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What is your life?
16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back…
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Freedom from self promotion
7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 9 The host will…
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Lost… and not knowing
I am digging into Dallas Willard’s newest release, The Scandal of the Kingdom. I am so thankful his family carries on his work! This is a book looking at key parables and how Jesus’ teaching scandalized the religious and secular world of his day… and continues to do so if we truly look at the implications of what Jesus is…
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Our deep need is to be spiritually formed
“Spiritual formation” is the process through which those who love and trust Jesus Christ effectively take on His character. When this process is what it should be, they increasingly live their lives as He would if He were in their place. Their outward conformity to His example and His instructions rises toward fullness as their inward sources of action take…
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God needs people
Dallas Willard has a chapter in Renewing the Christian Mind that is refreshing in examining “leadership.” There are some great thoughts that stood out:
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The failure of evangelicals in politics
This chapter from Dallas Willard’s book, Renewing the Christian Mind, stood out to me because it wasn’t written in 2016 or 2020 or 2024. It was around 2009 when Dallas wrote that article. Even 15 years ago, he had this question:
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Defining discipleship
…as a disciple of Jesus I am with him, by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in the kingdom of God. This is the crucial idea. That means I am learning how to live within the range of God’s effective will, with his life flowing through mine. Another important way of putting this is to say…
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Knowledge isn’t enough
A great problem in Christian education is we stop at doctrine. We stop at knowledge. It is embarrassing to watch church leaders tout knowledge and correct doctrine… and then use it as a hammer in the lives of other people. It becomes their source of pride and the root of their action. Their action, however, is about hammering the knowledge…