One of the online resources I use
is buildingchurchleaders.com- a branch of Christianity Today. Two weeks ago
they featured a compendium of articles on transformation from well-known
authors: Paul David Tripp, Gordon McDonald, Peter Scazzero, Kevin Miller, Ed McManus,
and John Ortberg. These authors span the ministry and theological spectrum-
from the traditional church to the emerging church. The buildingchurchleaders’ resources
are easily accessible online and available for a very low price- usually about
$14.95 USC for approximately 26 pages of material. Their resources are
well-suited for group discussion. This reviewer has reviewed individual books
by most of the authors in the compendium “Fostering
Transformation”, so finding their insights together in this form seemed
fortuitous. Each article is 2-3 pages long, and intended for small group settings.
A quote from each of the authors will give a taste of the value of this
particular resource packet:
1.
The Heart is the Target by Paul
David Tripp: “People and situations don’t make us say what we say, though we
tend to blame them…We speak and act the way we do because of what is in our hearts…Any
agenda for change must focus on the thoughts and desires of our hearts” (pg. 3).
2.
Signs of a Transformed Christian by
Gordon McDonald: “In the transformed Christian, his or her eye is on what others have ignored. You see him/her
lifting the fallen one, elevating the insignificant one. What an incredible
example s/he is to exploitive and arrogant people who walk through every day
dividing and diminishing people all around them. The transforming Christ-follower
knows his/her natural human tendency and seeks God’s power to replace it with
another tendency: redeeming, healing love” (pg.
7).
3.
Emotional and Spiritual Health by
Peter Scazzero: “You can’t be spiritually mature without being emotionally
mature…It’s about being transformed from the inside out…For example, how does
your past impact who you are in the present?…How do you deal with loss?…How do
you set limits?…How do you show love?” (pp.
8-10).
4.
Conversations that Transform by
Kevin Miller: “One day reading Mark 8, I noticed that when Jesus talks to
people He mostly asks questions…Following this model I am trying to ask more
questions of the people I pastor…Two of my favorites are (1) “What do you like
about the person you’re becoming? What do you not like?” (2) “When was a time
you felt most alive?” …If I ask questions like these, and then listen,
spiritual gifts emerge and hope pushes up through parched soil” (pg. 11).
5.
Deepening Disciples by Gordon
McDonald: We are called to grow deep people. This means “we’re not reluctant to
open up our own lives with our disciples; we know how to bring out the best in
others; we believe in their present and future identity- seeing what they might
become and endeavoring to deepen them by teaching, illustrating, and testing,”
like Jesus did with His disciples (pp. 15-16).
6.
A Look at the Discipleship Cycle by
Erwin McManus. “Since post-modernism, as the society around us declined, so did
the emotional health, relationships, morality and overall well-being of
everyone inside and outside the church…So how do we begin to reclaim the power
of making fully-functioning disciples out of seriously flawed people? …A person
who is emotionally broken tends to see others only for the support they can provide.
The greater the brokenness, the less a person contributes to the relationship
and the more they demand. Emotional wholeness is seen in what you can
contribute to others with a supportive community, gratitude, integrity, and a
servant heart” (pp. 17, 18).
7.
What Sanctification is Not by John Ortberg:
“What is Jesus calling me to die to if I’m going to live? …The death I’m called
to is the death of the lesser, petty, meaner self so that a nobler, more joyful
self might come to life. We die to our sinful self to bring to a mortal end
those dynamics in us that keep sin alive. Failure to grasp this has often been
tragic. People in churches sometimes pursue what might be called ‘wrongful
death’ approaches” (pp. 20-21).
There are discussion questions
attached to each of these articles. Generically, in terms of the issue of Fostering
Transformation, where are you personally in that discipleship cycle? And, using
the definitions described in the articles, what is the ethos of your church?
What do you want it to be?
Reviewed by M.L.
Codman-Wilson, Ph.D., 7/25/12