When I first picked up The Divine Conspiracy to read, I was totally lost. I didn’t know Dallas Willard, but had noticed the book as an award winner. Willard made every word count. Usually I can skim a book because people put filler words in. Willard never wasted a word.

I decided the best way to understand Willard’s work was to teach it. I embarked on a second trip through the book as I preached a series on the Sermon on the Mount. It was then that Willard’s teachings exploded in my life. I soaked up all he wrote, or tried to. It still takes me a couple of times through a book to try and understand what he is saying. But I know that what he is saying is VITAL. He has a prophetic vision for what the church SHOULD be in this world.

His teachings revolutionized my world of spiritual formation. More than that, he started spiritual formation in my life. When I had the chance to hear him in person a few years ago, I had him sign my copy of The Divine Conspiracy. We chatted very briefly about making this a model for the church and he warned me about how slow it would go.

Dallas Willard entered into his eternal reward today at the age of 77. I am immensely saddened by this loss. The church world will not recognize it fully, but we lost a great man with a prophetic vision for what IS possible in the Kingdom of God.

Eternal memory.