44. Spiritual Formation and Lectio Divina, with Eric Nevins, host of Halfway There

If we want to keep growing in our faith we have to go deeper than merely reading a chapter of the Bible per day. That’s where lectio divina comes in. Lectio divina is a way of not merely getting information about God or about Jesus, but a way of truly experiencing Jesus. It’s a type of reading that involves silence and listening and receiving from Jesus his presence and his spirit.

In this episode, Eric Nevins, host of the Halfway There podcast, shares about the transformative effect lectio divina has had on his life.

THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Eric Nevins is host of the Halfway There podcast.
• The book, The Critical Journey, names six stages of spiritual formation. Eric likes to simplify spiritual formation into four stages:  The journey of meeting Jesus. The journey of learning Jesus. The journey of finding yourself in Jesus. The journey of loving like Jesus.
• Lectio divina is process by which a person can read and meditate on scripture.
• Too often we read scripture for content or to try to get a principle that we can apply too our lives. But that may not be the best way to read scripture for the purpose of transformation.
• Lectio divina consists of essentially five parts: Read the passage. Reflect. Remain. Respond. Return to the passage.
• To reflect and remain in a passage involves noticing or imagining what it might be like to be in the text.
• To respond is to say to God, “Here’s what I’m feeling. Here’s what I’m interested in.”
• In lectio divina, we surrender ourselves to the text and allow ourselves to be shaped by it.
• Eric has written several 8-day experiences to help people practice lectio divina. You can find these at www.ericnevins.com. There are two of these 8-day experiences. One is on Mark 1:40-45 and the other is on John 2:1-12.
• Eric can be found on Twitter at @EricDNevinsJr, as well as on Facebook. For anyone who is a Christian podcaster, Eric would love to invite you to be a part of the Christian Podcast Association Facebook page.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS

• Eric Nevins 
  • Website: https://ericnevins.com/
  • Halfway There podcast: https://ericnevins.com/series/halfwaythere/
  • 8-Day Experiences: https://ericnevins.com/jesus-willing-8-day-experience/
• Books mentioned: 
  • The Critical Journey by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
  • Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero

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