Let's start with a good definition from Donald Whitney: "Solitude is the spiritual discipline of voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes. The period of solitude may last only a few minutes or for days. As with silence, solitude may be sought in order to participate without interruption in other spiritual disciplines, or just to be alone with … [Read more...] about What Is Solitude
Spiritual Disciplines
Why Solitude
In a previous series, we considered the spiritual disciplines generally. In this series, I want to take a deep dive into one discipline: Solitude. To begin the series, let's start by considering three realities that can have a profound negative impact on our spiritual lives… Constant Crowds Modern life is crowded. With smartphones and social media we are always … [Read more...] about Why Solitude
Philosophy of the Disciplines
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a series on the Spiritual Disciplines.] We end this series with a brief word on the philosophical underpinnings of the spiritual disciplines. There are certain basic, underlying realities that help to explain the need and usefulness of spiritual disciplines. They are as follows: It is possible to deliberately grow in godliness. … [Read more...] about Philosophy of the Disciplines
Your First Spiritual Habit
What is the number one spiritual habit or discipline? The one to rule them all? Reading God's word? Prayer? A good and reasonable and biblical case can be made for either. But John Mark Comer has a surprisingly different answer: silence and solitude (which he treats in tandem). When I read that in Comer's (2019) book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, I didn't like … [Read more...] about Your First Spiritual Habit
The Discipline of Retreat
This weekend the students at our church participate in our annual fall retreat. It is easy to think of a fall retreat as an event. But we try to think of our fall retreat as a spiritual discipline. M. Robert Mulholland Jr. (1993) describes retreat in these terms: Retreat is the discipline of setting apart a time, individually or corporately, to step aside from the … [Read more...] about The Discipline of Retreat