Spiritual Formation as taught by Ministry Magazine

[debbym]

Quote:

Being spirit-led is also part of your spiritual formation. But there is a difference between the false and the true.

i am encountering false spiritual formation in my life.

it connects the material world to the spiritual world, using the "light."

on the first day of creation, it is suggested that the light that was created was the cosmic Christ, that pervades all things in a physical way, is through all things.

It is the omnipresence of God consciousness. when we connect with this we are delivered from the binding limitations of our ego structure, and merge with a greater consciousness, the Christ consciousness.

generally it is suffering, when we are out of control, that we lose our ego and become united with this great consciousness, in the same lines of Carl Jung's great collective unconsciousness.

when this is presented with beauty and mystery as functions to lead us to this spirituality, the self denying suffering Christ is blurred and lost in the glory of this light.

it is just slightly energizing to encounter this, kind of startling, when i see people enraptured in it in our church leadership.

[Gail]

Yikes! As Satan has a counterfeit for everything that God has, it sounds like this "light" is a counterfeit to shekinah glory.

[Patrick Lawrence]

It seems to me there is a lot of confusion on the subject and what is being taught. First of all understand that even in the parts of it outside the Adventist church that is the most extreme it is a mixture of truth and error. Also keep in mind many times words and phrases mean different things to different people saying and teaching them.

Now Stan I think you do a disservice by mocking a real problem. It is not a few people on the edge of Adventism that are warning about Spiritual Formation and the Emerging Church movement. It is many leading lights of the church doing so. You post what is looks like glancing it a probably mostly benign view of spiritual formation. But there are still many problems with this. First knowing the real dangers of Spiritual Formation why would we want to do the term for anything Adventist do even it it was designed to be 100% Bible bases. At the very least it would make the uninformed Adventist more likely to accidently explore the more problamatic parts of Spiritual formation.

But from what I have seen it normally is not 100% benign but is just the soft and gentle leading edge of error not to alarm people. For while some one might believe in error it does not make them stupid. They generally say go strait into the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola now are they? Even to the most casual Adventist this might arouse some suspicion haha. And this is not some crackpot conspiracy theory. The Emergent Church movement and Spiritual Formation is a real problem is all Churches from Baptist to the Church of the Nazarene. And people in these churches are alarmed about it. So clearly it can not be a few crazy malcontents on the edge of the Adventist church that are worried about these ideas.

So now if you go look at how these ideas came into out church and other churches where its more advanced you will see it started slowly. With many good ideas mixed in with a little error and more error over time.

In conclusion the Emergent Church and Spiritual Formation are a problem across the Protestant world. They are causing great harm and and controversy within all Protestant churches not just the Adventist Church. So we need an careful and prayerful discussion of the problem. Both to find the real problems and also to not accidently sweep up people that say are well intentioned but promoting something with errors.

[debbym]

Quote:

Now Stan I think you do a disservice by mocking a real problem. It is not a few people on the edge of Adventism that are warning about Spiritual Formation and the Emerging Church movement. It is many leading lights of the church doing so.

true spiritual formation does protect from the false. it is worthwhile studying the true, in order to recognize the false.

the spiritual disciplines that bring results without the Holy Spirit are attractive. They are designed to fit the human condition, and bring peace with self, rather then peace with God.

[olger]

I appreciate this post, Patrick.

[Patrick Lawrence]

debbym there is not a true spiritual formation. Spiritual Formation is not what ever we make it it is a specific set of ideas. The term was originated in Catholic seminaries. And as stated even if you come up with something that is good it would be a terrible idea to use the words Spiritual Formation to describe it. Notice if you go to say wikipedia and look it up this is what you get.....

Writers

Dallas Willard

Richard Foster

Larry Crabb

Henri Nouwen

Eugene Peterson

Ignatius of Loyola

Richard Krejcir

Organizations

Inspire

Renovaré

The Upper Room (United Methodist Church)

Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation

Not exactly a list of people preaching sound Adventist doctrine now is it.

[debbym]

Quote:

debbym there is not a true spiritual formation. Spiritual Formation is not what ever we make it it is a specific set of ideas. The term was originated in Catholic seminaries. And as stated even if you come up with something that is good it would be a terrible idea to use the words Spiritual Formation to describe it. Notice if you go to say wikipedia and look it up this is what you get.....

http://www.wwuchurch.org/article/92/mini...itual-formation

the SDA Ministers Manual was published Sept. 28 1997.

anyone is free to make submissions to wikipedia describing the conflict with more then one form of spiritual formation.

not everyone recognizes the need for deep personal healing as it relates to being a healthy Christian. true spiritual formation touches on this, and may make those who are looking for perfection in themselves uncomfortable.

