unnoticeable transition between Scripture input and prayer output so that we move even closer to God in those moments. This happens when there is the link of meditation in between." (p. 71)
Whitney then includes several great quotes on meditation and prayer. He uses Richard Baxter, John Owen, William Bates, William Bridge, Peter Toon, and he includes a lengthy article on George Muller. I'm including just one part of what Muller wrote:
"Now what is food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water passes through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it and applying it to our hearts." (p. 76)
Whitney then gives a couple of other suggestions on how to learn how to pray. One is praying with others, he uses the disciples and Jesus as an example. Another way is reading about prayer. He points out that reading about prayer can't be the only thing you do. "But reading about prayer in addition to praying can be a valuable way to learn." (p. 77)
Finally in his last point on "Prayer is Answered" I will use his quote from Spurgeon to summarize this section.
"I cannot imagine any one of you tantalizing your child by exciting in him a desire that you did not intend to gratify. It were a very ungenerous thing to offer alms to the poor, and then when they hold out their hand for it, to mock their poverty with a denial. It were a cruel addition to the miseries of the sick if they were taken to the hospital and there left to die untended and uncared for. Where Gods leads you to pray, He means you to receive." (p. 79)
Whitney then closes is chapter by asking his readers some questions:
"Since prayer is expected, will you pray?" (p. 80)
"Since prayer is learned, will you learn to pray?" (p. 80)
"Since prayer is answered, will you persistently pray?" (p. 81)
Whitney again quotes Muller:
"The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God's glory, they should pray until they get it. Oh, how good, and kind, and gracious, and condescending is the One with Whom we have to do! He has given me, unworthy as I am, immeasurably above all I had asked or thought!" (p. 81)
Whitney writes: "Don't let the Enemy tempt you to become silently cynical about God's willingness and ability to answer. Let a love for God cause you to prevail in prayer to Him who loves you, even when His judgements are unsearchable and His ways past tracing out (Romans 11:33)." (p. 81)
Whitney closes the chapter with this challenge: "Would you be like Christ? Then do as He did--discipline yourself to be a person of prayer." (p. 82)
I hope you were challenged by this chapter! Again, there is always a lot a leave out, and I hope the summaries make you want to buy the book!
Showing posts with label Donald Whitney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donald Whitney. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life--Donald Whitney Part 3
Hello all! Here is chapter 3 and part 3 in "Spiritual Disciplines."
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
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. (all of that was taken from the website mentioned below)
You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines, Chapter 3, entitled "Bible Intake (Part 2)...For the Purpose of Godliness"
Bold emphasis is my own. Also, I mostly included the heading of each section in the book, if you want more detail, email me, and I will give some more.
Chapter 3 starts out with an illustration of two brothers walking on their father's "extensive, wooded acreage when they cam upon a young tree heavy with fruit." (p. 41) Both of the brothers enjoyed as much fruit as they wanted. On the way back, one brother gathered up as much fruit as he could and took it with him, the second brother, took the entire tree and planted it on his own land. This tree grew and this brother was able to have fruit whenever he wanted, unlike his brother.
Don Whitney writes: "The Bible is like the fruit-bearing tree in this story. Merely hearing the Word of God is to be like the first brother. You may gather much fruit from the encounter and even bring home enough to feed on for a few days, but in the long run it doesn't compare with having your own tree. Through the Disciplines of reading and studying, we make the tree our own and enjoy its fruit. Among the Spiritual Disciplines we also find the tools of memorization, meditation, and application, which bountifully increase our harvest of fruit from the tree." (p. 41)
He then begins writing on the importance of memorizing God's Word. He begins by writing about how many Christians today think of "memorizing God's Word as something tantamount to modern-day martyrdom" (p. 41) He suggests some reasons why people think this way is possibly because they associate it with school, and memorizing in school was work and it "was uninteresting and of limited value" (p. 42) Another excuse is having a bad memory. He points out that if he offered you one thousand dollars for every verse you could memorize in the next seven days, your ability toward memorizing Scripture would probably change. :-)
He then lists several sub-points/arguments/reasons for memorizing, and goes into about a paragraph explaining each. I will just give you the headings, not the explanation.
