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Dallas Willard

Dallas Willard

Dallas Willard

Articles & Essays by Dallas Willard

08 07 Self Deception
Book Foreword from I Told Me So

This Pervasive Self-Deception

Featured August 6, 2017
“Self-deception,” Dallas Willard writes in the foreword to Gregg Ten Elshof’s I Told Me So: Self-Deception and the Christian Life, ​“is a major part of what defeats spiritual formation in Christ.” Dallas explains why we so often fail to live out what we say we believe and want in this piece.
Koepfer Leaf
Interview

On Grace, Transformation, and Holding Our Tongues

Published May, 1993 • Featured June 4, 2017
In this short excerpt from an interview, Dallas Willard explains how ​“saved by grace” can be misunderstood to mean ​“no participation or change necessary.” And, on the other hand, spiritual transformation can be misunderstood as a program of self-improvement.
02 20 St Paul
Journal/Magazine Article

A Thinking Faith

Published May, 2003 • Featured February 19, 2017
Dallas Willard does not pull punches when he writes that ​“the prospering of God’s cause on earth depends upon his people thinking well.” He encourages us eschew the crooked path of ineffective deliberation and instead order and engage our thoughts to serve God well.
02 06 Glass Blowing
Book Excerpt from Hearing God

Transformational Living

Featured February 5, 2017
In introductory excerpts from three of his books, Dallas Willard reminds us of an essential message of his life’s work: That spiritual transformation is possible; that is, that we actually can become more like Jesus.
Body Redemption
Book Excerpt from The Great Omission

Is Your Body Beyond Redemption?

Published June, 2006 • Featured November 6, 2016
“On the other hand, if the body is simply beyond redemption, then ordinary life is too.” Dallas Willard explores redemption’s fullest effects in this excerpt from The Great Omission.
10 17 Non Conformity
Book Excerpt from The Spirit of the Disciplines

A Life that Does Not Work

Featured October 16, 2016
Paul warned us to avoid being ​“conformed to this world” — to avoid living a life that does not work. In this excerpt from Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard explains how discipleship, not conformity, brings us into the fullness of life.
Measuring tape roll
Interview

How Do We Assess Spiritual Growth?

Published April, 2010 • Featured September 11, 2016
What does ​“success” for a church community look like? Are we measuring the right things? Are we even starting with the right definition of success? Dallas Willard shares some thoughts on this subject in this interview from 2010.
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Book Excerpt from The Divine Conspiracy

On Correcting Others

Featured August 9, 2016
How do we lovingly correct without crushing others? Here is Dallas Willard’s gentle approach in The Divine Conspiracy.
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Book Excerpt from The Divine Conspiracy

Building Our House Upon the Rock

Published March, 1998 • Featured July 3, 2016
This excerpt from Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy reminds us that ​“it must be possible to hear and do what Jesus said.”
07 01 Heart On Fire
Article

The Nature of Agape Love

Featured June 30, 2016
In this excerpt from Getting Love Right by Dallas Willard, we are invited to consider the very nature of God’s agape and how it is expressed in our lives.
06 13 Doubt
Interview

The Elephant in the Room

Featured June 12, 2016
There is an ​“elephant in the room of our followership of Christ”: doubt. This Dallas Willard piece offers insight into living the with-God life in the midst of doubt.
Potter Clay
Interview

A Conversation with Dallas Willard About Renovation of the Heart

Published January, 2006 • Featured April 19, 2016
In Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard hoped to offer readers ​“a picture of the dimensions of their own life and how they fit together and how they can be made to work toward the end of glory to God and human fulfillment.”
2018 09 27 Oxen
Book Excerpt from The Spirit of the Disciplines

The Secret of the Easy Yoke

Published October, 1988 • Featured October 31, 1988
To receive the end benefits of discipline, we must start at the beginning and go through the middle. So, where do we begin and what is required? Dallas Willard provides some answers.