The Divine Conspiracy

  "God is up to something really big in this world and in your heart."

  That's a quote from John Ortberg in the short video below, describing Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy, which I just finished.  I had been reading a lot of different authors who quoted Willard, and it occurred to me that perhaps actually reading something by Dallas Willard might be the next, logical step.

  And what a step it is.

  This book is well worth your time, and it takes considerable time to read it.  It clocks in at 400 pages on the nose, and each of them is filled with thought-provoking ideas, each one orbiting God's Kingdom and instructing the reader on a life that does the same.

  Willard begins with a discussion on God's Kingdom, and it is eye opening to have someone else describe how different God's Kingdom is than the one in which we currently live.  God values different things than American society does, and we have become numb to the differences--we don't think about the idea that to truly follow Jesus, to be a disciple, we have to live differently, with the same values that Christ has, rather than our own.

  He continues from this discussion to focus on how we get there.  Willard wants the reader to shape his life around Christ, to begin to live in the Kingdom now.  I could write for days, but I couldn't do Willard justice--read it for yourself, chew on it, and let it make you uncomfortable.  We have to change to follow Christ, and as hard as the change may be, it is absolutely necessary if we want to be disciples.  It isn't enough to simply say yes with our mouths--our hearts and our lives must follow Christ if we truly want to be his disciples.  Willard harps on discipleship quite a bit, and rightly so--we aren't doing the work to grow into disciples, he believes, work that is absolutely necessary.

  This is a deep, thick book, but each page is worth your time.  Read it, and let it change you, leading you deeper into study and service, but most importantly, love of our awesome God!