The Journey

Invitation to a Journey ~ A Road Map to Spiritual Formation
M. Robert Mulholland & Ruth Haley Barton
plus
Notes and writings on Spiritual Formation from the
Institute for Spiritual Formation, Biola University

Lesson 14—Part 3:  The Journey

Opening Prayer

1.  Developmental Christianity
·      Just as people develop physically and mentally in predictable patterns, so they also develop spiritually.

2.  Four Classical Stages
·      Awakening
·      Purgation
·      Illumination
·      Union

3.  Spiritual Seasons—Cycles of Growth
·      Spring
·      Summer
·      Autumn
·      Winter

4.  Spiritual Ages—I John, specifically 2: 12-14
·      Little Children
·      Young Men
·      Fathers

5.  Macro and Micro Development within the stages
·      Macro:  the overall, lifelong process of coming to know God
·      Micro: the incremental process of development in specific areas of growth
o   Turning vices into virtues in the Hidden Heart
o   Many part of our hearts moving at different speeds toward union



6.  Where is God?
·      God is close to us all the time. He never abandons us.
·      God may nurture us on demand and spoil us rotten
·      God may spotlight a certain aspect of our life to show us our hearts
·      God may withdraw into darkness to allow us time to discover the state of our hearts

           

You can share our lessons with others who can’t be here in person by referring them to http://christian-transformationblog.blogspot.com

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