Memorization Supplies Spiritual Power
Memorization Strengthens Your Faith
Memorization and Witnessing and Counseling
A Means of God's Guidance
Memorization Stimulates Meditation
You Can Memorize Scripture (in this paragraph he gives an illustration of a truck driver who would memorize a verse a day, after three years, he memorized a thousand verses! Whitney challenges us to: "If he could memorize over three hundred verses a year while driving, surely we can find ways to memorize a few." (p. 45) )
Next he gives some practical help in getting started in memorizing. He suggests:
Have a Plan
Write Out the Verses
Draw Picture Reminders
Memorize the Verses Word-Perfectly
Find a Method of Accountability
Review and Meditate Every Day
His second topic deals with meditating on God's Word.
He writes: "The kind of meditation encouraged in the Bible differs from other kinds of meditation in several ways. While some advocate a kind of meditation in which you do your best to empty your mind, Christian meditation involves filling your mind with God and truth." (p. 47)
He goes on to define meditation as "deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer. Meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorization as a means of taking in God's Word." (p. 48)
He then gives an analogy of tea. "Hearing God's Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea's flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more through soaking of the bag. In this analogy, reading, studying, and memorizing God's Word are represented by additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more effect it has. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown." (p. 48)
He uses Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:1-3 to write some more on meditation. He also quotes the Puritan pastor, Thomas Watson: "The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation." (p. 49) He then continues to write at length on the importance of meditation in our day. After that, he gives some practical suggestions on meditation, they are:
Select an Appropriate Passage
Repeat It in Different ways, example:
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
He says, "Of course, the point is not simply to repeat vainly each word of the verse until they've all been emphasized. The purpose is to think deeply upon the light (truth) that flashes into your mind each time the verse is turned. It's simple but effective." (p. 53)
Rewrite It in Your Own Words
Look for Applications of the Text
Pray Through the Text
Don't Rush--Take Time!
He writes: "Read less (if necessary) in order to meditate more. Although many Christians need to find the time to increase their Bible reading, there may be some who are spending all the time they can or should reading the Bible. If you could not possibly add more time to your devotional schedule for meditating on your Scripture reading, read less in order to have some unhurried time for meditation." (p. 55)
His third topic deals with applying God's Word.
He gives some more reasons/applications for this:
The Value of Applying God's Word, he writes:
"But if we do not apply the truth as we meet it, we delude ourselves by thinking we have gained practical value, regardless of how wonderful the experience of discovering the truth has been. The one who "will be blessed in what he does" is the one who does what Scripture says." (p. 57)
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
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. (all of that was taken from the website mentioned below)
You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines, Chapter 3, entitled "Bible Intake (Part 2)...For the Purpose of Godliness"
Bold emphasis is my own. Also, I mostly included the heading of each section in the book, if you want more detail, email me, and I will give some more.
Chapter 3 starts out with an illustration of two brothers walking on their father's "extensive, wooded acreage when they cam upon a young tree heavy with fruit." (p. 41) Both of the brothers enjoyed as much fruit as they wanted. On the way back, one brother gathered up as much fruit as he could and took it with him, the second brother, took the entire tree and planted it on his own land. This tree grew and this brother was able to have fruit whenever he wanted, unlike his brother.
Don Whitney writes: "The Bible is like the fruit-bearing tree in this story. Merely hearing the Word of God is to be like the first brother. You may gather much fruit from the encounter and even bring home enough to feed on for a few days, but in the long run it doesn't compare with having your own tree. Through the Disciplines of reading and studying, we make the tree our own and enjoy its fruit. Among the Spiritual Disciplines we also find the tools of memorization, meditation, and application, which bountifully increase our harvest of fruit from the tree." (p. 41)
He then begins writing on the importance of memorizing God's Word. He begins by writing about how many Christians today think of "memorizing God's Word as something tantamount to modern-day martyrdom" (p. 41) He suggests some reasons why people think this way is possibly because they associate it with school, and memorizing in school was work and it "was uninteresting and of limited value" (p. 42) Another excuse is having a bad memory. He points out that if he offered you one thousand dollars for every verse you could memorize in the next seven days, your ability toward memorizing Scripture would probably change. :-)
He then lists several sub-points/arguments/reasons for memorizing, and goes into about a paragraph explaining each. I will just give you the headings, not the explanation.
