Book Review: Title: Celebration of Discipline Author: Richard Foster

1. What do you think are the most important ideas presented in this book? I think the single most important idea in this book is that the Spiritual disciplines are the door to liberation from slavery to self interest and fear. God has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving grace. The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. They aim at replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving habits. Richard Foster goes on from that the most important of points to describe three main types of disciplines. The inward, outward and corporate disciplines. Inward: Meditation: What happens in meditation is that we create emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct and inner sanctuary in the heart. Prayer: To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue that God changes us. Fasting: More than any other discipline fasting reveals what controls us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Study: What we study determines the kind of habits that are formed. Study has four steps. Repetition Concentration, Comprehension and Reflection. Outward: Simplicity: Experiencing the inward reality liberates us outwardly. Speech become truthful and honest The lust for status and position is gone because we no longer need status and position. We cease from showy extravagance not because we can't afford it but on the grounds of principle. Solitude: Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. It is more a state of mind and heart than it is a place. There is a solitude of the heart that can be maintained while alone or in crowds. Not fearing being alone or with people. Both are necessary. Freedom to be alone to hear the divine whisper better. Submission: A Christian is perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all. [Martin Luther] The freedom in submission is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needed to get our own way. Service: If the cross is a sign of submission the towel is a sign of service. Service banishes us to the mundane, the ordinary, the trivial. The liberty of service is that it enables us to say no to the worlds games of promotion and authority. It abolished the need and the desire for a pecking order. Corporate: Confession: But if we know that the people of God are first a fellowship of sinners, we are freed to hear the unconditional call of God's love and to confess our needs openly before our brothers ans sisters. We know that we are not alone in our sin. The fear and pride that cling to us like barnacles cling to others also. We are sinners together. In acts of mutual confession we release the power that heals. Our humanity is no

longer denied, but transformed. Worship: To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God. [William Temple] Guidance: He is talking about Corporate guidance here. He gives the example of Paul and Barnabas being set apart for missionary work and the Jerusalem council. Basically groups of people choosing not to live in a democracy but to live lead but the Spirit. This is where the idea of the clearness committee comes in. Celebration: Freedom from anxiety and care forms the basis for celebration. Because we know he cares for us we can cast all our care upon him. God has turned our mourning into dancing. 2. On what grounds are the main points of the book argued (scripture, experience, research, etc.)? How would you evaluate the Biblical support for these points? Scripture is the main grounds for the points argued in the book. Following upon the heels of scriptures is a great use of tradition. Mostly in the form of the experience of the those that came before us and practiced the disciplines well. 3. If you were to live out the main idea presented in this book, what is one change that you might make? Describe what that change may look like in terms of your personal life, ministry, etc. Can you think of someone else who would benefit from the application of these ideas as well? I would say that one change that I would make is that I would not be ridged about the disciplines the when and where that I practiced them. But I would practice them all often realizing that they all put me into contact with God and in a place that he can change me. This frees me up to experience God at many times in many ways and helps me to see my life in a more holistic rather than compartmentalized way. It also was an encouragement to me to try things out to experiment with the disciplines. 4. In what ways does this book challenge you to more authentically follow Jesus? It challenges me to plumb the depths of Gods heart through the inward disciplines. To practice the outward and corporate disciplines with others. It helps me to give myself grace in the midst of the disciplines and to seek liberation and freedom through the disciplines.