Formation’s Triumph I need Sundays. I need spiritual gymnasium time. I need subjects that get me out of the way, that remove me from the center of a make-believe world where I reign as king. I need God-saturated Psalms that un-self me. From the first step of the Jesus-following life, I need a concentrated focus on King Jesus. Psalm 150 …

Formational Pursuit Our pursuit of God is only possible because of His pursuit of us. My Jesus-following life has been profoundly shaped by the insightful words of the late A.W. Tozer (1897-1963). In his devotional classic, The Pursuit of God, he wrote: “Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which, briefly stated, means that before a man can seek …

Formation’s King and Priest Jesus alone is formation’s king and priest. Before we pray Psalm 110, consider many of the New Testament passages that are linked to this prayer. I know for some of us this is a strange way to begin this prayer. Now and then, though, looking from the New Testament back to the Old Testament can help …

Formation’s Gratitude I never want to be far from thankfulness. I first realized this when our children were pre-school age. Sue, my wife, would plan a family night where we ate candlelight dinner together. These dinners became dress-up occasions. Typically, at some point in the meal, our oldest, Lindsey, would want to give thanks to God again for the mashed …

Formation’s Clean Heart My wife and I had the carpet replaced in our home. It was sorely needed. We had talked about it eight-plus years ago when we first moved into the house, but we convinced ourselves the old floor covering would do. The carpet was worn-out from day one. Dirty, even though we shampooed, steam-cleaned, vacuumed, and covered up …

Formation’s Off-button for the World’s Propaganda “Help.” It is a four-letter word that even the most hardened and leathery person will one day speak. Back in chapter 44, while reflecting on Psalm 44, I mentioned the legitimate place of “help” in our praying. All of us, just like that famous person, Alexander, in the children’s book, have head-on collisions with …

Formational Metaphors for God What is God like? What comes into your mind when you think about Him? Two of my favorite answers to these questions, outside of the Scriptures, come from the pen of J.I. Packer and A.W. Tozer. These two eloquent Christ-followers are often referenced by people like me when pondering what God is like and what it …

God Speak’s and Formation Happens The older I get the sweeter God’s voice becomes. Of course, it is profoundly challenging these days to hear Him with all the clamor and clanging for our attention. The digital world experts tell us that during one twenty-four-hour period, around the world, we text 188 billion times. We email 144 billion times. We Google …

Formation and A Sane Estimate of Me Who am I? Eventually, all of us crash into that question. From my humble vantage point, Psalm 8 offers one of the very best answers. For the sake of my ongoing formation and yours, it gives us a sane estimate of who we are. It represents the first “Praise Psalm” included among the …

Psalm 3: Every Formational Story Includes Help “Save me.” “Help me.” “Deliver me.” Who hasn’t prayed that kind of prayer? It more than fascinates me that the first genuine prayer of petition in the Psalm collection is Psalm 3. We do not get out of the starting blocks of life’s race very far before we encounter a desperate need for …