Memorization Supplies Spiritual Power
Memorization Strengthens Your Faith
Memorization and Witnessing and Counseling
A Means of God's Guidance
Memorization Stimulates Meditation
You Can Memorize Scripture (in this paragraph he gives an illustration of a truck driver who would memorize a verse a day, after three years, he memorized a thousand verses! Whitney challenges us to: "If he could memorize over three hundred verses a year while driving, surely we can find ways to memorize a few." (p. 45) )
Next he gives some practical help in getting started in memorizing. He suggests:
Have a Plan
Write Out the Verses
Draw Picture Reminders
Memorize the Verses Word-Perfectly
Find a Method of Accountability
Review and Meditate Every Day
His second topic deals with meditating on God's Word.
He writes: "The kind of meditation encouraged in the Bible differs from other kinds of meditation in several ways. While some advocate a kind of meditation in which you do your best to empty your mind, Christian meditation involves filling your mind with God and truth." (p. 47)
He goes on to define meditation as "deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer. Meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorization as a means of taking in God's Word." (p. 48)
He then gives an analogy of tea. "Hearing God's Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea's flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more through soaking of the bag. In this analogy, reading, studying, and memorizing God's Word are represented by additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more effect it has. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown." (p. 48)
He uses Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:1-3 to write some more on meditation. He also quotes the Puritan pastor, Thomas Watson: "The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation." (p. 49) He then continues to write at length on the importance of meditation in our day. After that, he gives some practical suggestions on meditation, they are:
Select an Appropriate Passage
Repeat It in Different ways, example:
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the resurrection and the life."
He says, "Of course, the point is not simply to repeat vainly each word of the verse until they've all been emphasized. The purpose is to think deeply upon the light (truth) that flashes into your mind each time the verse is turned. It's simple but effective." (p. 53)
Rewrite It in Your Own Words
Look for Applications of the Text
Pray Through the Text
Don't Rush--Take Time!
He writes: "Read less (if necessary) in order to meditate more. Although many Christians need to find the time to increase their Bible reading, there may be some who are spending all the time they can or should reading the Bible. If you could not possibly add more time to your devotional schedule for meditating on your Scripture reading, read less in order to have some unhurried time for meditation." (p. 55)
His third topic deals with applying God's Word.
He gives some more reasons/applications for this:
The Value of Applying God's Word, he writes:
"But if we do not apply the truth as we meet it, we delude ourselves by thinking we have gained practical value, regardless of how wonderful the experience of discovering the truth has been. The one who "will be blessed in what he does" is the one who does what Scripture says." (p. 57)
Expect to Discover an Application, he quotes Thomas Watson again:
"Take every word as spoken to yourselves. When the word thunders against sin, think thus: "God means my sins;" when it presseth any duty, "God intends me in this." Many put off Scripture from themselves, as if it only concerned those who lived in the time when it was written; but if you intend to profit by the word, bring it home to yourselves: a medicine will do no good, unless it be applied." (p. 57)
Understand the Text, he make several points on the importance of this, a few are:
"A misunderstanding about the meaning of a verse leads to misguided applications of it." (p. 58)
"We must understand how a passage applied when it was first given before we can understand how it applies now." (p. 58) He also writes: "I still maintain that much of Scripture is plain and straightforward in its meaning. Our problem continues to be more of a lack of action that comprehension. The words of Scripture must be understood to be applied, but until we apply them, we don't really understand them." (p. 59)
Meditate to Discern Application, he writes:
"The way to determine how any scripture applies to the concrete situation of life is to meditate on that scripture" (p. 60)
Ask Application-Oriented Questions of the Text
He writes that doing this is one of the best ways to meditate, here are the examples he gives of questions:
Does this text reveal something I should believe about God?
Does this text reveal something I should praise or thank or trust God for?
Does this text reveal something I should pray about for myself or others?
Does this text reveal something I should have a new attitude about?
Does this text reveal something I should make a decision about?
Does this text reveal something I should believe about God?
Does this text reveal something I should do for the sake of Christ, others or myself? (p. 60)
Respond Specifically, he writes:
"An encounter with God through His Word should result in at least one specific response. In other words, after you have concluded your time of Bible intake, you should be able to name at least one definite response you have made or will make to what you have encountered." (p. 60)
He concludes this section on application by writing:
"If we will begin to discipline ourselves to determine at least one specific response to the text before walking away from it, we will much more rapidly grow in grace. Without this kind of application we aren't doers of God's Word." (p. 61)
He then ends his chapter by asking us three questions:
"Will you begin a plan of memorizing God's Word?"
