Apprentice 2 Jesus

Dallas Willard

  • Being Spirit-filled Apprentices

    There is no way of getting around the fact that if you are going to be someone’s apprentice you have to BE with them. I am with Jesus to learn how to be LIKE Jesus. Jesus gave the promise of the Advocate. The Spirit would be the One with us to remind us of Jesus.… Read more

  • The Narrow Gate

    Through the summer I have been meditating once again on Dallas Willard’s book The Divine Conspiracy. It is a reflection on the Sermon on the Mount. The call to discipleship is radical. Jesus doesn’t mince words about this call. In Matthew 7 it is the picture of the narrow gate. The definition of the narrow… Read more

  • Enter Through the Narrow Gate

    The end of the Sermon on the Mount is the call for commitment. It is a call for routine obedience from the heart. The first picture given in Matthew 7:13 is entering through the narrow gate. (Again, I know a good universalist can explain away any verse that seems to qualify entering into Kingdom life,… Read more

  • Everyone Gets an Education

    One of my favorite quotes from Dallas Willard over the years is, “Everyone gets an education. Which kind you get is up to you.” In The Divine Conspiracy, he puts it this way: You are somebody’s disciple. You learned how to live from somebody else. There are no exceptions to this rule, for human beings… Read more

  • Dallas Willard Paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer

    Based on what Dallas taught in The Divine Conspiracy on the Lord’s Prayer, he wrote this paraphrase: Dear Father always near us, may your name be treasured and loved, may your rule be completed in us — may your will be done here on earth in just the way it is done in heaven. Give… Read more

  • Lord, I’m a Wimp

    Dallas Willard’s book The Divine Conspiracy walks us through the Sermon on the Mount. I have been posting from time to time this summer on his book as I work my way through it again. I want to understand more fully the cost of discipleship. The section he has on the Lord’s Prayer is helpful.… Read more

  • The Lord’s Prayer — “Forgive us our trespasses”

    Dallas Willard’s thoughts on this particular part of the prayer get right to the point: Today even many Christian read and say “forgive us our trespasses” as “give me a break.” In the typically late-twentieth century manner, this saves the ego and its egotism. “I am not a sinner, I just need a break!” But… Read more

  • The Lord’s Prayer — Give Us This Day

    One key element of prayer Jesus taught his disciples was the request for immediate sustenance. God provides for the basics. Whatever we need to live in a functional manner is sourced in God. “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is a tough request. It is a request based in confidence. Our Father does… Read more

  • Come Now Your Kingdom

    Dallas Willard walks through the Lord’s Prayer in a way that gets my mind to think more deeply about the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. He taught them to PRAY. I lack that passion at times in my own life. Today’s message is from Matt. 11:25-30 where Jesus invites the followers to take his yoke… Read more

  • Prayer — Who Are You Talking To?

    Several years ago the pastors in our city were asked to put together a rotation for each of us to come in and give an invocation at the city council meetings. It has been a privilege to do so. In one two year stretch we had a different mayor who came to our clergy group… Read more