Even though there are two chapters and an epilogue remaining, this will be my final post on SoulShift. The final chapters contain good practical aids for making a personal plan to achieve a soul shift and encouraging words to spur us on.
Chapter 7 begins with the most powerful illustration in the book, and I will not spoil it by re-posting it here; read the book. Continue reading SoulShift #7: Me to We
As I read this chapter, I recalled a cartoon I watched as a child. A wolf sits in a cave reading the newspaper. He reads the front page headline with delight. The U.S. Army has drafted the sheep dog for the war (WWII) effort. The wolf races from his den, down the hill to have a sheep lunch, but he is quickly and brutally rebuffed. The battered wolf returns to the cave to read the continuation of the news article below the fold line. The second headline reads: Continue reading SoulShift #6: Sheep to Shepherd
This soul shift focus on two areas, discernment and prayer, and personally, I think this is the best written chapter thus far.
Regarding discernment , I think the authors did an excellent job describing and putting into proper balance those things we use to discern God’s will: wise counsel, the Bible, and the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is all to easy to rely too heavily upon one of these tools. Asking people but not God, “using the Bible like “a magic 8 ball” (DeNeff & Drury), or always requiring a sign, all take one method of God leading us to an extreme. As we mature, taking on more of the mind of Christ, these things come into balance. Continue reading SoulShift #5: Ask to Listen
DeNeff and Drury point out that we in the USA live in a consumer orientated culture, and suggest that this mentality is part of church culture. I think while as Christians we should not be so removed from our culture that we have no bridges and common interests with the lost, the authors, and Jesus, are correct in saying how we view and use money and possessions is one area in which we must be counter-cultural. All things are a gifts to be used for God’s glory.
DeNeff and Drury encourage us to make this soul shift in three stages: spender to saver, saver to giver, sharing to blessing (generosity). They rightly show us that saving is not an end unto itself; it is only the first step. Also, since this is a continuum, I could see where I am, and where I need to move. How we deal with money will also affect our soul shift of seen to unseen.
One point the book does not deal with is the truth that for a married person this soul shift cannot be done alone. There is another continuum that we must deal with. Ask yourself the question, “Which do I desire more, freedom or security?” In general, men tend toward freedom and women toward security. When I was first asked this question, I thought I tended toward security, but as my response was analyzed I was actually a freedom guy. My answer went something like, “I would feel secure even if I didn’t have any money in the bank, as long as I didn’t owe money to anyone.” That is a freedom statement in the guise of security. My wife, on the other hand, does not mind owing money to people, provided that money we are paying is giving us a pay-off of security. Thus we have different philosophies on things like insurance.
In marriage, the two become one. It would be wrong of me to unilaterally cut our car insurance to the state mandated minimum and direct the savings to Josh and Becca Bowlin. (By the way, we are supporting the Bowlins, and they just need a few more supporters to get to 100%.) While cutting our insurance may be a good step to move from giving to blessing, it is a step that we would have to take together.
My reflections as I read through SoulShift by Steve DeNeff and David Drury.
©2011 Paul Tillman
This third soul shift is to move from merely trusting in what we see to trusting in what we cannot see. Often this is called having eyes of faith, and has a great example in Elisha and his servant who were surrounded by both the seen army of Aram and the unseen protection of the host of the Lord (2 Kings 6). Continue reading SoulShift #3: Seen to Unseen
I was reluctant to even begin reading the next chapter because I still have work to do to on the previous soul shift. However, nobody wants to wait three years for a book review, and I imagine that as individuals read SoulShift, different shifts will impact more or less deeply depending upon one’s experience.
The writing regarding the slave to child soul shift used forms of the word “know” frequently, as in “knowing you are a child.” Continue reading SoulShift #2: Slave to Child
The first soul shift is from being self-focused to being focused on others. Widowed Ruth exemplified this shift, as her most logical option, according to human wisdom, would have been to return to her own family in Moab instead of taking care of her also widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, and becoming an immigrant in Israel. Continue reading SoulShift #1: Me to You
No, those things do not go together, but the title got your attention. There are a few Christian “happenings” that are of note, but that I do not have time to make in depth comments on. Continue reading Current Issues: Rob Bell, Pole Dancing, and Earthquakes in Japan