Richard J. Foster

• Overview
• Bio
• Books
• Articles
• Audio & Video
• Podcast Episodes

Articles & Essays by Richard J. Foster

Book Excerpt from Celebration of Discipline

To Worship is to Touch Life

Featured December 27, 2018

Richard Foster joins us once again to share some thoughts on the immediacy of the spiritual discipline of worship in the with-God life — that sense that we at last are experiencing Reality.

Book Excerpt from Streams of Living Water

Justice and Liturgical Worship

Featured December 12, 2018

Richard Foster joins us to offer caution from Scripture on the perils of divorcing our practices of worship from the compassionate heart of our God. Using Amos as his text, Richard connects the acts of worship and service into one joyful expression of praise.

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Worship

Featured December 3, 2018

Turning to Isaiah and John’s responses to the glory of the living God as models, Richard Foster gives us a brief introduction to the practice of worship, reminding us that, whether our encounter with God is one of divine fireworks or a still, small voice, we must answer with awe, wonder, and praise.

Book Excerpt from Celebration of Discipline

The Christian's Authority to Forgive Sin

Published December, 1977 • Featured November 15, 2018

“The followers of Jesus Christ have been given the authority to receive the confession of sin and to forgive it in his name.” Richard Foster unpacks the privilege and power of confession in this Celebration of Discipline excerpt.

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Confession

Published October, 2014 • Featured November 7, 2018

Confession is the spiritual discipline that allows us to enter into the grace and mercy of God in such a way that we experience forgiveness and healing for the sins and sorrows of the past.

Book Excerpt from The Challenge of the Disciplined Life

The Vow of Service in the Family

Featured October 30, 2018

This excerpt from Richard Foster’s The Challenge of the Disciplined Life reveals how to live out the Ministry of Power, particularly in family life, through the ​“ministry of the towel.”

Article

Is It So Terrible to be Useful?

Published October, 1988 • Featured October 23, 2018

Drawing on a scene from ​“The Last Emperor,” Richard Foster helps us shift our thinking from feeling used to becoming useful.

Book Excerpt from Celebration of Discipline

Self-Righteous Service Versus True Service

Published December, 1977 • Featured October 16, 2018

Richard Foster invites us to discern between self-righteous service and true service, the kind that ​“can serve enemies as freely as friends.”

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Service

Published October, 2014 • Featured October 9, 2018

“Of all the spiritual disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of the grace of humility within us.” Richard Foster explains why in this snapshot of Service.

Book Excerpt from Spiritual Classics

Silence Gives Power to Words

Published December, 1999 • Featured September 24, 2018

John Main contends that for words to be charged with strength and power, they must spring from the silence of the Spirit in our inner being.

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Solitude

Published October, 2014 • Featured September 20, 2018

“Solitude empowers us to walk away from all human pretense and manipulation.” Richard Foster gives us a clear snapshot of this vital spiritual discipline.

Letter

Facing the Fear of Solitude

Published March, 1997 • Featured September 6, 2018

Solitude strikes right at the root of our fear of becoming unimportant, unneeded, insignificant, useless— which is precisely why we need it. Richard Foster helps us learn how to resign as CEO of the universe.

Book Excerpt from Freedom of Simplicity

Christ the Center

Featured July 31, 2018

Richard Foster draws a profound lesson about simplicity from Matthew 6. How are we to live with glad and generous hearts? With eyes focused singly on Christ the center.

Journal/Magazine Article

Four Paradoxes of Christian Simplicity

Published December, 2004 • Featured July 17, 2018

Christian simplicity is not just a faddish attempt to respond to the chaotic and materialist world in which we find ourselves; it is a call given to every Christian in every age to follow Christ.

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Simplicity

Published October, 2014 • Featured July 12, 2018

“Simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle. Both are necessary. ” Richard Foster explains why.

Blog Post

Guidelines for Simplicity

Featured July 10, 2018

Richard Foster provides a short, simple list of practical suggestions for living a life of simplicity.

Book Excerpt from Life with God

Seeing the Bible Afresh

Published April, 2008 • Featured June 12, 2018

Is it time to see Scripture with new eyes? For anyone ​“starving at the spiritual feast,” Richard Foster offers a paradigm for Bible study called the Immanuel Principle — God with us.

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Study

Published October, 2014 • Featured June 5, 2018

“Study is the process whereby our minds take on an order conforming to the order of whatever we concentrate upon.” Richard Foster succinctly introduces this month’s discipline of study.

Article

The Purpose of Fasting

Published December, 1977 • Featured May 22, 2018

In this excerpt from Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster helps us see that “[f]asting must forever center on God. It must be God-initiated and God-ordained.”

Book Excerpt from The Making Of An Ordinary Saint

Understanding Fasting

Published September, 2014 • Featured May 8, 2018

“Fasting is the voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.” Richard Foster explains the what and why of this month’s focus discipline.