“Wherever there is something in our life that is not conformed to the image of Christ, there is a place where we are incapable of being all God wants us to be with others … a place where our life with others is hindered and limited and restricted in its effectiveness and in its fullness…

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David Johnson is senior pastor of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The website describes the mission of the church as follows: God invites us to take Next Steps inward. We use the word discover to describe the journey inward. There is no greater journey of discovery than to personally discover how…

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Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH WHEN IT COMES TO SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN CHRIST? Barton: The Church (capital C) is the body of Christ on earth now and it is the primary context in which we grow up in every way into him who is our head (Eph. 4:15). In Pauline writings, instructions about…

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Life Together in Christ by Ruth Haley Barton

Why are community and spiritual transformation two of the most over-promised and under-delivered aspects of the church today? Ruth Haley Barton: When I hear people speak in glowing terms about their vision for community, I have my doubts. When they tell me about painful things that have happened to them in community, I am never surprised.…

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Sacred Rhythms

“Many of us have more clearly developed plans for finances, further education, home improvements and physical fitness than we do for our spiritual lives.” —Ruth Haley Barton An Interview with Ruth Haley Barton What is the significance of the phrase “sacred rhythms”? Ruth Haley Barton: The phrase “spiritual rhythms” is a way of talking about the…

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pentecost

Lectionary readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34; I Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 This week we celebrate Pentecost—the incarnate and risen Christ present to us in a new way through the gift of the Holy Spirit—enlivening, empowering and transforming us to further Christ’s redemptive mission in the world. Pentecost signals the beginning of Ordinary Time—not because it…

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I remember the first time I noticed that some people arrange their lives to see sunsets.  It was summertime in the Gulf of Florida when the days were hot and the nights were balmy.  During the day, crowds of people were lying in the sun and playing noisily on the beach, but in the early…

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women sitting contemplatively next to a bench, facing water reflecting golden sunlight.

Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2 Let’s be honest. To…

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Then Jesus came to his disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray…” Matthew 26:40, 41 It is a custom of the Christian church to keep vigil with Christ at different times and in different ways throughout Holy Week.…

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Editor’s Note: The Transforming Center takes very seriously its mission to equip leaders to guide their churches in becoming spiritually transforming communities. If you are like most pastors and Christian leaders, many people who are longing for something more in the midst of their complicated lives come to you looking for guidance. One way that…

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Spiritual transformation has become quite the buzzword in Christian circles today. The good news is that it speaks to our desire for more in the spiritual life: more than just head knowledge, more than rules that merely govern external behaviors, more than religious activity loaded onto lives that already feel unmanageable. The language of spiritual…

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