Tuesday Tome - The Divine Conspiracy

In every reader's life, there are a few books that make such an impact and resonate so deeply that they become what I call "lifebooks." Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy is one such book for me.

My first reading of the book was a rich and wonderful series of aha moments. It challenged presuppositions, offered new ways of thinking about God and life, and gave me hope that there was a Christian way of living I could actually pursue with humility, honesty, and hope.

Over the years, I've recommended and given The Divine Conspiracy to many friends and relatives. Not all of them have shared my enthusiasm for it, but I'm always delighted when one of them does.

Just this past month I got an email from an excited young friend who was reading the book upon my recommendation. He said he was loving it and planned to read it through a second time as soon as he finished his first reading. I'm looking forward to getting together with him for a fun conversation.  There is a special affinity you feel with someone who has read one of your lifebooks has now discovered it has become one of their own.

So let me know if you've read or would like to read this special book. Maybe we could get together for an interesting talk!

From The Divine Conspiracy:

"My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real life personality who deals with real-life issues, but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with, and must deal with now."

"Actual discipleship or apprenticeship to Jesus is, in our day, no longer thought of as in any way essential to faith in him. It is regarded as a costly option, a spiritual luxury, or possibly even as an evasion. Why bother with discipleship, it is widely thought, or, for that matter, with a conversational relationship with God? Let us get on with what we have to do."

"This book, then, presents discipleship to Jesus as the very heart of the gospel. The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in His present kingdom, now on earth and available to all. So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying. It is about living now as his apprentice in kingdom living, not just as a consumer of his merits. Our future, however far we look, is a natural extension of the faith by which we live now and the life in which we now participate."