About the Author
Mel Lawrenz is the senior associate pastor at Elmbrook Church in suburban Milwaukee and also serves as the director of the Elmbrook Christian Study Center. He has degrees from Carroll College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Marquette University (Ph.D). Among Dr. Lawrenz’s books are Why Do I Feel Like Hiding? and Life after Grief: How to Survive Loss and Trauma.
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Evaluation and Recommendation
Dr. Lawrenz lays the foundations of spiritual formation by revisiting the history of Christianity and connecting it to the modern world. His book recapitulates the ministries of evangelical churches today and revitalizes them to become spirituality formative for every believer and the church. The center of the field of ministry is the realm of the soul- the common ground of human beings. We can sense that Bible reading, prayer, worship, fellowship, preaching, and service are common elements in every local church across the world. Our concern for the souls of human being is universal but our approach to them is contextual. This perspective in ministry crosses beyond age, gender, nationality, culture, language, time, and context.
He provides also practical insights for universally common elements like promoting a formative prayer in the church (cf. 79), practical steps to planning formative worship (cf. 94, 95). For the culturally variable elements like Bible reading, fellowship, worship, and service, a theological framework is presented. However, the latter have already stood the test of time (cf. 13). The final goal is metamorphosis- a complete transformation. I agree with him that metamorphosis is both a present and an eschatological reality (cf. 139). Most of the time I was disappointed with a little progress (or no progress at all) in young people’s spirituality, which I realize that it is me who needs to be transformed! Just like how God is being patient with me, so shall I be with them. No amount of human efforts can spiritually transform human. It is the powerful work of God in the lives of individual that will transform them.
This book not just gave me insights but it really shaped me. After reading the chapter “Formative Prayer” I couldn’t help but reflect on my prayer life. I have even published my reflective prayer on my blog . I intend to apply the principles I got from this book to my ministry. It’s definitely worth recommending to other people as well.
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