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Lesson OneHoly Tension: Leading People Toward the Cycle of Spiritual Movement3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoFour Kinds of Conversations: Provoking the Right Kind of Tension3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeThe Rhythm of SoulCare: Four Movements3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourThe Doctrine of First and Second Things: Beginning to Understand Radical Dependence on Supernatural Resources for Supernatural Living3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveNew Covenant Provisions: Entering Tension that the Spirit Creates and Resolves3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixNew Covenant Community: What the Spirit Makes Possible3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenSafety and Excitement: What Makes Someone Willing to be Known and Explored3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightThe Purity of Self-Awareness: Encouraging Trust in Another3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineDiscernment: Building Confidence in the Process of Discovery3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenReleasing What Is Alive: Touching the Soul with Power3 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 165
Discussion Questions
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Briefly review what role each of the following topics plays in SoulCare: passion, wisdom, journeying reality, vision, reframing, and categories of understanding.
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Passion: What is in my heart and what is happening in the other, longing for the Spirit of God to stir their appetite for God becomes stronger than anything else. Wisdom: Holy Spirit guidance that comes out of you and touches them.
Journeying reality: The issue at hand, what the person is experiencing right now.
Vision: What and where is the spirit of God moving in this person’s life?
Reframing: Move specifics to reframe to the larger story of their story in Him in relation to past and present relationships with others.
Categories of Understanding: What helps us to make sense out of this story – they want God, they are an image bearer, they feel, think, choose. And when things hurt they may run away or handle it in a fleshly way.
Do we see that we need Him more than anything else? -
Passion – what is going on in my interior world as I listen to the person seeking soulcare, my ruling passion. That helps highlight my inadequacy in providing soulcare as I realised how self-centred I am inclined, even in seeking to help others.
Wisdom – it is seeking to understand the other person, to understand where they are at and how we can enter into that person’s life with the right words and questions.
Journeying reality – it is understanding the problem the other is currently facing
Vision – It is the eventual reality of how this person’s appetite for God is stirred in such a way that he becomes aware of it and becomes his primary appetite above all other appetites including a better life
Reframing – to move the conversation from his journey reality to the bigger story of the soul of the other person, his relationships beyond the current one etc.
Categories of understanding – I think it is the process of walking through all the possibilities that is contributing to the problem, for eg, how his corrupt capacity to desire, perceive, choose or feel contribute to the situation, the focus on desires of convenience and importance instead of necessity, the foolishness that impairs his preception resulting in his choices etc. -
Basically, all of these boil down to being centered on God, directing our greatest passion toward him, drawing on his wisdom, journeying toward him, envisioning the counseled as his child,reframing away from our own tendencies and seeking deeper understanding of the person we’re trying to help
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In this recap, it was a good reminder of really evaluating what our passions are and what drives us as well as the person we’re in conversation with. Getting to the bottom of these things in regards to what’s “under the iceberg” or what our compelling vision is seems to be key and Understanding ourselves as well as understanding others relationally.
Holy Spirit wisdom is essential for each and every conversation and James writes that God gives generously to all without finding fault; if we do not doubt. I believe this course is calling us to reframe or change perspective on how we view people in general, and then one on one relationally , how we view God and how we view problems.
The journeying reality is that none of this is a quick process and it may not look like what we have in mind or how we “think” it should go (conversations, solutions). -
Passion – the driving motivations and highly influential emotions working within us as we talk to others; (what does this person think of me? What can I say that would be good? This sounds a bit ridiculous/annoying/scary. Etc etc)
Wisdom –
Journeying reality – not just the presenting problem, but where someone actually is & is going in the wider story of their soul.
Vision – What does it look like for this person to have no greater desire or appetite than for Christ Himself? How would that flesh out, what would it look like? A supernatural end goal.
Reframing – moving out of the immediate situation to a larger context, often deals relationally…may look at past relationships (ie parents) or other current relationships (ie work colleagues, friends). How is this person relating to others? To God?
Categories of Understanding – This person has the capacity to choose, feel, desire and perceive. Their flesh and depravity is at work within those, and yet the image of God is radiating in this person. Are they in a state of self-need, making life work on their own terms? Are they moving into soul thirst, an understanding of God as the only means of help and satisfaction?
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How might your experiences in the cycle of spiritual growth help you provide more effective SoulCare?
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My experiences in the cycle of spiritual growth help me move through the process of providing soul care more effectively starting with brokenness and the acceptance of my own inadequacy, leading to abandonment. Actually going through this cycle has informed me as I seek to understand and interpret what God tells me about myself as well as this person and how to help create a hunger and thirst for Him in them.
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Understanding that life isn’t all about me, self, but about others is the first step in growing closer to God. I’m guided in the Word to think of others as more important than ourself (Philippians 2:3-4). Once I come to terms with this, I can turn from selfish ways and strive for Christ-like behavior, which is the point of abandonment to God. Putting full trust in Him will in time create a confidence so I can talk with people being led by the spirit to move them closer to God. This release will complete the passion to see what’s happening in me and others.
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Practicing abandonment daily, as a SoulCare giver, helps us to grow in our reliance on God. We are then able to model it to other people in order to encourage them to abandon purposeless “fighting with the windmills” (looking how to fix their problems, finding temporary soltuons, but ultimately still feeling restless, empty and deepy unhappy). If we can show them the great wisdom of “I can’t do this. God can” in our own practice, then they may be drawn to adopt this way of thiking, feeling and living for themselves – acknowledge that things are not working and invite God to intervene and lead one to the bigger vision.
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The cycle of spiritual growth brings me to a place of dependence on God. I will be far more effective as God’s agent than in my own strengths and ideas.
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I have learned Gods provision when I was in the valley
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Why is it a mistake to focus on retreating, advising, or empathizing while attempting to provide SoulCare? Which of these three mistakes are you personally more likely to make as you attempt to engage in SoulCare? What do you think predisposes you to make that mistake?
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Focusing on these three actions is a mistake because this focus indicates my self reliance. My ruling passion is exposed as not being the will of God and not relying on God through His Holy Spirit. I have been a solutions focused person all my life and especially since my educational focus as I pursued degrees in social work was always on solutions. My own back story, foolishness and education predisposed me to make this mistake.
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When we back away, offer solutions or try to feel what the person feels the thing that can be accomplished is rearranged behavior. This doesn’t get to the interior world or move someone closer to God.
I’m more likely to retreat. The reason is two-fold. Learning to keep peace, leave a difficult or uncomfortable situation as a child is still a battle I fight as an adult. As a result, when I feel confused or like I may not be able to contribute in a positive way I back away. So this has become a habit that I need to break. -
All three of these things, retreating, advising, and empathizing are attempts to stay comfortable. True soul care is often uncomfortable. There is tremendous power in having someone stay instead of retreating when I share a painful and shameful experience.
My tendency is to give advice, because that’s often what people ask for with their words. I want to learn to hear what their hearts are asking for- God! -
Self centered
No dependence on the spirit -
It will be a mistake as we will then look at our own offerings and experience and try to provide the immediate solution or comfort to the person being care for. We will rely on ourselves instead of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, looking from past happenings for both of us and will restrain us from seeing the potential of what can be achieved under God’s provision.