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He immediately makes this known in the first paragraph of Chapter 1 where he states, “Spiritual formation is the task of the church. Period. … Spiritual formation is at the heart of its whole purpose for existence.(15)” Wilhoit then goes on to provide the reader with a definition of Spiritual formation, “Christian spiritual formation refers to the intentional communal process of growing in our relationship with God and becoming conformed to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit (26)”, with brokenness being the “Bedrock of spiritual formation,(27)”; the gospel being the “power of God for the beginning, middle, and end of salvation. It is not merely what we need to proclaim to unbelievers; the gospel also needs to permeate our entire Christian experience.(27)” He Wraps this section up with the great invitations of God, where he establishes his curriculum for Christlikeness (the four dimensions of community formation). Which are explained in detail in part two.
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He also placed many of the points, that he validated with scripture, in columns or in a gray box. This provided this reader with more touch points to conduct further Bible Study, meditation and sharing with others. Many also became part of this reader’s remembering focus. However, in chapters 7 and 8 this was omitted in at least two cases and was quite cumbersome to waddle through.
Chapter 3, “The Foundations of Receiving” is the longest chapter in the book and provides the reader with plenty of good information. However, the author spends considerable space, on page 62 -63 developing and explaining the 4 quadrant chart on page 62 depicting the human response to “Sin and Yearnings”, which left this reader scratching his head, attempting to truly see the differences between quad 3 and 4.
Overall the book was very well written and this reader was able to follow and track the thought pattern of the author quite easily. The grayed boxes and the “Community Spiritual Formation Corollaries,” are portions of the book I will continually use after this class is over. The books should continue to be one of the readings for Spiritual Formation classes in the future.
He also placed many of the points, that he validated with scripture, in columns or in a gray box. This provided this reader with more touch points to conduct further Bible Study, meditation and sharing with others. Many also became part of this reader’s remembering focus. However, in chapters 7 and 8 this was omitted in at least two cases and was quite cumbersome to waddle through.
Chapter 3, “The Foundations of Receiving” is the longest chapter in the book and provides the reader with plenty of good information. However, the author spends considerable space, on page 62 -63 developing and explaining the 4 quadrant chart on page 62 depicting the human response to “Sin and Yearnings”, which left this reader scratching his head, attempting to truly see the differences between quad 3 and 4.
Overall the book was very well written and this reader was able to follow and track the thought pattern of the author quite easily. The grayed boxes and the “Community Spiritual Formation Corollaries,” are portions of the book I will continually use after this class is over. The books should continue to be one of the readings for Spiritual Formation classes in the future.