"Will you cultivate the Discipline of meditating on God's Word?"
"Will you prove yourself an "applier" of the Word?"
He quotes J.I. Packer:
"If I were the devil, one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. Knowing that it is the Word of God, teaching men to know and love and serve the God of the Word, I should do all I could to surround it with the spiritual equivalent of pits, thorn hedges, and man traps, to frighten people off...At all costs I should want to keep them from using their minds in a disciplined way to get the measure of its message." (p. 63)
Whitney closes by saying: "Despite the difficulty and spiritual opposition, are you willing, at all costs, to begin using your mind "in a discipline way" to feed on the Word of God "for the purpose of godliness"?" (p. 63)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life--Donald Whitney Part 2
Hello all! Here is part 2 of Spiritual Disciplines, I'm covering chapter 2 today. I will probably do a portion of the Voice of the Martyr's book in my next post. :-) Be sure to read the previous posts on Spiritual Disciplines, before reading this one!
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
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. (all of that was taken from the website mentioned below) You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines, Chapter 2, entitled "Bible Intake (Part1)...For the Purpose of Godliness" (all bold emphasis is my own)
In chapter two, the author starts out by telling us about a mission trip he took to East Africa in 1989. He tells us how he's been overseas enough to know that: "many customs I have come to identify with Christianity will clash at some points with the culture of our hosts." (p. 27) However, he writes about this particular experience how he was unprepared for how the professing Christians acted there. He writes: "Theological understanding was a scarce as water, the disease of doctrinal error as common as malaria." (p. 27) The reason for this, we learn, is that no one had a Bible! He writes: "not the pastor, not a deacon, no one. The pastor had only half-a-dozen sermons, all half-baked over the coals of a few Bible-story recollections. Every sixth week came the sermon." (p. 27) Occasionally a missionary came and presented some Scripture. The author and the others who were on the mission trip all pitched in to purchase Bibles and they led Bible studies.
He then writes: "Most of us shake our heads in pity at such sad conditions. It's hard to imagine that many of us have more Bibles in our homes than entire churches have in some Third-World situations. But it's one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don't own a Bible; it's another thing when you have a bookshelf full." (p. 28)
He goes on to tell us that "No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God's Word" (p. 28). He writes some more about the importance of Bible intake and then says: "My pastoral experience bears witness to the validity of surveys that frequently reveal that great numbers of professing Christians know little more about the Bible than Third-World Christians who possess not even a shred of Scripture." (p. 28)
He again writes how Bible intake is the most important discipline, and he says that it is also the most "broad." He then writes: "Let's examine the "colleges," or subdisciplines, of Bible intake, proceeding from the least to the most difficult (p. 29).
The easiest discipline he writes, is hearing God's Word. He quotes Luke 11: 38 and Romans 10:17 to emphasize this. He says that: "There are other ways we may discipline ourselves to hear God's Word in addition to the most important way, which is hearing it preached as part of a local church ministry. (I say this realizing that some do not have the opportunity to hear God's Word through the ministry of a local church.)" (p. 30)
He suggests other ways to hear God's word is through radio and tapes. (or using the Internet, downloading ipod sermons, mp3, etc. This book was written in the early 1990s, so there are many other ways to be able to "hear God's Word" today than there were then)
He continues on writing about how it is important to for us to hear God's Word, and says: "If someone says, " I don't need to go to church to worship God; I can worship Him on the golf course or at the lake just as well, if not better than in church," we may agree that God can be worshipped there. But the ongoing worship of God cannot be separated from the Word of God. We are to discipline ourselves to go and hear the Word of God." (p. 30-31) He then writes briefly about how we should "prepare" ourselves to hear the Word of God. He gives a good example of this, he writes:
"For a while a congregation of Korean Christians used our church building for their midweek service. I was impressed by the way they entered the worship center. Whether they were first to arrive or came in after the service had already started, they immediately bowed in prayer for several moments before arranging their belongings, unbuttoning their coat, or acknowledging the presence of anyone else. This served as an effective reminder to their own hearts and to everyone else of their main purpose for that time." (p. 31)
He concludes this section by saying: "So hearing the Word of God is not merely passive listening, it is a Discipline to be cultivated." (p. 31)
His second section of Bible Intake deals with Bible Reading. He starts out by emphasizing the importance of reading the Bible. He writes: "How often should we read it? British preacher John Blanchard, in his book How to Enjoy Your Bible, writes,
Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation, and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often to we need to see God's face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D.L. Moody put it, "A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it." " (p. 33)
Don Whitney then gives us three practical suggestions for Bible reading.
