First Covenant Church

I'll be honest, the words "spiritual disciplines" used to carry some heavy baggage with me.  First, anything with the word "discipline" in it makes me think of being punished in some way.  I picture a large school principal behind an oversized desk looking down on this tiny kid who is scared out of his or her mind.  This might be a sign more of my neuroses than anything, but I believe that discipline for most of us does not have a positive connotation.

But, we use spiritual disciplines to better commune with God, which I think it an amazing invitation as opposed to some type of punishment.  We use the disciplines not to become Christian super heroes, but to put ourselves before God and let him change us. 

As Richard Foster says in his book, Celebration of Disciplines, "A farmer is helpess to to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain.  He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain.  This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing to the Spirit."

So, if you are a regular practitioner of the disciplines or are scared by the mere thought of words such as fasting, meditation, and simplicity come and learn how disciplines can be tools to communicate with, and be transformed by, God.