Resources - Recommended Media

Conformed to His Image:
  Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation

by Kenneth Boa

Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001

Conformed to His Image helps us build our lives on a fully biblical perspective.  Exploring 12 approaches to Christian spirituality in depth, Dr. Boa corrects our tendency to pick and compartmentalize.  Pointing the way instead to an integrative, whole-life approach, Dr. Boa shows how each spiritual paradigm discussed is just one important facet in the gem of authentic and powerful New Testament living.

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Invitation to a Journey:
  A Road Map for Spiritual Formation

by M. Robert Mulholland, Jr.

Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993

M. Robert Mulholland defines spiritual formation: “The process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.”  Not every personality is suited to an early morning quiet time, so Mulholland frees different personality types to express their piety differently.  He reviews the classical spiritual disciplines and demonstrates the importance of undertaking our spiritual journey with (and for the sake of) others.  This road map for spiritual formation is profoundly biblical and down to earth.  

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Life You’ve Always Wanted:
  Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People

by John Ortberg

Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002

With a new chapter and study guide questions, this expanded edition presents readers with what it means to live as Jesus would on a day-to-day basis with humor and sparkling anecdotes.  The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor an end in themselves.  Rather they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth.  The fruit of the Spirit: joy, peace, kindness, etc., are the signposts along the way.

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Ordering Your Private World

by Gordon McDonald

Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003

Selling over 1 million copies simce its original release in 1984, this book has updated material.  MacDonald invites readers to bring order by inviting God's control over every segment of their lives.  His premise is that if the private world of a person is in order, it will be because they are convinced that the inner world of the spiritual must govern the outer world of activity.  The book is divided into five categories: motivation, use of time, wisdom and knowledge, spiritual strength, and restoration.

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 Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

by Donald S. Whitney

Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1991

Freedom is the reward of discipline.  The freedom to grow in godliness--to express Christ's character through your own personality--is in large part dependent on a deliberate cultivation of the spiritual disciplines found in God's Word.  Far from being legalistic, restrictive, or binding, as they are often perceived, the spiritual disciplines are actually the means to unparalleled spiritual liberty.  

Whitney will guide you through a carefully selected array of disciplines including Scripture reading, prayer, worship, Scripture meditation, evangelism, serving, stewardship of time and money, Scripture application, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning.

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The Purpose-Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?

by Rick Warren

Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007

This is one of the most popular books on Christian development in the world.  Warren writes that "The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.”  According to Warren, we exist for the 5 main purposes of worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship.

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The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine

by A.W. Tozer

Camp Hill, PA: Wing Spread Publishers, 2007

Whether you are thirsting for more of God or do not yet know of the "mighty longing after God" that so consumed Tozer, The Pursuit of God will draw you into a deep, abiding relationship with the One who "nourishes the soul." This spiritual masterpiece exposes the roadblocks that keep us from fully knowing God, reveals our responsibility of the pursuit, and ultimately leads us into the very presence of God himself.

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