“Five Important Contemporary Books on Spiritual Formation and Discipleship” - If there are other books that have been influential for you, I would enjoy if you would share the title and author of that book and why it has been so important in your life with God.
@mwerickson I’m currently reading A Long Obedience in the Same Direction and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
@mwerickson I was assigned Donald Whitney’s spiritual disciplines for the Christian life. It felt similar to Foster in some ways but has a very different approach to certain disciplines. I’d still probably recommend foster over Whitney but it appreciated his different perspective and it complimented well. On a side note I’ve tried to read divine conspiracy a couple of times but something blocked me each time. I’ve also heard very good things about emotional healthy spirituality but haven’t read it yet.
@mwerickson This is an excellent list with good comments on each. I have read all but Barton, but am certainly interested now.
@ChrisJWilson I read a book by Don Whitney for a course that I had to take a few years back. It did have a slightly different perspective, but at the same time, it quoted Willard and Foster so frequently that I wondered if it was redundant for someone who read the other two authors.
@mwerickson Also, as I think about the list, I wonder if my own list might include something by Marva Dawn?
@chrisheck I'm so glad and I'm sure you'll continue to enjoy it. One of Peterson's best in my opinion.
@ChrisJWilson I like Whitney's books as well but I think Foster's Celebration of Discipline just has a special place for me. On a side note as well, Whitney's book Ten Questions to Assess Your Spiritual Growth is a short but meaningful work on this topic. Pete Scazzero's work with emotionally healthy church, spirituality, leadership, etc., is invaluable.
@KyleEssary I would definitely encourage you to look into anything by Barton. In my opinion, she is one of hte most valuable voices today in the spiritual formation movement.
@KyleEssary I do love Marva Dawn's work as well. I'd love to hear which book or two might be your favorite by her.
@mwerickson This is a great list. Somehow I knew I’d see Divine Conspiracy even before I clicked through! I think my list would have to include Anatomy of the Soul, by Curt Thompson. I think the way he brings some neuroscience and psychology into the formation discussion is so important.
@johnchandler John, thanks so much for bringing Curt Thompson's work in. I hate to say I've only dipped into portions of Anatomy of a Soul but found The Soul of Shame deeply helpful. Would you recommend reading the entire book?
@KyleEssary That's probably fair. I did get the feeling that Don wanted Celebration of Discipline but with more focus on the Bible and less Catholic.
@mwerickson I think I've read CoD (not Call Of Duty) more times than any other book except the Bible. Thank you for the additional recommendations! I found Whitney's book "Praying the Bible" to be a good short read too. I made a sketchnote summary of it last year too. I actually have some old, private sketchnote summaries of the first few chapters of CoD — I found it so hard to summarise and exclude certain points!
@ChrisJWilson Thank you for the book recommendation and for sharing your sketchnote summary of it. I'm not familiar with that book by Whitney but it sounds quite good.