“Some friendships are fleeting, others are seasonal, but only the very rarest of friendships become world-changing.” 

That’s from a new article in Christian History which tells the story of Richard Foster and Dallas Willard and the birth of the modern spiritual formation movement.

The movement has grown up a bit since then. Terms like ​“spiritual disciplines” are widely known, related books are plentiful, ​“Pastor of Spiritual Formation” is a title. We’re glad for that. But growing up also comes with challenges. 

Because there are indeed concrete steps for growing in grace, the temptation is to boil Christian spiritual formation down to specific practices or programs. Richard Foster implores us to remember that these things aren’t ​“it.”

“What is ​‘it’ is LIFE — life with Jesus, interactive relationship with the great God of the universe, inner transformation into Christlikeness.”

Rounding out this week’s digest is a piece from Nathan Foster appropriate to our Lenten theme of finding God in suffering.

Also, note the new ​“Noteworthy and Nourishing” section below. It’s hand-picked, not paid-placement. Whenever we stumble upon refreshing resources around the web we’ll pass them along to you.