[Gail]

From my Bible reading I am persuaded that there IS a true spiritual formation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit with a soul. It is what Christ through the indwelling Spirit does to you, the changes that God works in you. If the Spirit lives in you, you will be a changed person- transformed, if you will, sanctified.

It is no wonder that Satan wants a counterfeit created to prevent this from happening.

The Scripture used as my signature shows one form of true spiritual formation. Righteousness works peace within a person; real, abiding peace.

[phkrause]

From my Bible reading I am persuaded that there IS a true spiritual formation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit with a soul. It is what Christ through the indwelling Spirit does to you, the changes that God works in you. If the Spirit lives in you, you will be a changed person- transformed, if you will, sanctified.

It is no wonder that Satan wants a counterfeit created to prevent this from happening.

The Scripture used as my signature shows one form of true spiritual formation. Righteousness works peace within a person; real, abiding peace.

[Patrick Lawrence]

"Spiritual Formation" unlike what Walla Walla says its not been recently changed to include non Christian things. It has always been part of Christian mysticism. And it is clear to trace where it has come into the Protestant churches from. From people like Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/december9/4.46.html Richard Foster who introduces the reader to ideas by Ignatius Loyola, Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart and others.

And the Adventist church as best I can tell does not have some new special form of Spiritial Formation. Because I see Advenist pastors suggesting the books on it that are full or error and even giving them to people. I see Richard Foster and others being quoted by our leaders and pastors. Just one example... Richard Osborn president of Pacific Union College in Angwin, California. in an Article in the Review quotes foster. http://www.adventistreview.org/article/2...f-the-anonymous "Richard Foster, the contemporary Quaker author known for his writing about spiritual disciplines, reminds us of the importance of anonymity in a celebrity culture that prizes getting noticed above all else. Foster rightly describes such self-seeking as “nothing more than a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.” It is “mindless” and runs against the values of the gospel of Jesus Christ.1". Clearly we do not have some special form of Spiritual Formation. We have just taken in the same thing as the other protestant churches have in the last 30-40 years.

And it is no wonder this is happening. We are sending our people to places like George Fox University, Fuller Theological Seminary. Is it any wonder errors are coming into the church.

So again at the VERY least we are setting things up to sent people into error using the title on something that is even true. But maybe worse is our universities are starting to rename the courses into something new but keep the same errors.

Dont be fooled this is a real problem in the Adventist church and in all protestant churches. And it is one that is no going to go away.

[debbym]

so what year did spiritual formation teaching enter the minister's manual and is it there today just as we read here?

[Patrick Lawrence]

That version is from 1992 I believe it says. Also in the same section of Walla Walla's website it says. " Over the past few years in the Adventist community, the phrase “spiritual formation,” long used in other Christian communities but, by comparison, only recently used within Adventism,"" http://www.wwuchurch.org/article/94/mini...ation-kerfuffle

In the same article notice how it talks about new ideas coming in from other Christian denominations...." It can also be said that this phrase, when it first came into use, carried with it the understanding that other Christian communities were more advanced than we in terms of knowing how to deliberately care for the inner person. The appearance of this phrase in the midst of Adventism signaled a joy at this new realization as well as a willingness to study and learn from the experience of other Christians by exploring and experimenting with ideas that were not deemed to be contrary to the Bible. For a number of years, this concept of deliberate spiritual formation grew happily within the Adventist community receiving more and more attention in churches, but particularly in educational institutions where things of a spiritual nature were taught[1]."

And notice the 1 at the end of that. It links to this. "[1] Large numbers of currently serving ministers no doubt remember being exposed, during their educational process, to Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline.".

Any way you can read the entire thing. Its not new its a one sided defense of teaching Spiritual Formation in Adventist Schools. But it is not an unbias overview of the subject. And even in the defense you can see it is new to Adventism. It is coming from other churches. And its coming from the the main people of Spiritual Formation like Richard Foster etc. The onlything that has really been done it to try and make it more palatable to the average Adventist.

And Spectrum also makes the roots of Spiritual Formation in Adventistm clear. "In our day, the terms “spiritual formation” and “spiritual disciplines” have largely been brought to evangelicalism (and thence to Adventism) by Richard Foster, the Quaker founder of Renovaré, and his Southern Baptist colleague Dallas Willard. Foster’s writings combine Quaker spirituality (emphasis on the divine “inner light”) with historic Christian (Catholic and evangelical) practices. This is something that should give us pause. Foster is starting with a specific theology of the human “spirit,” and because he believes this divine “spirit” is shared by all, he has no qualms about seeking out whatever he finds nurturing—without regard for the specific historical context or theological underpinnings of the different practices." http://spectrummagazine.org/node/3341

[joeb]

From my Bible reading I am persuaded that there IS a true spiritual formation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit with a soul. It is what Christ through the indwelling Spirit does to you, the changes that God works in you. If the Spirit lives in you, you will be a changed person- transformed, if you will, sanctified.

