In this new and revised edition of Discerning God's Will Together, Danny Morris, a Florida pastor for 22 years who developed the Upper Room Academy for Spiritual Formation, and Charles Olsen, a minister with 22 years of pastoral experience in the Presbyterian Church USA who founded the Worshipful-Work Center for Transforming Religious Leadership, explain the principles and practices which can serve as a catalyst for the spiritual transformation of Christian communities. The focus is on both personal and communal discernment of God's will. And that involves both knowing and doing.
Morris and Olsen point out that we can find examples of the practice of discernment in the lives of individuals and communities in the Old and the New Testaments, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the church in the East, the church in the West, the Protestant Reformation, the Quaker tradition, and more.
The authors present a series of stepping stones to spiritual discernment including grounding, shedding, rooting, listening, and exploring. Also very helpful is a list of reality checks for individual or group practice. Some of the major points are:
• "Spiritual discernment takes time.
• Death and resurrection are involved in the discernment process.
• The process calls for mutual vulnerability.
• Listening to others takes on greater importance when we are trying to hear the voice of God speaking through them."
The Holy Spirit stirs our yearning to know and do God's will, and so spiritual discernment is a gift. This top-drawer paperback shows us how to practice and nourish this gift for the transformation of our hearts and of Christian churches.