1. Find the time (he then gives us several examples of how the Bible can be read in a year and ways to do that. If you are interested in the details of what he said, email me, and I'll post them) He suggests to do your Bible reading the same time every day, and not just before you go to bed. That way, you will be able to retain more and he says "you probably do very little evil in your sleep." (p. 34) :-)
2. Find a Bible-reading plan. He gives suggestions of finding a plan at a Christian bookstore, ask your local church for a plan, and he says that "reading three chapters every day and five on Sundays will take you through the Bible in a year's time." (p. 34) He also gives some more suggestions, and again, if you want the details, email me. :-)
3. "Find at least one word, phrase, or verse to meditate on each time you read." (p. 34) He will get more into meditation in another chapter, but he does say that "you may close your Bible and not be able to remember a single thing you've read. And if that happens your Bible reading is not likely to change you." (p. 34)
He also gives another great example from a book called The Wonder of the Word of God, by an evangelist, Robert L. Sumner.
In this book, a man's face was badly damaged by an explosion, he lost his eyesight and the use of his hands. This man had just become a Christian and was disappointed that he could no longer read the Bible. "Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them." (p. 35) This man was able to read the Bible with his tongue! When the book "The Wonder of the Word of God" was written, this man had read the Bible through four times!
Don Whitney concludes: "If he can do that, can you discipline yourself to read the Bible?" (p. 35)
His third part in Bible intake deals with, studying God's Word. He uses Ezra, Paul, and the Bereans as examples of who studied the Word of God. He tells us if "Paul needed it, surely you and and I need it and should discipline ourselves to do it." (p. 36) He then says:
"Then why don't we? Why do so many Christians neglect the study of God's Word? R. C. Sproul said it painfully well: "Here then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy."" (p. 36)
Whitney then tells us that the main difference between Bible reading and Bible study "is simply a pencil and a piece of paper." (p. 37) He gives some suggestions to write down observations, record questions that come to your mind, look up cross-references, find key words and look them up in a concordance, outline chapters and books. He concludes:
"Don't let a feeling of inadequacy keep you from the delight of learning the Bible on your own." (p. 37)
He ends the chapter with a few more applications, he asks two questions:
"If your growth in Godliness were measured by the quality of your Bible intake, what would be the result?" (p. 37)
and is final application question is:
"What is one thing you can do to improve your intake of God's Word?" (p. 38)
He concludes with a quote from a booklet called "Reading the Bible, by a Welsh pastor, named Geoffrey Thomas.
"Do not expect to master the Bible in a day, or a month, or a year. Rather expect often to be puzzled by it's contents. It is not all equally clear. Great men of God often feel like absolute novices when they read the Word. The apostle Peter said that there were some things hard to understand in the epistles of Paul (2 Peter 3:16). I am glad he wrote those words because I have felt that often. So do not expect always to get an emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you read the Bible. By the grace of God you may expect that to be a frequent experience, but often you will get no emotional response at all. Let the Word break over you heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel very, very, small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any more, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you for ever to His eternal home." (p. 39)
Hope you enjoyed this second portion! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, or how you apply some of the things he wrote about. Have a great day!
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
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. (all of that was taken from the website mentioned below) You can learn more about Donald Whitney and his resources at: http://biblicalspirituality.org/
Spiritual Disciplines, Chapter 2, entitled "Bible Intake (Part1)...For the Purpose of Godliness" (all bold emphasis is my own)
In chapter two, the author starts out by telling us about a mission trip he took to East Africa in 1989. He tells us how he's been overseas enough to know that: "many customs I have come to identify with Christianity will clash at some points with the culture of our hosts." (p. 27) However, he writes about this particular experience how he was unprepared for how the professing Christians acted there. He writes: "Theological understanding was a scarce as water, the disease of doctrinal error as common as malaria." (p. 27) The reason for this, we learn, is that no one had a Bible! He writes: "not the pastor, not a deacon, no one. The pastor had only half-a-dozen sermons, all half-baked over the coals of a few Bible-story recollections. Every sixth week came the sermon." (p. 27) Occasionally a missionary came and presented some Scripture. The author and the others who were on the mission trip all pitched in to purchase Bibles and they led Bible studies.
