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| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.�
Do you know someone
who might benefit
from our weekly email?
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To be or not to be...
and to just do, instead...
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Robert Mulholland is a professor and author of numerous books including Invitation to a Journey, The Deeper Journey, and Shaped by the Word*--each of which is a classic work on spiritual formation from a Christian perspective. In the following quotation, Mulholland contrasts the "functional" and "relational" approaches to spiritual wholeness:
For the scripture to become a place of such transforming encounter with God, we must come to it with the realization that the Word probes us at the points of our unlikeness to the image of Christ. But it probes our false self not merely by informing us of our condition (informational) or giving us a list of changes to be made (functional), but by inviting us to radically abandon ourselves to God (relational) to be formed in the image of Christ (formational)...
Our acculturation tends to move us into both perceptual and experiential modes of being that operate on the principle that all we need for wholeness is simply to bring something more to where we are, which will move us to where we want to be. If we acquire more information to process, more technique to function with, more "doing" to do, we will move ourselves into a higher level of wholeness. We tend to look for some piece of information, some technique or method of spiritual formation that will take us from where we are to where we want to be with a minimum of inconvenience, pain, or suffering.
We have so emphasized the "Life" dimension of the New Testament that we have avoided coming to grips with its "death" dimension. We have avoided the fact that in the gospel, Life comes out of death, not out of life. Trying to bring Life out of life attempts to escape the necessity of dying to the old parameters of our existence [including our complex coping structure of habits, attitudes, and perceptions; of dynamics of personal or corporate relationships; of patterns of reaction and response to the world], the necessity of relinquishing the brokenness of our being, the necessity of letting go of those things that warp and misshape and distort who we are.
The emphasis upon informational, functional, "doing" is our attempt to bring Life out of life. But formational, relational "being" enables God to lead us to that death from which Life merges.
(M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Shaped by the Word, pp. 105-106)
Might your approach to spiritual wholeness be described as "functional," trying to find that "one thing"--information, technique, methodology--that will give you a perception of God's satisfaction, while maintaining your defined boundaries; or, might your approach be described as "relational"--yielding to God in such a way that your functional behavior flows from a place of intimate relationship with him?
Or, perhaps better, are you seeking to function from a place of relationship with God, or are trying to to function yourself into a place of relationship with God?
* With apologies to Jim and Alexis, for yet more books to buy and read.
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Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241 |
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In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
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