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Archive for the ‘Dallas Willard’ Category

Relevance of Jesus to Human Life

Posted in Dallas Willard, Humanity, Quotes, Relevance, tagged , on August 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” – Proverbs 4:23

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” – Proverbs 23:7a

“Heart” doesn’t just mean a blood pump, it means the core of one’s being. We use the term similarly all the time. It refers to our motives and deep desires which are sometimes unknown even to ourselves.

This arena is not found with microscopes, stethoscopes, or telescopes. It is, in that sense, “spiritual” instead of “physical” though some say it is the result of our physical composition.

Also in that sense, everyone has a spiritual formation – be they preachers, businessmen, terrorists, world leaders, dictators or the unemployed – and it is here where change must, and can take place.

“Indeed, the only hope of humanity lies in the fact that, as our spiritual dimension has been formed, so it also can be transformed. Now and throughout the ages this has been acknowledged by everyone who has thought deeply about our condition—from Moses, Solomon, Socrates, and Spinoza, to Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Oprah, and current feminists and environmentalists. … Disagreements have only to do with what in our spirit needs to be changed and how that change can be brought about. AND ON THESE TWO points lies the inescapable relevance of Jesus to human life.”1

– fritz
1 – Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, NavPress, pg. 14

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Confusion more from prejudice than logic

Posted in Dallas Willard, Prejudice, Quotes, Truth on August 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things. – Proverbs 28:5

Confusion is caused more by prejudice than logic. Unwillingness to release precious ideas, pride, or action(inaction) prevent an honest assessment. That honest assessment is all God is asking.

Truth can be discovered by those who want to know and who are willing to act on what they learn.

“Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.” – Jesus (John 7:17 New Living Translation)

Dallas Willard, in his book, “Renovation of the Heart” makes this point:

“[T]he confusion now publicly prevailing over the makeup of the human being may not be due to its inherent obscurity. Rather, it may be due to the fact that it is a field where strongly armed prejudices—assumptions about what must be the case, “don’t bother me with facts”—prevent even well-intended people from seeing what, at least in basic outline, is fairly obvious, simple, and straightforward”.1

– fritz

1 – Renovations of the Heart NavPress, Copyright 2002, pg 30

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Christ in me

Posted in Dallas Willard, Quotes, tagged on August 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20

I’m not just living “in Christ”, he is living “in me”. I am not trying to do what he did and to be like him, instead I am allowing him to guide my daily tasks as if he were living through me, which he is. I become more like him as a byproduct.

Former pastor and author, Dallas Willard, puts it this way:

[H]e is, in any case, interested in my life, that very existence that is me. There lies my need. I need to be able to lead my life as he would lead it if he were I. So as his disciple I am not necessarily learning how to do special religious things, either as a part of “full-time service” or as a part of “part-time service.” My discipleship to Jesus is, within clearly definable limits, not a matter of what I do, but of how I do it. And it covers everything, “religious” or not.

– fritz
1 – The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard, pg.276

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