Back when he pastored a small church in Southern California, Richard Foster was a desperate man. Many in his congregation struggled with life, were just out of prison or were recovering from drug addiction. He tried to help in every way he knew, but still failed.
So Foster turned to spiritual masters of the distant past, compiling their wisdom into a series of spiritual disciplines, from prayer and meditation to fasting, service and solitude.
And then he experimented on his troubled congregation.