Dallas Willard

For six years, spiritual formation leaders such as Dallas Willard, Bruce Demarest, and Bill Hull came together with other colleagues to create a collection of wisdom and honest personal revelation in the areas of discipleship and spiritual formation. The result is The Kingdom Life, a book that offers a fresh approach to the spiritual disciplines through a three-pronged focus on transformation, community, and outreach. Connect in a unique way with God and His kingdom by understanding how He sees grace and doctrine, brokenness and obedience, outreach and justice. Includes seven highly practical "process" chapters as well as three theological chapters on the Trinity, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit.

The revered Christian author whose bestselling classics include The Divine Conspiracy and The Spirit of the Disciplines provides a new model for how we can present the Christian faith to others.When Christians share their faith, they often appeal to reason, logic, and the truth of doctrine. But these tactics often are not effective. A better approach to spread Christ s word, Dallas Willard suggests, is to use the example of our own lives. To demonstrate Jesus s message, we must be transformed people living out a life reflective of Jesus himself, a life of love, humility, and gentleness.This beautiful model of life this allure of gentleness Willard argues, is the foundation for making the most compelling argument for Christianity, one that will convince others that there is something special about Christianity and the Jesus we follow."

El ultimo mandamiento que Jesus dio a la iglesia antes de ascender al cielo fue la gran comision, el llamado a los cristianos a haced discipulos a todas las naciones. Pero los cristianos han respondido haciendo cristianos, no discipulos. Esto, segun el brillante erudito y reconocido pensador cristiano Dallas Willard, ha sido La gran omision de la iglesia. La palabra discipulo ocurre 269 veces en el Nuevo Testamento, escribe Willard. Cristiano se encuentra tres veces y fue introducido por primera vez para referirse precisamente a los discipulos de Jesus... El Nuevo Testamento es un libro acerca de los discipulos, por los discipulos, y para los discipulos de Jesucristo. Pero la cuestion no es meramente verbal. Lo que es mas importante es que el tipo de vida que vemos en la iglesia primitiva es la de un tipo de persona especial. Todas las garantias y beneficios que el evangelio ofrece a la humanidad presuponen evidentemente esa vida y no tienen sentido realista aparte de ella. El discipulo de Jesus no es el modelo de lujo o de alta resistencia del cristiano --especialmente acolchado, con textura, racionalizado y facultado por la via rapida en el camino recto y estrecho. El o ella encuentra en las paginas del Nuevo Testamento el primer nivel de transporte basico hacia el Reino de Dios Willard desafia audazmente la idea de que podemos ser cristianos sin ser discipulos, o llamarnos cristianos sin aplicar esta comprension de la vida en el Reino de Dios a todos los aspectos de la vida en la tierra. El llama a los creyentes a restaurar lo que deberia ser el corazon del cristianismo --ser discipulos activos de Jesucristo. Willard nos muestra que en la escuela de la vida, somos aprendices del Maestro cuya brillantez nos anima a subir por encima del conocimiento tradicional de la iglesia y abrazar el verdadero significado del discipulado --un vida activa, concreta y 24/7 con Jesus.

Theologian Gary Black Jr., Dallas Willard s friend and apprentice, integrates the revered teacher s final conversations about death and the afterlife with his profound teachings on spiritual life, offering a unique and astonishing look at heaven and what it holds for us.In the year before his death, Dallas Willard shared moving and insightful conversations about the afterlife with Gary Black Jr, informal dialogues steeped in theology yet grounded in the here and now. Dallas believed that our mortal lives are preparation for what comes next. He maintained that death is not the end of one life and the beginning of another, but rather a transition during which we continue the spiritual work begun in this incarnation.In his acclaimed books, Dallas explored the Christian life in the earthly kingdom. Yet one topic remained untouched: his vision of heaven. For the first time, Preparing for Heaven illuminates Dallas s most intimately held views, including the few mystical occurrences he experienced while dying. Informative and moving, Dallas s final insights challenge us to reconsider our beliefs that perhaps the line separating the afterlife from this life is not as absolute as we think, and that there is work we must do both now and after our own deaths. And that perhaps our faith is more vibrant and eternal than we dare to imagine."

A Guide for Drawing Close to GodBeing close to God means communicating with him. It requires both telling him what is on our hearts in prayer and understanding what he is saying to us. The second half of this conversation is so important--and so difficult. How do we hear God?In these daily devotionals, Dallas Willard helps us understand how we can know the voice of God and act on it. Each day you'll read Scripture on this topic and find suggestions for prayer, journaling, and reflection to become more open to God's presence. You may be surprised--and even transformed--by what you discover.

Dallas Willard, the author of the bestselling spiritual classic, The Divine Conspiracy, now fulfills his revolutionary vision of how the kingdom of God is made real on earth in this sequel, the last book he was working on before his recent death.In The Divine Conspiracy, revered Christian philosopher and scholar Dallas Willard critiqued the church's obsession with "sin management" and revolutionized our understanding of true Christian discipleship. Jesus is not a remote savior, waiting to welcome us into heaven after we die, Willard argued. He is a dynamic living force, a leader and teacher to whom we apprentice ourselves to learn the sacred skills God wants us to embrace, and to fulfill His son's vision when Christ declared that the "kingdom of God has come."In The Divine Conspiracy Continued, co-written with theologian Gary Black, Willard lays out the next stage in God's plan as this generation of disciples, including ordained and lay leaders, step into positions of authority across our culture and begin to transform the world from the inside out. To fulfill the Christian calling is not to remove oneself from the outside world and take shelter from its shortcomings, Willard reminds us, but to step into the world to lead and serve as agents of change.

