What is Spiritual Formation and why does it matter?

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL FORMATION AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

I found the following article published just this week from John MacArthur’s Grace To Youministry, and I’m sharing it today so you can begin to understand why Spiritual Formation is causing so many Christians concern:

It’s possible—perhaps even likely—that you’ve never heard the phrasespiritual formation before. It’s the kind of terminology that’s often sequestered in academic circles. But in recent years, the concepts and practices of spiritual formation have gained popularity in the church and brought related issues to the forefront for many believers.

Even forming a basic definition of spiritual formation is no simple feat. It’s a fluid concept, with a wide range of accepted meanings and applications.

In broad terms, spiritual formation is the process of spiritual shaping and growth. Sending your children to a Christian school would fall under the wide canopy of spiritual formation. The same could be said of any education tied to a specific religion—Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim schools all contribute to the spiritual formation of their students.

However, in Christian circles, spiritual formation refers to more than mere academic instruction. Most often, it’s a reference to the dynamic means of sanctification. It deals with the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and the various methods He uses to bring about spiritual growth in our lives.

It’s at this point things can become confusing. On one hand, there are the time-tested, practical Christian disciplines we’re all familiar with—things like personal and corporate Bible study, worship, prayer, discipleship, and service.

On the other hand, many of the leading voices in the spiritual formation movement stress the need for more intuitive interpretations of spirituality. They encourage believers to incorporate a wide variety of extrabiblical spiritual practices, such ascontemplative prayer, silence, meditation, creative expression, and yoga. In fact, some of the most popular methods of spiritual formation have been lifted from Catholicism, new age mysticism, or other religions and re-branded with biblical-sounding terminology.

But any kind of subjective spirituality that draws your focus away from the Lord and His truth can have disastrous results, derailing your spiritual growth and cutting you off from God’s plan for your sanctification.

All true spiritual growth starts with the preeminent role of God’s Word in the lives of His people. But is Scripture alone enough for spiritual maturity?

Great question! What are your thoughts? And more importantly than our own opinions, what does God have to say?

Wretched: Does God Have a Plan to Prosper You?

Obama Supporters Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren Praise OWS with their Occupy Theology

Obama Supporters Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren Praise OWS with their Occupy Theology

From standupforthetruth.com

As most of you know, our ministry would not exist if not for the “Jim Wallis incident,” so I am sharing this post from Blue Collar Philosophy, an interesting site tracking Christians who support the antics of the Left:

OBAMA SUPPORTERS JIM WALLIS AND BRIAN MCLAREN PRAISE #OWS WITH THEIR #OCCUPYTHEOLOGY (VIDEO)

It should surprise no one that President Obama’s supporters from the Christian Left are big fans of the Occupy movement. At a recent gathering of Leftist Christians two leading figures from this movement offer up their praise for the Occupy movement. This is apparently the new Occupy Theology tasked with justifying the goals of the movement with a theological construct. They even have invaded Twitter. Here is Jim Wallis offering up his excitement over the Occupy movement.

And Brian McLaren who is also a big supporter of Obama.

I find McLaren’s use of “the least of these” particularly offensive since he supports a man willing to tolerate infanticide. If the unborn and newly born do not epitome “the least of these” then who does?

As to who would more likely identify with the Occupy movement? I think Wallis and McLaren need to consider who the first Occupier in biblical history was.

With Jesus being used to justify what is going on in our streets, let us not forget who the first radical, the first community organizer, and the first occupier truly was. Figuring this out is rather simple. Just look at who American’s most inspiring radical praised in his book about being a radical. Saul Alinsky gives praise to none other than Lucifer…Did not Lucifer try and redistribute God’s power to himself?…Did not Lucifer organize his fellow angels in a rebellion to try and occupy Heaven?

Joyce Meyer

by Matt Slick

Joyce Meyer was born on June 4, 1943.  She is married, has four children, and lives outside of St. Louis, Missouri.  She runs the Joyce Meyer Ministries organization (joycemeyer.org).  When examining the site's statement of faith we are glad to see an affirmation of the Trinity, that man is a sinner, that without Jesus we can have no relationship with God, that salvation is a free gift, and eternal hell of conscious damnation.  There is a concern with the statement on "divine healing," since there are so many aberrant groups that also affirm divine healing but say Christians must claim it and people who are sick are in sin.  However, I am not aware of what Meyer's position is on this.

The Joyce Meyer Ministry takes in a great deal of money.  She travels in a private jet and has several multimillion dollar homes. 

"While Meyer's previous salary is unknown, a recent series of investigative articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed Meyer's ministry purchased for Joyce and Dave a $2 million home, a $10 million private jet, and houses worth another $2 million for the couple's children, who also work for the ministry. The articles also outlined Meyer's recent personal purchases, including a $500,000 vacation home. Meyer, 60, lives in Fenton, Missouri, near St. Louis." (1/1/2004, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/januaryweb-only/1-19-13.0.html)

Having a lot or a little money is neither good nor bad.  If she has earned it all fairly through her work, fine.  Nevertheless, this article will focus on her teaching, not on her finances.  Let's take a look at scripture, then Joyce Meyer's teachings. 