He then writes: "Most of us shake our heads in pity at such sad conditions. It's hard to imagine that many of us have more Bibles in our homes than entire churches have in some Third-World situations. But it's one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don't own a Bible; it's another thing when you have a bookshelf full." (p. 28)
He goes on to tell us that "No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God's Word" (p. 28). He writes some more about the importance of Bible intake and then says: "My pastoral experience bears witness to the validity of surveys that frequently reveal that great numbers of professing Christians know little more about the Bible than Third-World Christians who possess not even a shred of Scripture." (p. 28)
He again writes how Bible intake is the most important discipline, and he says that it is also the most "broad." He then writes: "Let's examine the "colleges," or subdisciplines, of Bible intake, proceeding from the least to the most difficult (p. 29).
The easiest discipline he writes, is hearing God's Word. He quotes Luke 11: 38 and Romans 10:17 to emphasize this. He says that: "There are other ways we may discipline ourselves to hear God's Word in addition to the most important way, which is hearing it preached as part of a local church ministry. (I say this realizing that some do not have the opportunity to hear God's Word through the ministry of a local church.)" (p. 30)
He suggests other ways to hear God's word is through radio and tapes. (or using the Internet, downloading ipod sermons, mp3, etc. This book was written in the early 1990s, so there are many other ways to be able to "hear God's Word" today than there were then)
He continues on writing about how it is important to for us to hear God's Word, and says: "If someone says, " I don't need to go to church to worship God; I can worship Him on the golf course or at the lake just as well, if not better than in church," we may agree that God can be worshipped there. But the ongoing worship of God cannot be separated from the Word of God. We are to discipline ourselves to go and hear the Word of God." (p. 30-31) He then writes briefly about how we should "prepare" ourselves to hear the Word of God. He gives a good example of this, he writes:
"For a while a congregation of Korean Christians used our church building for their midweek service. I was impressed by the way they entered the worship center. Whether they were first to arrive or came in after the service had already started, they immediately bowed in prayer for several moments before arranging their belongings, unbuttoning their coat, or acknowledging the presence of anyone else. This served as an effective reminder to their own hearts and to everyone else of their main purpose for that time." (p. 31)
He concludes this section by saying: "So hearing the Word of God is not merely passive listening, it is a Discipline to be cultivated." (p. 31)
His second section of Bible Intake deals with Bible Reading. He starts out by emphasizing the importance of reading the Bible. He writes: "How often should we read it? British preacher John Blanchard, in his book How to Enjoy Your Bible, writes,
Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation, and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often to we need to see God's face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D.L. Moody put it, "A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it." " (p. 33)
Don Whitney then gives us three practical suggestions for Bible reading.
1. Find the time (he then gives us several examples of how the Bible can be read in a year and ways to do that. If you are interested in the details of what he said, email me, and I'll post them) He suggests to do your Bible reading the same time every day, and not just before you go to bed. That way, you will be able to retain more and he says "you probably do very little evil in your sleep." (p. 34) :-)
2. Find a Bible-reading plan. He gives suggestions of finding a plan at a Christian bookstore, ask your local church for a plan, and he says that "reading three chapters every day and five on Sundays will take you through the Bible in a year's time." (p. 34) He also gives some more suggestions, and again, if you want the details, email me. :-)
3. "Find at least one word, phrase, or verse to meditate on each time you read." (p. 34) He will get more into meditation in another chapter, but he does say that "you may close your Bible and not be able to remember a single thing you've read. And if that happens your Bible reading is not likely to change you." (p. 34)
He also gives another great example from a book called The Wonder of the Word of God, by an evangelist, Robert L. Sumner.
In this book, a man's face was badly damaged by an explosion, he lost his eyesight and the use of his hands. This man had just become a Christian and was disappointed that he could no longer read the Bible. "Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them." (p. 35) This man was able to read the Bible with his tongue! When the book "The Wonder of the Word of God" was written, this man had read the Bible through four times!