The revered Christian author whose bestselling classics include The Divine Conspiracy and The Spirit of the Disciplines provides a new model for how we can present the Christian faith to others.When Christians share their faith, they often appeal to reason, logic, and the truth of doctrine. But these tactics often are not effective. A better approach to spread Christ's word, Dallas Willard suggests, is to use the example of our own lives. To demonstrate Jesus's message, we must be transformed people living out a life reflective of Jesus himself, a life of love, humility, and gentleness.This beautiful model of life--this allure of gentleness--Willard argues, is the foundation for making the most compelling argument for Christianity, one that will convince others that there is something special about Christianity and the Jesus we follow.

The last command Jesus gave the church before he ascended to heaven was the Great Commission, the call for Christians to "make disciples of all nations". But we have responded by making Christians, not disciples. This has been the church's Great Omission.

First published in 1998, The Divine Conspiracy captured the attention of Christians across the world, by offering a timely and challenging call back to the true meaning of Christian discipleship.

Dallas Willard, the author of the bestselling spiritual classic, The Divine Conspiracy, now fulfills his revolutionary vision of how the kingdom of God is made real on earth in this sequel, the last book he was working on before his recent death.

A Compelling Defense of the Faith for Our TimeAddressing the central question facing the church today--Is the Gospel true?--Dallas Willard offers an impassioned argument that Christian spiritual ideals are a reliable source of wisdom that should be granted the same authority as other intellectual disciplines such as science or philosophy. He shows how faith and reason are complementary and confronts the difficult issues of Christian pluralism (the challenge of other faiths) and how we can know God exists.

Jesus's Last Command--Ignored The last command Jesus gave the church before he ascended to heaven was the Great Commission, the call for Christians to "make disciples of all the nations." But Christians have responded by making "Christians," not "disciples." This, according to brilliant scholar and renowned Christian thinker Dallas Willard, has been the church's Great Omission.

What is the nature of reality? At the root of our society's deepest political and cultural divisions are the conflicting principles of four global worldviews. While each of us holds to some version of one of these worldviews, we are often unconscious of their differences as well as their underlying assumptions. Mary Poplin argues that the ultimate test of a worldview, philosophy or ideology is whether it corresponds with reality. Since different perspectives conflict with each other, how do we make sense of the differences? And if a worldview system accurately reflects reality, what implications does that have for our thinking and living? In this wide-ranging and perceptive study, Poplin examines four major worldviews: naturalism, humanism, pantheism and Judeo-Christian theism. She explores the fundamental assumptions of each, pressing for limitations. Ultimately she puts each perspective to the test, asking, what if this worldview is true? If reality is secular, that means something for how we orient our lives. But if reality is not best explained by secular perspectives, that would mean something quite different. Consider for yourself what is the fundamental substance of reality.

"God spoke to me." "The Spirit spoke to my heart." "God revealed the idea to me." Being close to God means communicating with him--telling him what is on our hearts in prayer and hearing and understanding what he is saying to us. It is this second half of our conversation with God that is so important but that can also be so difficult. How do we hear his voice? How can we be sure that what we think we hear is not our own subconscious? What role does the Bible play? What if what God says to us is not clear? The key, says best-selling author Dallas Willard, is to focus not so much on individual actions and decisions as on building our personal relationship with our Creator. In this updated and expanded edition of Willard's beloved book, originally published as In Search of Guidance, you'll gain rich spiritual insight into how we can hear God's voice clearly and develop an intimate partnership with him in the work of his kingdom. Including new material from Dallas Willard's teaching at the Renovaré Institute and reformatted to be even easier to read, this classic continues to endure as one of today's best resources for learning to listen closely to God.

Christianity Today Book Award winner Leadership Journal Top Book of the Year Copastors Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken tell the story of how God took their thriving, consumer-oriented church and transformed it into a modest congregation of unformed believers committed to the growth of the spirit--even when it meant a decline in numbers. As Kent and Mike found out, a decade of major change is not easy on a church. Oak Hills Church, from the pastoral staff to the congregation, had to confront addiction to personal ambition, resist consumerism and reorient their lives around the teachings of Jesus. Their renewed focus on spiritual formation over numerical growth triggered major changes in the content of their sermons, the tenor of their worship services, and the reason for their outreach. They lost members. But the health and spiritual depth of their church today is a testimony of God's transforming work and enduring faithfulness to the people he loves. Honest and humble, this is Kent and Mike's story of a church they love, written to inspire and challenge other churches to let God rewrite their stories as well. Read it for the church you love.

Each chapter in this workbook by Trevor Hudson is peppered with "holy experiments," simple practices that bring us into God's presence and help us experience life as his beloved. At the end of each chapter is a set of questions which are ideal for discussion with one or two spiritual friends or a small group. This practical and winsome book covers topics such as hearing and speaking with Godgrowing in spiritual friendshippracticing stewardship of our work and playlearning discernmentapproaching our death and the world beyondliving now in the kingdom of God Wherever you may find yourself along the Way, a real and vital spirituality awaits you in these pages.

Winner of a Christianity Today Book Award Much of our faith and practice is about words—preaching, teaching, talking with others. Yet all of these words are not enough to take us into the real presence of God where we can hear his voice. This book is an invitation to you to meet God deeply and fully outside the demands and noise of daily life. It is an invitation to solitude and silence. The beauty of a true invitation is that we really do have a choice about embarking on this adventure. God extends the invitation, but he honors our freedom and will not push himself where he is not wanted. Instead, he waits for us to respond from the depths of our desire. Will you say yes? This expanded edition includes a guide for groups to use both in discussing the book content and in learning to practice silence together.