It is no wonder that Satan wants a counterfeit created to prevent this from happening.

The Scripture used as my signature shows one form of true spiritual formation. Righteousness works peace within a person; real, abiding peace.

I agree, Gail, with your definition of spiritual formation, and that the true does exist. The traducer always has a counterfeit for the true. It never fails.

[JoeMo]

Quote:

I agree, Gail, with your definition of spiritual formation, and that the true does exist. The traducer always has a counterfeit for the true. It never fails.

So true, Joe; so true!

[joeb]

Quote:

I agree, Gail, with your definition of spiritual formation, and that the true does exist. The traducer always has a counterfeit for the true. It never fails.

So true, Joe; so true!

Wow! JoeMo agreed me.

Licks index finger and chalks one up in the air.

[Gail]

[olger]

Wow! JoeMo agreed me.

Licks index finger and chalks one up in the air.

[Stan]

I came a cross yesterday, a 1992 Manual for Ministers (Adventist), Chapter 2, was called, as it is today, Spiritual Formation..

When people are full of hate, they seem to cease thinking in any logical manner.

[Gordon1]

I came a cross yesterday, a 1992 Manual for Ministers (Adventist), Chapter 2, was called, as it is today, Spiritual Formation..

When people are full of hate, they seem to cease thinking in any logical manner.

Hate?

[Gordon1]

...there IS a true spiritual formation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit with a soul...

One might call it a spiritual re-formation, since it requires a change from the old-man nature. The true formation can't happen without repentance & confession of sin, but the false formation does.

As Christ said, "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

For this reason the (original) first chapter of Steps to Christ was entitled "The Sinner's Need of Christ". None will see their need of change unless convicted of their true condition.

The goodness of God leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

[Patrick Lawrence]

Quote:

I came a cross yesterday, a 1992 Manual for Ministers (Adventist), Chapter 2, was called, as it is today, Spiritual Formation..

When people are full of hate, they seem to cease thinking in any logical manner.

Hate? Not sure what that is about. I know I for one have given logical and direct references to why I am worried about it.

[Patrick Lawrence]

Here is more on a related note. Been doing more research and reading on Quaker mysticism. As you will remember a lot of the current spiritual formation proponents are Quakers refer to them. Any way reading about Quaker mystacism in Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers)By Margery Post Abbott it references something else interesting in the book A History of Christian Spirituality: Orthodox spirituality and Protestant and Anglican spirituality by Louis Bouyer. "Quakers, in contrast to other protestant groups, "have been most ready to give a warm and instinctive welcome to the highest teachings of the Catholic mystics"."

It also has other good information about Quaker mystacism and George Fox etc. http://books.google.com/books?id=WlTnzA6...ism&f=false

Is it any wonder than with so many Adventists going to George Fox University that Quaker mystacism is coming into the Adventist church.

[Gail]

Thanks for those, Jackson

[Patrick Lawrence]

More in relation to understanding real Christian meditation and the errors brought in by the Quaker traditions. Ideas like centering prayer etc are ones Quakers use. Any way was reading something that gets to part of the main problems. Adventists and other Protestants Christianity is based on a logical reading of the Bible. The Quaker worship like other mystacism is founded on feeling. You bypass the Bible and commune directly with God. The problem is it is very easy to be deceived. The bypassing of the Bible leaves us without an anchor. Ellen White says "This Word is ever to be in our hearts and on our lips. "It is written" is to be our anchor. "

"Quaker worship is founded upon the personal experience of each worshipper, not

upon any received belief, whether in the Bible or in a fixed creed. It is based upon direct

personal connection with the Divine, without the mediation of an ordained leader. George

Fox challenged the first Quakers, “You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say

this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast walked in the Light, and

what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?”

6" http://www.quakerinfo.com/silence_quaker_worship.pdf

[Patrick Lawrence]

Also had to post this from the horses mouth as they say. Richard Foster says.... "When I first began writing in the field in the late 70s and early 80s the term “Spiritual Formation” was hardly known, except for highly specialized references in relation to the Catholic orders. Today it is a rare person who has not heard the term. Seminary courses in Spiritual Formation proliferate like baby rabbits. Huge numbers are seeking to become certified as Spiritual Directors to answer the cry of multiplied thousands for spiritual direction.20". If you want to see the origins of Spiritial Formation in the Adventist church there you go. It is the same as other protestants we are just following the trend. :)