It’s a joy and an honor to get to facilitate discussions about spiritual formation with members and friends of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station — via the Zoe-Life Exploration which is “Gleanings from the Life of Jesus.”
This section of our website has been set up to assist those in search of further readings and advanced readings each week of our time together.
Week 1:
The Biblical Stage
(Wednesday, September 8)
For further reading/study on this first week’s topic,
click on each of the following titles
(from Clarence Wagner’s “Jerusalem Teaching Letter”…
Wagner is clear in his indebtedness to Jim Fleming and Jim’s discussions
on the Geography of the Holy Land for the content of both of these articles):
* Land of Milk and Honey, Part 1
* Land of Milk and Honey, Part 2
* Ruminations (a quarterly periodical of Zoe-LIfe Explorations),
Lent 2019 issue on “Desert Spirituality”
Week 2:
Rescuing Jesus from “the Obscurity of the Familiar”
(Wednesday, September 15)
Those wanting to preview the coming week’s focus might want to read…
* “What Did Jesus Look Like?” (cover article from St. Thomas’ Sept 5th newsletter)
* “The Real Face of Jesus” (article from Popular Mechanics, Dec 2002)
Now, in the wake of this session, the following links might be of interest…
* “You Are How You Eat”
(a sermon preached at LakeRidge United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas —
focused on the meaning of eating together in Jesus’ day… and implications of such
considerations for our observation of Holy Communion)
* An Engagement of Corinne Ware’s Spiritual Type Discussion
(a video produced for the online course,
“Spiritual Disciplines for Personal and Parish Renewal”)
Week 3:
Jesus’ Obscure Beginnings in Nazareth & Bethlehem
(Wednesday, September 22)
Those wanting to preview the coming week’s focus might want to read…
* “Teaching Supplement on Nazareth & Bethlehem”
Now, in the wake of this session, the following links — related to “God’s Bias for the Poor” — might be of interest…
* “What Does it Mean for the Church to Have a Preferential Option for the Poor?”
(a 3-minute discussion by Diedre Bower Latz
of Nazarene Theological College, Manchester)
Week 4:
Characteristics of the Disciples
(Wednesday, September 29)
Those wanting to preview the coming week’s focus might want to read…
* “Who Were the Disciples of the Lord, Pts 1 & 2”
(from Clarence Wagner’s “Jerusalem Teaching Letter”…
Wagner is clear in his indebtedness to Jim Fleming and Jim’s discussions
on the characteristics of the disciples)
Now, in the wake of this session, the following links — related to “stages of faith” (and especially Janet Hagberg’s treatment of such in The Critical Journey — might be of interest…
A Lenten Review of the Stages of Faith (including the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’)
(Spring 2021 issue of Ruminations,
a quarterly/seasonal periodical from Zoe-Life Explorations)
Hagberg’s “Spiritual Life Inventory”
(a fleshing out of The Critical Journey,
along with a self-assessment for exploring one’s “stage of faith”)
Week 5:
The Parable of the Prodigals
(Wednesday, October 6)
Those wanting to preview the coming week’s focus might want to read…
* “The Parable of the Prodigal”
(reprint of an article from the October 26, 1998, issue
of Christianity Today by Middle Eastern scholar, Dr. Ken Bailey)
And finally, some last week resources
related to “Crafting a Rule for Faithful Living”
(Wednesday, November 10):