First, what does the Bible say?

It is absolutely necessary that we Christians use biblical discernment when supporting any preacher and/or teacher of the gospel.  It is irrelevant whether or not we like the person, think the person is a good speaker, or if the person says things that are uplifting.  Instead, we must be as noble as the Bereans.

• "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so," (Acts 17:11).
• "Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other," (1 Cor. 4:6).

If the Bible says that even Paul was checked by scripture, and that we are not to exceed scripture's teaching, then aren't we obligated to judge what Mrs. Meyer says against the word of God?  Of course we are.  It is not enough to just believe what she says, no matter how good the words are or how well she presents them.  Let's not be taken in by a public figure who is confident, assertive, and appears to be biblical.  Our duties as Christians include biblical discernment - which can only be done by examining what she says and comparing it with scripture.

What does Joyce Meyer teach?

For the most part Joyce Meyer preaches a positive, biblical message that is of great value to many people.  We applaud her desire to be biblical, to point women to godly submission and humility, to trusting God, being loving, to have value based in what Christ has done for us, etc.  These are all good.  However, there are some very significant errors that need to be addressed.  Some of them are so bad that she is outside of biblical orthodoxy and must be considered a false teacher.  Let's take a look at what Joyce Meyer has said.

Following is a list of quotes from Joyce Meyer, along with responses.

1. Jesus stopped being the Son of God:  "He could have helped himself up until the point where he said I commend my spirit into your hands, at that point he couldn’t do nothing for himself anymore. He had become sin, he was no longer the Son of God. He was sin."(http://storage.carm.org/joycemeyer/joyce-meyer-Jesus-became-sin-stopped-being-son-of-God.mp3)
1. Response:  This is heresy.  Jesus did not ever stop becoming the son of God.  Essentially what she is saying is that Jesus stopped being divine, the eternal son, second person of the Trinity. This is an attack on the very nature of Christ and it is a dangerous false teaching.  Joyce Meyer needs to repent and retract this statement.  There is no place in Scripture that says Jesus stopped being the son of God.  She's adding to the word of God and placing in the hearts and minds of listeners false doctrine.

To continue reading the article follow the link: http://carm.org/joyce-meyer

Vain Repetition

http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/ks-repetition.html

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Vain Repetition © 1997 by Kevin Swanson Some new worship methods are very similar to the techniques used by hypnotists or eastern mystics Directly before the news at 7:00 am during my morning commute I tune the radio to a Christian station and listen to one or two contemporary Christian songs. Last week the radio aired a mantra of 4-5 notes which repeated the same words at least ten times in a row. This in itself was not so amazing. I almost had to pull over when the announcer called it his favorite song and stated that his church had used the song in worship time last Sunday, and everybody was just so blessed by it.This called back memories of a documentary I saw once of a crowd engaged in Transcendental Meditation, swaying back and forth, uttering the same phrase over and over again. The protagonists utter a word or short phrase (often Biblical names or phrases such as "Jesus" or "Hallelujah") over and over again in order to initiate a mind-altering trance. The physical, emotional, and mental changes elicited by such manipulations are incredible, similar to the effects of hypnosis. Some new "worship" methods popularly used in many of our evangelical churches are very similar to the techniques used by hypnotists or eastern mystics. It is the worship of vain repetition, "the vain repetition of the heathen", in Jesus' words. The number of times something is repeated is important particularly in the context of worship, at least according to Jesus. Hypnosis, generated through repetition of sights or sounds, has no part in true Biblical worship. Hypnosis permits the mind to disengage to some extent. But Biblical worship requires the full engagement of the mind. We are to worship in spirit and TRUTH. Christianity is a religion in which the mind must be fully conscious and fully engaged. We are to love the Lord with "all our mind." We are called to the "renewing of our minds" and to "think soberly." (Romans 12:2, 3). Our worship and praise must come forth from a lucid mind that is not clouded by hypnosis, unbiblical notions, gibberish that nobody understands, or over-simplified, meaningless, trite, or sentimental phrases. Scripture is dogmatic on this point: I Cor. 14:15,16. "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say." (NKJV) Many modern day choruses are good and profitable. But there are too many that rely on the cheap and illegitimate methods of "vain repetition" to "heighten the worship experience" to the delight of the uninstructed and to the displeasure of a God who does not accept vain repetition in His worship. Some even use bits and pieces of the Psalms in their repetitive compositions. Biblical examples of repetition are clear. The Psalms use a repeated phrase in the form of a chorus. (Eg. "His mercy endures forever."), but only between verses with varied phrases and thoughts. Sometimes, although rarely, the Scriptures repeat a phrase or a word, but no more than 3 times in a row. (Eg. "Holy, holy, holy.) May our worship be worship that pleases the God whom we worship rather than worship that titillates the uninstructed and the pleasure-seekers. Reprinted from Mayflower Chronicles, June 1997

Bible vs. Heretic

Wretched: Preaching to Goats.