Update on Southern

Upon my trip to Southern back in December, one of my projects was to be involved in a colloquium regarding spiritual disciplines.  The spiritual disciplines are a subject matter that has fascinated and revitalized some Christians while causing panic and confusion to others.  I suppose part of the controversy involves can spiritual disciplines be evangelical?  Many people equate spiritual disciplines or spirituality for that matter with mysticism.  People who desire proper definitions both biblical and historic should consult Alister McGrath’s book on Christian Spirituality.
The main focus of this particular colloquium was to give serious examination to the works of Richard Foster, Dallas Willard and Donald Whitney.  We were to compare and contrast these three authors (whom many consider to be either the most evangelical or popular or both in the area of spiritual disciplines) and critique their works.  For me personally, this was a most delightful assignment since as a pastor this is one of the most up and coming issues the church will be facing and has significant ramifications in the life of the church.  For his part, Dr. Whitney (who mainly had a passive role and humbly listened to critiques from us as well as received our encouragements) is preparing to release his 25th anniversary edition of “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” so we were allowed to provide our input of what should and should not be in the new edition.  We will see if he and the publisher listens (not that they have to).