Don Whitney concludes: "If he can do that, can you discipline yourself to read the Bible?" (p. 35)
His third part in Bible intake deals with, studying God's Word. He uses Ezra, Paul, and the Bereans as examples of who studied the Word of God. He tells us if "Paul needed it, surely you and and I need it and should discipline ourselves to do it." (p. 36) He then says:
"Then why don't we? Why do so many Christians neglect the study of God's Word? R. C. Sproul said it painfully well: "Here then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy."" (p. 36)
Whitney then tells us that the main difference between Bible reading and Bible study "is simply a pencil and a piece of paper." (p. 37) He gives some suggestions to write down observations, record questions that come to your mind, look up cross-references, find key words and look them up in a concordance, outline chapters and books. He concludes:
"Don't let a feeling of inadequacy keep you from the delight of learning the Bible on your own." (p. 37)
He ends the chapter with a few more applications, he asks two questions:
"If your growth in Godliness were measured by the quality of your Bible intake, what would be the result?" (p. 37)
and is final application question is:
"What is one thing you can do to improve your intake of God's Word?" (p. 38)
He concludes with a quote from a booklet called "Reading the Bible, by a Welsh pastor, named Geoffrey Thomas.
"Do not expect to master the Bible in a day, or a month, or a year. Rather expect often to be puzzled by it's contents. It is not all equally clear. Great men of God often feel like absolute novices when they read the Word. The apostle Peter said that there were some things hard to understand in the epistles of Paul (2 Peter 3:16). I am glad he wrote those words because I have felt that often. So do not expect always to get an emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you read the Bible. By the grace of God you may expect that to be a frequent experience, but often you will get no emotional response at all. Let the Word break over you heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel very, very, small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any more, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you for ever to His eternal home." (p. 39)
Hope you enjoyed this second portion! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, or how you apply some of the things he wrote about. Have a great day!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life--Donald Whitney Part 1
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!
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!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life--Donald Whitney (Preview)
Hello all! Well, here is a partial review! I am still working on the next Narnia book, but in the mean time, I thought I'd do this as a "filler." :-) I got this book at the New Attitude conference I attended in May. (I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing about that... :-) )
Our Pastor, who took a group of us down there, and informed us that we all had to buy some books. :-) So, being the picky person that I am about how I spend my money, it took me awhile to determine what to get. I finally made a decision and one of the books I came away with was this one! I highly recommend it! I read it in June, and I'm looking forward to doing several posts about it! :-)
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life...
Our Pastor, who took a group of us down there, and informed us that we all had to buy some books. :-) So, being the picky person that I am about how I spend my money, it took me awhile to determine what to get. I finally made a decision and one of the books I came away with was this one! I highly recommend it! I read it in June, and I'm looking forward to doing several posts about it! :-)
Title: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Author: Donald S. Whitney
Published: 1991 by NavPress
Background Information: Donald Whitney is the associate professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminar in Kansas City Missouri. He is the best-selling author of Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, and How Can I be Sure I'm a Christian? (all that was taken from the back the book)
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life...
Emphasis is my own.
The foreword is written by J.I. Packer, he has several interesting things to say, and I'll just quote a few of them. His suggestion in reading the book is:
"....I can go on record as urging all Christians to read what Don Whitney has written; indeed, to read it three times over, with a month's interval (certainly not less, and ideally, I think, not more) between each reading. This will not only make the book sink in, but will also give you a realistic picture of your seriousness, or lack of it, as Jesus' disciple." (p. 9)
Packer writes some more and then concludes with:
"If then, as a Christian you want to be really real with your God, moving beyond the stage of playing games with yourself and Him, this book provides practical help." (p. 10)
In the Acknowledgments, Whitney thanks some contemporary people, but he also says:
"Thanks to the Puritans. Today they are often maligned by Christians and non Christians alike, who often know little or nothing about them. Our stereotyped perceptions of them reveal a lack of awareness of their profound contribution to spirituality and Godly living. They are spiritual giants on whose shoulders I stand. Thanks to Jonathan Edwards, C.H. Spurgeon, and Martyn Lloyd Jones. My life and ministry are immeasurably because of theirs." (p. 11)
I thought that was neat! :-)
Well, I was planning on reviewing chapter 1 today, but I think I will hold off for another day. Maybe tomorrow or another day this week! I won't be posting the whole book in consecutive order, but will be doing it sporadically for the most part.
Have a great day!
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