{"id":4252,"date":"2008-09-11T00:30:48","date_gmt":"2008-09-11T00:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2008\/09\/influences-in-spiritual-format.html"},"modified":"2008-09-11T00:30:48","modified_gmt":"2008-09-11T00:30:48","slug":"influences-in-spiritual-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/09\/influences-in-spiritual-format.html","title":{"rendered":"Influences in Spiritual Formation: A Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a letter from one of our readers, and I asked the person if it was OK to post and it is used with permission. I’ve done some reading and writing in spiritual formation; I have not read exhaustively, but I am aware of extraneous influences. What do you think?<\/em>
\nScot,
\nI have considered myself an emerging minister since I went to [an evangelical seminary and studied with a well-known theologian]. I have studied Church History and Christian Mysticism, but I have become concerned with the mixture of unhealthy spiritual practices being brought in along with “new” practices. I have come to observe as I speak with young people that Kaballah and forms of Buddhist practices are being accepted and promoted. I have read in numerous Christian spiritual formation books that the practices they are promoting will bring us closer to a global spiritual understanding. In other words, they are borrowed practices from eastern mysticism.
\nShould we be concerned? As a military chaplain, I practice pluralism in my ministry, but I remain an Evangelical minister. I treat all equally important, but I don’t practice all beliefs.
\nRespectfully,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is a letter from one of our readers, and I asked the person if it was OK to post and it is used with permission. I’ve done some reading and writing in spiritual formation; I have not read exhaustively, but I am aware of extraneous influences. What do you think? Scot,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-and-formation"],"yoast_head":"\nInfluences in Spiritual Formation: A Letter - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/09\/influences-in-spiritual-format.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Influences in Spiritual Formation: A Letter - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is a letter from one of our readers, and I asked the person if it was OK to post and it is used with permission. I’ve done some reading and writing in spiritual formation; I have not read exhaustively, but I am aware of extraneous influences. What do you think? Scot,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/09\/influences-in-spiritual-format.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-11T00:30:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xscot mcknight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Influences in Spiritual Formation: A Letter - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/09\/influences-in-spiritual-format.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Influences in Spiritual Formation: A Letter - Jesus Creed","og_description":"Here is a letter from one of our readers, and I asked the person if it was OK to post and it is used with permission. 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