The Celebration of Discipline (Path to Spiritual Growth) by Richard J. Foster

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The Celebration of Discipline

by Richard J . Foster

Introduction

Although written more than thirty years ago , Celebration of Discipline (1978 ) remains an important and relevant work on Christian spirituality because of the timeless truths it contains , and the way in which it addresses so many of the issues associated with contemporary notions of spirituality . Superficiality ' Foster states , is the curse of our age . [while] The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people , or gifted people , but for deep

br people (p . 1 , who realistically and honestly practice spiritual disciplines that enable them to experience a life of relationship and intimacy with God (Ibid ,

. 4 . As such , this will be evaluating Foster 's work by primarily focusing on the three classical groups of disciplines outlined by the author , and which include The Inward Disciplines (meditation , prayer , fasting , and study , The Outward Disciplines (simplicity , solitude , submission , and service , and The Corporate Disciplines (confession , worship , guidance , and celebration

Reflections of a Disciplined Life

There are few people that would deny that true Christian spirituality only occurs through the existence of a deep and personal relationship with God that is usually marked by the practice of both inward and outward spiritual disciplines . Even so , there are relatively few Christians who practice the wide variety of disciplines outlined in Foster 's work due to the way in which modern Christianity has tended to distinguish spirituality through an increasingly narrower worldview Many churches , for example , encourage...