Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us

by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Book Overview

Fasting. Solitude. Contemplative prayer. Lectio divina.Have you heard about these practices and wanted to try them? Have you wandered from one practice to another not sure quite what to do? Are you overwhelmed by all the to-dos of your spiritual life?We have good desires--for a more intimate prayer life, perhaps, or deeper insight from God's Word--but we don't know how to get there. So we give up our pursuit, tired from wandering aimlessly, and end...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830833307
• ISBN13: 9780830833306
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.0" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Spiritual Disciplines - Excellent study

Excellent study on our daily Christian Walk and Growing in the Spirit. Highly recommend it.

An excellent, practical entrypoint into spiritual disciplines

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun does the world a great favor with this handbook. She takes the often esoteric world of spiritual disciplines and provides a means to meaningfully engage them. However, she does this without diminishing the disciplines by making them easy "steps to maturity" or the like. This book is accessable. It can be followed from front-to-back, or simply used to engage specific disciplines. Anyone who takes the Bible seriously sees the importance of spiritual discipline in the life of mature followers of Jesus. This handbook is the place to start on such a path.

Transformational

As a pastor, I have read many books on spiritual development and growth. As a Christian seeking to grow spiritually, I have read even more. Like a previous reviewer, I would place this book on par with Richard Foster or Dallas Willard--perhaps even higher because it is so very accessible. I am particularly taken with the way in which the author links a person's natural desires with his or her best choice of disciplines. As all Christians know, it is easier to read about spiritual disciplines than practice them, and I have certainly been guilty of that. However, in the weeks since I bought Calhoun's book, I have read very little. Rather, I have been PRACTICING. And that says it all. Phenomenal!

Staying Under the Dove

If you want to "keep company with Jesus", Adele Calhoun points the way, through classic and modern spiritual disciplines. The disciplines, she explains, can give God's Holy Spirit opportunity to hover over our hearts-- just as he hovered dove-like over the waters at creation. For readers seeking to go deeper into Christian life, or find renewal, or healing, or fresh insight, Calhoun's handbook will be a welcome guide. From Gratitude to Celebration, Prayer to Unplugging, and more, both the new Christian and the veteran will find thoughtful, original paths to walk with God.

Great Synthesis of the Spiritual Disciplines

As a chaplain in hospice care and for a professional sports team I am always looking for books that synthesize larger topics or "weightier" works and bring practical applications to the forefront. Calhoun's contribution does an excellent job of presenting (succinctly) the necessary introductions into the spiritual formation practices that have been a part of the church for so many years. The greatest advantage for myself is the ability to use this book as a launch pad into other parts of the community that cover the various disciplines in greater depth or detail. And the practical aspects of the book make this a necessary purchase! This book is a must read for lay leaders, an excellent resource for pastoral leaders, and a welcome addition to any church, school, seminary, or personal library.

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Adele Calhoun has done a masterful job exploring and expanding our minds in the realm of the spiritual disciplines. This book is accessible and, at the same time, contains a depth of perspective and spirituality--quite a remarkable combination. I believe this is the best book on the spiritual disciplines written since Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, first published 25 years ago.