Celebration of Discipline

Have any of you read this book, Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster? My pastor gave it to me to when we decided to study the spiritual disciplines in our small group, and I've been working my way through it for the last few weeks. The Christian disciplines are not something I've been exposed to before in a formal way. Of course, prayer, worship, Bible study, and service are concepts familiar to almost all Christians, but I've never been in a church, small group, Bible study or class that explicitly taught these, or any of the other disciplines. It always seems assumed that Christians know how to do these things, and that they're doing them on a regular basis. I guess I just assumed the same thing, and I didn't feel the need for anyone to tell me how to pray or study the Bible or worship God. After reading this book, though, I wonder about that...

Most of what Foster says is fairly straightforward, straight from the Word, and applicable to my daily life. He gives deeper insight into the 'common disciplines' while also providing perspective on the ones we don't think about as much, such as solitude, meditation, submission, confession, and celebration. It's definitely worth a read if you have the time. I've been spreading it out and just reading one or two chapters a week. To say it's been majorly life changing might be overstating the case, but it has definitely impacted my walk with the Lord and given me a broader perspective on the 'basic mechanics' of a Christian life.

Unfortunately, many of today's churches are often so wrapped up in bringing in new people and leading them to Christ that they neglect the growth and discipleship of the believers they already have. Books like this one help me in my own study and walk with the Lord, and also bring up some really interesting and important topics for small group. Many of the disciplines Foster discusses (fasting, confession, submission, solitude, meditation, etc.) have either "fallen from favor" in the church, or have just been neglected to the point that most people don't recognize them as necessary parts of our lives as Christ-followers. If they were important in the church fifty or a hundred years ago, why aren't they still important today? So much wisdom and insight from early church leaders is never read or taught because it seems out-dated and archaic, and it is often difficult to understand. Foster does a great job of distilling and revitalizing these ideas and making them accessible to anyone who picks up his book.

If you've read it, what did you think? If you haven't, have you read any other books that focus on the basic Christian disciplines, or been in a church/Bible study/class that taught them?