My friend Jim Herrington started FaithWalkers and invited me to participate as part of my role at Mission Houston. What I learned in FaithWalking was an important part of my journey into Spiritual Formation while learning from Dallas Willard. As FaithWalkers, we are taught that we live in a reactive culture where even the most well-intentioned people behave in less than healthy ways. Everyone has triggers. Marriages, families, churches, businesses, communities and governments are all impacted by people’s lack of ability to work together in healthy and life-giving ways.
As a result, most of the systems in our culture are impaired and many are disintegrating. Individuals and the world remain broken and disunified. Christians inconsistently follow the path of Jesus. We miss out on the fully alive life. The world remains mostly unchanged. Polarization and impulsive bad behavior are on the rise. Simple answers get offered when the real answers lie deep within every individual.
“External conflicts are difficult to resolve before resolving the internal conflicts that fuel them.”
— Dr. Henry Cloud
FaithWalking teaches that wholeness and workability are God’s intended design. As FaithWalkers, we believe that God desires peace, unity, and soundness in individuals and in systems. We believe that when God’s kingdom invades the earth that wholeness is reclaimed in everyone and that workability is established for everyone.
FaithWalking Module 1: Awareness through self-discovery
In Module 1 you will get tools for building self-awareness and self-discovery. You will reflect on both the positive and the negative of your first formation. You will learn how your first formation wounded you and how those wounds are impacting your life. You will learn how to make positive declarations that move your life forward in a healthier direction.
FaithWalking Module 2: Authenticity
In Module 2 you will learn how shame and your own sense of self-worth are impacting you in negative ways. You will get tools for addressing your shame and for moving beyond it. You will learn that we all live out of three “selves.” You will learn how to increasingly live as one integrated self. You will be given tools for sharing your story in life-giving ways. You will learn how to put your negative vows behind you.
FaithWalking Module 3: Anxiety
In Module 3 you will learn how to see and manage anxiety. You will learn what anxiety really is and how it impacts you. When we get anxious, we get stupid! In this module you will learn how to deal with anxiety in life-giving ways. You will be provided with tools for responding based on your best thinking. You will learn how to take responsibility for self, more consistently. You will learn some practices for slowing the pace of your life. You will learn how to become less anxious.
FaithWalking Module 4: Emotional Maturity
In Module 4 you will learn how to grow in your emotional maturity. You will develop the confidence to be yourself no matter what others think. You will learn how to establish healthy boundaries. You will gain tools for establishing clear guiding principles for your life. You will learn how to stay connected to the important people in your life, especially your family. In this module you will gain tools for developing healthier relationships.
FaithWalking Module 5: Alignment
In Module 5 you will learn two definitions for integrity. You will learn the four-step process for honoring your word. You will gain tools for keeping yourself in alignment with what you say you believe. You will learn to stop allowing how you feel to run your life. You will learn what it means to join God in God’s ongoing mission in the world. You will learn that living missionally is a way of life.
FaithWalking Module 6: Powered by Purpose
In Module 6 you will learn how to live a life of purpose on mission with God. You will learn how to love like Jesus loved. You will learn how to serve the common good and work with others to make the world a better place. You will learn how to look for brokenness in the places where you already spend your time. You will learn to think about wholeness being restored and what wholeness might look like. You will learn how to give your word to big promises. You will learn how to partner with God in God’s ongoing mission in the places where you live, work, and play.
