a PDF file of the slides used in Session # of the "Shaping Spiritual Practices Program" seminar (SSPP) at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Taurnaga, New Zealand on the 11th August 2014.

1. Session #2Session #2

2. Rule of Life
The structured routine of self-chosen and
intentionally undertaken Christian spiritual
disciplines you pursue as either personal or
communal life-practices in maintaining and
deepening your relationship with God and effective
engagement within broader-life public life.
JCD
Session #2

3. The structured routine of . . .
1. Self-chosen and intentionally undertaken
• Christian spiritual disciplines
2. You pursue as either personal or
communal life-practices in
• maintaining and deepening your relationship
with God, and
• effective engagement within broader-life public
life.

4. Our logo . . . LUKE 24:13 Now that same day two of them
were going to a village called Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem.
14They were talking with each other
about everything that had happened.
15As they talked and discussed these
things with each other, Jesus himself
came up and walked along with them;
16 but they were kept from recognizing
him . . .
"Were not our hearts burning
within us while he talked
with us on the road and
opened the Scriptures to
us?"

5. OVERTURE
Commencement exercise as an act of fellowship and
worship in which the teacher will model the skill/behavior
of the previous teaching session in sharing spiritual
thought/reflection.
TEACHING
Interactive teaching supported by visual media, and
examples.
PRAXIS
ACTIVITY
A planned activity to enable personal and group processing
of the teaching’s focus
EPILOGUE
Closing exercise of session-summary as an act of corporate
worship
Each seminar session contains four aspects

6. Our time together today . . .
Overture
Teaching – The Fourfold Framework
Praxis Activity
Epilogue

7. Overture
#1

8. Some guiding questions for gazing . . .
1. “What am I seeing in the text, what’s it seeking
to show me?” or,
2. “What am I hearing in the text, what’s it trying
to say to me?” or,
3. “Why are the things in the text happening -
what’s the reasons behind its and actions?” or, .
4. “What’s happening in the text– (something is
for sure!), What does activity imply - how is it
happening? - Who’s doing what?”

9. Meditation is not the setting apart of a special time for personal
devotions, whether morning or evening, but it is the
reflection on the Word of God in the course of daily activities
JOSHUA 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your
mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be
prosperous and successful.
Regardless of the time of day or the context, the godly respond
to life in accordance with God's word. Even where the word is
not explicit, the godly person has trained his heart to speak
and act with wisdom

11. Looking at looking . . . . .Looking at looking . . . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxISs5ctVM8

12. Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its
ways and be wise! It has no
commander, no overseer or ruler, yet
it stores its provisions in summer and
gathers its food at harvest.

13. Let’s “consider the Ant” . . .Let’s “consider the Ant” . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcAUa6e3x0s

14. Some guiding questions for gazing . . .
1. “What am I seeing in the text, what’s it seeking
to show me?” or, (V)
2. “What am I hearing in the text, what’s it trying
to say to me?” or, (A)
3. “Why are the things in the text happening -
what’s the reasons behind its and actions?” (R)
4. “What’s happening in the text– (something is
for sure!), What does activity imply - how is it
happening? - Who’s doing what?” (K)

15. Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant,
you sluggard;
consider its
ways and be
wise! It has no
commander, no
overseer or
ruler, yet it
stores its
provisions in
summer and
gathers its food
at harvest.
Ezekiel 34:11-16
For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will
search for my sheep and look after them. 12As a shepherd
looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so
will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the
places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and
darkness. 13I will bring them out from the nations and
gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into
their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of
Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
14I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain
heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will
lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a
rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will
tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the
Sovereign LORD. 16I will search for the lost and bring back
the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the
weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will
shepherd the flock with justice.

16. May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be
pleasing in your sight, O LORD,
my Rock and my Redeemer
Psalm 19:14

17. Christian Spiritual
Disciplines in a “Fourfold
framework”

18. Devotional Life . . . .
The practice of regular Bible reading, prayer,
reflection/meditation, and personal
worship which may include the spiritual
discipline of journaling; the Bible reading
element is frequently supported by
published Bible reading notes.

19. Devotional Life . . . .
1. Bible reading
2. Prayer
3. Reflection/meditation
4. Personal worship as active response
– which may include the spiritual discipline of
journaling
– the Bible reading element is frequently supported
by published Bible reading notes.

