Spiritual Formation with Nancy Kane, Part Two

Last week, Dan introduced us to Nancy Kane and her work leading others in spiritual formation. Today as we continue the conversation, Nancy shares more about her work with Moody Bible Institute’s Christian Spiritual Formation Certificate Program, and she and Dan talk about the thrill of witnessing people step more fully into their identity and calling as children of God.

Nancy: “I think God recognizes how storm-tossed we all are in these days, and when we say yes to him, he pours out heaven and earth and says, ‘Welcome home. Here it is. Here’s what you’ve always longed for.’”

Nancy and Dan reflect on the power of journeying with a community that is committed to growing and changing together. The vulnerability of connection opens us to insights and questions we may never encounter on our own, no matter how much we read the Bible. Whether in Nancy’s spiritual formation classes or in a group setting like a Story Workshop, engaging transformative material in the presence of others invites us to new ways of practicing how to give and receive love—to come to know through the words and faces of others that we are, in fact, lovable.

God recognizes how storm-tossed we all are in these days, and when we say yes to him, he pours out heaven and earth and says, ‘Welcome home.’

Dan: “It was thrilling to hear how the bent into one another had actually opened the door to a sense of the goodness of Jesus. You have built a remarkable community. […] For The Allender Center, it is a gift to know that there are allies that are part of the larger kingdom, that wish to bring about something of the same deep change, but in different ways.”

Dan shares his belief that it is not intellectual issues or arguments that most often give rise to doubt; it is the deep, unspoken conviction that the Gospel is too good for us, that we are not worthy of love. How can Jesus love us, knowing the fragmentation and rebellion of our hearts? How can we love unconditionally in return, when most of what we know is mere affection or duty? Coming to believe that we are lovable and capable of loving will transform us more than any sermon or self-help book. Without that, our striving for understanding will only yield self-righteousness.

Dan: “I don’t think there is any greater weed patch in my life than the dark seeds of self-righteousness.”

Nancy: “I would like to default to the intellectual truths, but the heart changes when it knows what it knows what it knows.”