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One of the things that first gave me hope and encouragement when I started down the path of preparing for church planting was the writings of Dallas Willard. One of the first pastors that actually sat me down and spoke wisdom to me was a man named Kent Carlson, senior pastor of Oak Hills Church in Folsom, CA. He recommended I read The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. Then, while I was in seminary I heard a lecture from John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church as he shared how Dallas Willard changed his ministry.

I am reminded today of Mr. Willard and all that he lended to the vision God shared with me for his church and how what Gpd put in my heart could be used in the context of church even though it wasn’t conventional or traditional or understood by those from traditional church circles. As I spend time this week seeing my passion for God’s people and his kingdom rekindled through re-reading The Divine Conspiracy, let me share with you some famous quotes from Dallas Willard:

• “The greatest challenge the church faces today is to be authentic disciples of Jesus.”
• “If you don’t have a teacher you can’t have a disciple.”
• “Does the Gospel I preach and teach have a natural tendency to cause people who hear it to become full-time students of Jesus? Would those who believe it become his apprentices as a natural ‘next step’? What can we reasonably expect would result from people actually believing the substance of my message?”
• “Generally, what I find is that the ordinary people who come to church are basically running their lives on their own, utilizing . . . their natural abilities . . . to negotiate their way. They believe there is a God and they need to check in with him. But they don’t have any sense that he is an active agent in their lives. As a result, they don’t become disciples of Jesus. They consume his merits and the services of the church [,but] discipleship is no essential part of Christianity today.”
• “There is nothing that can be done with anger that cannot
  be done better without it.”
• “We should not only want to be merciful, kind, unassuming, and patient persons but also be making plans to become so.”
• “We need to have vision, intention and means in order to achieve spiritual formation. That’s the basic issue regarding the teaching of Jesus. There isn’t a single thing that Jesus taught that a person cannot by engaging His grace come to do. Not a single thing. But you have to want to. And you have to decide to. And that’s what is lacking.”
• The revolution of Jesus is first and always a revolution of the human heart. His revolution does not proceed through the means of social institutions and laws—the outer forms of our existence—intending that these would then impose a good order of life upon people who come under their power. Rather, his is a revolution of character, which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship with God and one another. It is a revolution that changes people’s ideas, beliefs, feelings, and habits of choice, as well as their bodily tendencies and social relations. It penetrates the deepest layers of their soul. External, social arrangements may be useful to this end, but they are not the end, nor are they a fundamental part of the means.

I’ll post something in-context from The Divine Conspiracy tomorrow.

I’m feeling content with where I am at this week. I’m taking a break to seek God and only do ministry that he calls me to do, rather than what I feel I need to do in order to get to where I think he wants me to go. For the first time in my journey as a Christian I am not sure what tomorrow holds, yet I am feeling great peace in knowing that I can work through this time with God and not be before his people and potentially cause them to stumble.

For my last sermon last Sunday, I spoke about Romans 15:13. It’s my favorite verse in the entire Bible and it speaks to me in amazing ways…when I allow it to speak to me. Sometimes I take this verse for granted and it’s a terrible thing to do with God’s word. I’ve repented and I’ve been humbled before my Lord. I am learning to live in hope for tomorrow, yet recognizing the beauty of what God has placed before me today. I am hopeful that my time with my family will be honored by God and that he will use me to touch my daughters in ways that they will come to Christ and commit their lives to him as their Lord and Savior. Through my time of renewal and learning to wait on God, I am hopeful that he will call and I will answer in faith. In recognizing how far I have come, and realizing how far I have to go, that God will meet me where I am and show me the way to take those things that I have been gifted at doing and combining them with those things that God has burdened my heart for and made me passionate about. There is much to be hopeful for in the new place I am at this week and what a joyful and peaceful place I find myself as I remind myself of his promise to me and the promise he made to all of his people.

Romans 15:13- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord God, I pray that you wil fill your people with the hope that will change the world. That through their witness you will become known to those that did not know you before. That the hope that overflows rains down upon those in darkness and calls them to come into your light. May we learn to trust in you so deeply that your Holy Spirit can give us joy and peace through the hope you pour into our spirit, so much so that it overflows into those you have placed around us. In Christ’s name, amen.