A certain part of the world is all a twitter about actress Helen Mirren wearing a red bikini. An attractive famous sixty three year old woman in a bikini can be interesting, I clicked on the daily news site to behold this wonder. Yes, there she was, she looked pretty good, then I saw other pictures of her in a Magazine, I went there, then I noticed some video ofher sans bikini, then it morphed into an outright porn site, I caught myself and stopped. I marveled at how fast I was at a porn site, it was scary. I am sixty-two and I must confess have seen a lot of naked women, but something physical, mental, and emotional was powerfully at work in me to keep me interested. It doesn’t have to make sense, I am a highly educated thoughtful mature Christian. I understand how habit and the practice of spiritual disciplines have contributed to my character. I stay away from what can put me in danger, I teach it, and most of the time I practice it. I am also part animal, the idea that being spiritually formed will eliminate primal lusts is naïve. In a article on spiritual formation it needs to be said, no matter how far you get, disaster is always just a poor decision away. Can a person with highly formed Christ likness within suddenly fail in a disastrous way? Yes, it can and does happen.But I would claim that it would be an event rather than a pattern. The fruit of longevity in spiritual exercise leading to the dominance of Christian character makes such disaster less likely. It also means in most cases a quicker recovery and restart on the right path.
Recent blog posts
- Praying for the Well
- The forgiveness only gospel
- Getting discipleship out of the ghetto
- Discipleship is life long
- What does a materialistic consumer Church have to teach a vibrant church in poverty?
- If Christians were in charge would it change the world?
- The danger of promiscuous reading-or your futile effort to stay current
- Why the Church is the West is now the number one mission field
- What the Church is too impatient and needy to do
- Teacher to the nations
About Bill Hull
Bill Hull’s passion has been to help the church return to its disciple making roots and he considers himself a discipleship evangelist. This God-given desire has manifested itself in twenty years of pastoral service and the authorship of ten books. His first book, Jesus Christ Disciplemaker, is celebrating 20 years with a new edition. The Disciple Making Pastor and the Disciple Making Church are two successive books which make up his popular disciple making trilogy. These books have provided the church with a new paradigm for disciple making.
Syndicate
Bill, I would just like to thank you for helping me not feel alone. It is oh so easy to be caught up in a spiral of self condemnation if I allow myself to dwell to long before clicking away from a less than uplifting picture that I happen to come across. Your article spoke to me and gave me hope. As Paul wrote "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." maybe like you and I, he too was a normal guy struggling at times with being human. An event not a pattern is true, yet Events so often bring me down. Maybe I should have more faith in my faith and in His work rather than be beaten be my own weaknesses, Thank You my friend.
Gary gvambrose@hotmail.com
hello Bill, we have never met, but I must say your blog is one of my favorite. As a young minister, I have been touched and inspired and challenged by your transparency. This transparency so needed in the disciple-making is unfortunately rare. That's might explain why we are battling so much to make disciple. A lot of Ministers - called to equip the Saints - are not able to model this quality in others' live thus annihilating the process of transformation and destroying their role as father in the household of faith. I just felt led to command you for this post and long to read the future one. Have a blessed day… Bruno.
Bill, I was told by a parishioner after preaching yesterday that he was glad finally to hear a minister admit and share how he is just as human as "us in the pews". If nothing else I say to you thank you, if more of us who are "called to the task of ministry" would allow ourselves to be a little more transparent and less high and mighty we just may see a difference within ourselves and those in the pews. The thin veil, some days thin puts it mildly. Again, thank you.