Sanctus Forum

Conspiracy Commentaries: §26 We Become Bearers of God‘s Rule ”at Hand”

Spirituality, as unhelpful as the word is as a general category, does seem to offer power to people. Jesus' spirituality is no different. Dallas Willard says Jesus' power is even at work when people reject the good you are trying to give them. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Conspiracy Commentaries: §27 But Other Kingdoms Remain

Why doesn't the kingdom of God, if it is here, not seem to be all that pervasive? Dallas Willard's answer is that God has allowed other kingdoms to have a say in how the universe goes and of course the biggest opposition to God's kingdom is my kingdom. Michael Stewart Robb says this is where Teresa of Avila comes in who describes how we can walk with our initial connection to God into the other parts of our castle/kingdom. Not just our soul but the church can be a big opposition to God's kingdom. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Conspiracy Commentaries: §28 Electricity Is ”at Hand”

"A very different way of living." If you'd like that, it is what the kingdom of God should make possible for us. Dallas Willard compares it to his family's new access to electricity and how that changed rural life. But the kingdom ought to change life in more radical ways than any technological advance. BE INFORMED and PRAY for us better by signing up for the Sanctus newsletter: https://sanctus.institute

Conspiracy Commentaries: §29 Two Who Called

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: Conversations ft. Jane Willard // on “In the Midst of Other Kingdoms” by Dallas Willard

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: Conversations ft. Jörg Ahlbrecht // on “The Invitation Diminished” by Dallas Willard

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: §30 The Invitation Diminished

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: §31 Bar-Code Faith

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: Conversations ft. Bas van der Graaf // on “The Gospel on the Right” by Dallas Willard

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

Conspiracy Commentaries: §32 Would God Really Do It That Way?

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