20. Evangelical devotional practices spiritual
disciplines in four quadrants . . .
•Pray•Ruminate
•Read•respond
Worship as
active
responsiveness
Bible
reading
Prayer
Meditation/
rumination

22. Christian Spiritual Disciplines are . . .
Devotional spiritual formation
practices disciples apply
consistently that help maintain
and nurture faith, grow
spirituality, and build up Christ-
conformity.

23. The Reading of Scripture Prayer
Bible Study
Devotional Reading
Guidance
Lectio Divina
Meditation
Memorization
Teachability
Theological Reflection
Breath Prayer
Centering Prayer
Confession
Conversational Prayer
Examen Prayer
Intercessory Prayer
Practicing the Presence
Prayer
Self Examination
Silence
Meditation/Rumination Active Responsiveness
Contemplation
Devotional Reading of Christian
Classics Examen
Journaling
Meditation
Theological Reflection
Celebration
Fasting
Fellowship
Gratitude
Service
Simplicity
Solitude
Submission
Submission
Worship

24. PRACTICING SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
• Spiritual practices put us in a place where we can
begin to notice God and respond to His word to us
• Spiritual disciplines give the Holy Spirit space to
brood over our souls
• Spiritual transformation, “recovering your life,”
comes from partnering with the Trinity for change
• Keeping company with Jesus in the space between
wanting to change and not being able to change
through effort alone can be a difficult thing to do.

25. SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OPEN US TO GOD
(aka “Worship”)
Worship is not something we work up or go to on Sunday
morning. Worship is every discipline's end game! We miss the
point and endanger our souls when we think of spiritual
disciplines as ends in themselves.
Spiritual practices exist to open us into God.
They are never the "be all and end all" of discipleship. The "be all
and end all" is a loving trust of and obedience to the God who
is within us yet beyond us and our very best efforts.
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2005, p.17-21.

26. Dividing the disciplines into three groupings
(Richard Foster) . . .
• Inward
– Disciplines practiced in the privacy of our
intimate walk with Jesus
• Outward
– Disciplines that affect how we interface with
the world
• Corporate
– Disciplines that are practiced with others.

27. Distinguishing two types of disciplines
(Dallas Willard) . . .
• Disciplines of Engagement
– Connect us to the needs of others and the call
to be God’s heart and hands in the world.
They address sins of commission.
• Disciplines of Abstinence
– Detach us from hurry, clutter and busyness,
and open us to being with God alone. They
address sins of omission.

28. Spiritual disciplines catalogued under the
acronym WORSHIP (Adele Calhoun) . . .
Worship God
Open myself to God
Relinquish the false self and idols of my heart
Share my life with others
Hear the word of God
Incarnate Christ’s love in the world
Pray to God
W
O
R
S
H
I
P

29. Disciplines are intentional ways we open
space in our lives for the worship of God
They are not harsh but grace-filled ways of
responding to the presence of Christ with our
bodies.
Worship happens in our bodies, not just our heads;
in Romans 12:1 Paul exhorts
“Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of
worship”

30. Praxis Activity
Putting legs on my
quadrants

31. Which approach to disciplines would best
empower me in practices?
1. Richard Foster’s 3 groupings
2. Dallas Willard’s 2 types
3. Adele Calhoun’s acronym
Remember it’s not firstly what you “mix” . . . It’s
“how/why you mix them”

34. • Desires
• Felt deficits
• Intention
• Desires – Wish/want to
• Felt deficits - Need to
• Intention - Plan to

35. My daily-weekly Exercises
and Devotional activity

36. Click here for our Web-blog . . .
http://spiritmentor12.blogspot.co.nz/

38. http://dailybible.americanbible.org/

39. GARDEN TABLE
CAVE ARMCHAIR
Developing
your “Settling
Place”

40. Epilogue

41. True to your word,
you let me catch my
breath and send me
in the right
direction. Even when
the way goes through
Death Valley, I'm not
afraid when you walk
at my side. Your
trusty shepherd's
crook makes me feel
secure.

42. You serve me a six-
course dinner right in
front of my enemies.
You revive my
drooping head; my
cup brims with
blessing. Your beauty
and love chase after
me every day of my
life. I'm back home in
the house of God for
the rest of my life.

43. May the words of my mouth and the
thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14