Sanctus Forum

Regarding implementing spiritual formation and discipleship in a church, Michael Stewart Robb often tells people that if it does not come out of the mind and soul of the main person who does the teaching and leading, then it is not likely to go far. Dallas Willard believes the failures we see in church are often due to what we are actually doing, that is, teaching. Even spiritual formation won't help. It has to be approached in a different way. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Failure. It is going to happen. To you or to someone you know. But how do we interpret failure when it happens? In this section of The Divine Conspiracy Dallas Willard explores the interpretations of two people who, in the 1990's at least, were well-regarded as leaders - Mike Yaconelli and Philip Yancey. Needless to say, he doesn't think they should be followed. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Every year we hear news of some church leader who messed up and possibly in a way that apologizing and admitting that he or she is a sinner isn't enough. This phenomenon isn't new with the falls of Mark Driscoll, Bill Hybels and Ravi Zacharias, to name a few recent examples. Dallas Willard observed it in his day. Why did he think of it? What did he think was at the bottom of it? BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

When looked at from above the version of salvation taught to us in many parts of the church is strange. And not in a good way. In speaking of this bar-code faith, Dallas Willard, the philosopher, draws on the philosophy of occasionalism a now defunct theory of how our mind and body interact. Have we come to believe in a gospel of occasionalism? Join Michael Stewart Robb in another episode on The Divine Conspiracy. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Crack open The Divine Conspiracy 24 years after its publication and the section which feels more dated than any is in chapter two: "The Gospel on the Right." In this episode, Bas van der Graaf, a coach, spiritual director (basvandergraaf.com) pastor in the Netherlands helps us with that. Bas found Dallas Willard in 2006 shortly after arriving to pastor Jerusalemkerk in youthful but Jesus-distant Amsterdam. Having come out of a Dutch version of the gospel on the right, he explains what he found so attractive about Dallas's vision of the gospel and of Jesus. And why he thinks it matters for new generations of Jesus followers in Holland, Europe and everywhere. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

In a day when someone might wish to see your vaccination status to let you in somewhere, one might appreciate Dallas Willard's metaphor for a type of Christianity which he's worried about. It is what he calls bar-code faith and he thinks that you have likely encountered it in your life and may even believe it. Join Michael Stewart Robb in another episode on The Divine Conspiracy. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Are you victim of a small version of the message of the Bible? Dallas Willard has the idea that the tagline of 20th century Christianity was written on a bumper sticker but also in big theology books and, sad to say, on many lives.⁠ Michael Stewart Robb begins chapter two of The Divine Conspiracy on gospels of sin management. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Discipleship. Why is it the sort of thing that seems rare in European churches? Does it have anything to do with the theology which we have been taught? Jörg Ahlbrecht, author and speaker in Germany, and Michael Stewart Robb (Mike) open chapter two of Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy to discuss bar-code faith, gospels of sin management, the lack of discipleship and what you might do about it. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Jane Willard (Dallas Willard's wife) speaks with Michael Stewart Robb about the genesis of The Divine Conspiracy and praying for others (including for Dallas). Jane had quite a life helping to heal people from whom spiritual disciplines were not enough. And so she has a lot to say about how other kingdoms come under the kingdom of God (and lots of little insights about Dallas). BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

In the season finale of Conspiracy Commentaries (last of the first chapter) Michael Stewart Robb sits on Theresienwiese (hence all the background noise) to illustrate the nearness of Jesus and the kingdom, which is what Dallas Willard in his stories about Gary Smith and David Yonggi Cho wants to communicate. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute