Talk of spiritual formation is all the rage. I just read an article by Dallas Willard in which he said that, in some circles, it seems as though spiritual formation is quickly approaching “fad” status. But, of course, pursuing God, renewing our minds, and transforming our lives into the likeness of Christ should be anything but a fad. It should be the very purpose of our existence.
Below are some websites that I have found very helpful in my own spiritual formation. As always, let me know any that I have missed and I’ll see about adding them as a postscript.
The Lord bless you as you seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joy and Truth,
Dale
1.) Reflections Ministries - Ken Boa’s ministry. What else can I say about Ken Boa that I haven’t already said several dozen times? Ken’s website keeps getting better and better. There are articles, audio, video, blog posts, etc. And, he has a great store to purchase his products. Well worth your time.
2.) The Center for Biblical Spirituality - Donald Whitney’s ministry. Donald Whitney is a gem. I’ve read most of his books and have used his fantastic book on the spiritual disciplines as my curriculum for a class I have taught. Whitney’s website also continues to improve and become more and more user-friendly.
3.) The Fellowship of Ailbe - T.M. Moore’s ministry. I don’t know if Moore would consider himself as one who writes primarily on spiritual formation, but it certainly seeps through all his writing (which is prolific). I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Moore which didn’t bless me tremendously. I feel like a broken record, but Moore’s website also continues to improve. It’s a real treat to check out.
4.) Transforming Center - Ruth Haley Barton’s ministry. Barton is very insightful and has been a big help to me. Her book, Sacred Rhythms, is well worth purchasing. Lots of good resources at her website.
5.) Dallas Willard - Not the world’s greatest website… but it’s loaded with Willard’s writing (and some audio) which makes it priceless. Folks will be reading Willard’s books 100 years from now, if Jesus doesn’t return before then.
6.) Renovare - The good folks at Renovare are veterans in the world if spiritual formation. Great website. Lots of resources. Their tagline, “becoming like Jesus,” says it all. You can’t be a serious student of spiritual formation without checking them out.
7.) NewWay Ministries - Larry Crabb’s ministry. Helpful website. But the real value here is their training in spiritual direction. I think I’m going to look into this myself. Good stuff.
8.) David Benner - I’m really including him because his books are so good, especially Sacred Companions and Care of Souls. Very deep. I think he has to be read several times before understanding kicks in.
9.) Gary Thomas - Great website. Very helpful and easily accessible resources. I’ve only recently been introduced to Gary Thomas, but from all that I can tell, he’s a real blessing. I look forward to learning more about him and from him.
10.) A Tie: Conversations Journal and Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care
I hate limiting such a rich topic to only ten (or, in this case, eleven) websites. So here are some other names of people and ministries you will want to check out: John Ortberg, Monvee, b-ing.org, Formatio at IVP, Institute for Spiritual Formation at Biola, Jan Johnson, Metamorpha, The Upper Room, The Academy of Spiritual Formation, Pierre Eade
