Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth

Foster reflects on how the book came into being and the surprising ways God has used it over the past two decades. He opens with a sense of wonder at how simple markings—“squiggles on paper” (17)—can bring about deep spiritual impact in readers’ lives. Recounting his early pastoral experiences, Foster describes his initial eagerness and subsequent burnout. Finding himself spiritually empty, he began turning to historical Christian “Devotional Masters” like Augustine and Julian of Norwich for authentic spiritual depth. These saints, he recalls, understood the transformative power of prayer and a genuine experience of God in a way he had not yet known.

Foster then describes three influential relationships that revolutionized his ministry. Dallas Willard’s philosophical teachings provided him with a life-centered approach to Scripture and theology. Bill Vaswig led him into honest, lively prayer that nurtured heartfelt communion with God. And Beth Shapiro modeled how to bring prayer into real-world situations—like holding an infant born prematurely—thus demonstrating faith as a lived, tangible practice.

Next, Foster explains how three “catalysts” nudged him from desiring to write toward actual authorship. These included a prophetic prayer by a colleague who asked God to aid Foster in writing, encouragement from the esteemed author D. Elton Trueblood, and the unfailing support of Ken and Doris Boyce, who even loaned him their motor home as a writing sanctuary.