FRONTIER COMMUNITIES ARE COMMITTED TO YOUR SPIRITUAL FORMATION

We do this by pursuing a life of abiding in Jesus through “Practicing His Way” + “Developing a Rule of Life”

practicingtheway.org

SPIRITUAL FORMATION PARADIGMS

There are two main thoughts on transformation; unintentional vs intentional. Here is our working paradigm for how the world plays an influential role in your life, whether you are aware of it or not.

Unintentional vs Intentional Spiritual Formation

The Way of the World is forming you, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The Way of Jesus requires following Christ into a life of "counter-formation" into the Way of The Kingdom over The Way of the World. "On earth as it is in heaven." His realm invading ours.

THE WHY?

Discipleship in the Modern Church Is Failing

Sunday isn’t enough—we need to arrange the entirety of our lives around following Jesus to experience transformation.

THE WHAT?

A Pathway.

Practicing the Way is a Pathway to Becoming Like Jesus in Community.

A simple, beautiful way to integrate spiritual formation into the life of a disciple.


THE HOW?

Information alone is not enough to produce formation.

We need to practice Jesus’ teachings, to get his ideas from our minds into the muscle memory of our bodies. We do this by adopting practices from Jesus’ own life, time-tested disciplines for the spiritual life that open up our entire being to God and allow him to transform us into people of love.



Our nine core practices work together to form a Rule of Life for the modern era.

  1. Sabbath. A day set aside for rest and worship, including church on Sundays.

  2. Simplicity. Structuring your life in such a way that it becomes more freeing.

  3. Silence & Solitude. A moment of intentional time in the quiet to be alone with God.

  4. Fasting. A willing abstinence from food for a period of time. We want to practice being emptied so that we may be filled with the Spirit, just like Jesus was, to do what he did.

  5. Prayer. Central to life with God, woven into the fabric of our routines.

  6. Scripture. Continually committing to studying the word of God.

  7. Living in Community. Partners for the journey, to share life and the Lord's supper.

  8. Generosity. The key to living a happy, content, free life.

  9. Hospitality. Expressing the welcome of God the Father to all through tangible acts of love, ideally through giving food, shelter, and relationship. 

At Frontier, we summarize this Life of Abiding through three areas:

Connect to the Abiding Presence of God.

Slow down your life to live at the pace and in the presence of Jesus. Ancient Christians called this “the practice of the presence of God.”

Jesus himself called it “abiding.” Discover a life of deep, intimate communion with God.

Be formed in your inner being to become a person of love in God.

The end goal is to take on the inner life of Jesus himself so that the teachings of Jesus become second nature.

Do what he would do if he were you.

Play your part.

Fulfill your call.

Make your contribution to the church and the world.

WHAT DOES “A RULE OF LIFE” ACTUALLY MEAN?

Every church tradition and generation emphasizes its own rule of life, even if they don’t use that language. There are nine spiritual disciplines we think are essential to following Jesus in our place and time. As core Practices to following Jesus, these nine Practices are likely to appear several times in your rule of life (for example, Silence & Solitude may be essential to both abiding and mind). Include these Practices wherever they make the most sense in your personal rule of life.

Here are some questions to consider:

  • Which of these Practices are currently part of your life?

  • What are 1–2 Practices you want to work into your daily or weekly routine?

THE REGULAR RHYTHM

The ideal is to weekly or regularly gather with a Community to learn through provided teaching, then spend the next days intentionally integrating the teaching into your life through spiritual and practical exercises. Before the next gathering, you can spend time reflecting with God and others, and potentially engage with additional recommended reading.

LIFE CATEGORIES

Contrary to popular usage, in biblical theology, your “soul” (hebrew: nephesh) isn’t the invisible part of you that flies off to heaven when you die. Rather, “soul” is your whole person: the integrating center of your humanity, material and immaterial. Your will, mind, emotions, body, and relationships.

The following categories are an attempt to apply a rule of life to your whole person, so that all of us can experience all of God:

  1. Abiding

  2. Mind

  3. Body

  4. Relationships

  5. Rest

  6. Work & Money

  7. Gospel & Hospitality

*For more on "Developing a Rule of Life", including a workbook and the details of what we went through previously as a community, go here. We recommend revisiting your personal rule of life annually! All of our spiritual practices we pursue as a community ultimately build toward developing your own rule of life!