SIMON PHIPPS

Welcome to part 7 of my blog series on Dallas Willard's book "The Divine Conspiracy". Please look at the chapter list to move between the other parts of this series. What I learnt From This Chapter This chapter changed my whole approach to prayer and still challenges me every time I read it. It took me out a position of futility and moved into a position in which I am a participant with God in His Kingdom through prayer. I hope that this section blesses you as much as it has blessed me. Chapter List Introduction Chapter 1 - Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now Chapter 2 - Gospels of Sin Management Chapter 3 - What Jesus Knew: Our God-Bathed World Chapter 4 - Who is Really Well Off? - The Beatitudes Chapter 5 - The Righteousness of the Kingdom Heart: Beyond the Goodness of Scribes and Pharisees Chapter 6 - Investing in the Heavens: Escaping the Deceptions of Reputations and Wealth Chapter 7 - The Community of Prayerful Love Chapter 8 - On Being a Disciple, or Student, of ...

Welcome to part  6 of my blog series on Dallas Willard's book "The Divine Conspiracy". Please look at the chapter list to move between the other parts of this series. What I learnt From This Chapter This chapter was so challenging to me. I care a lot about what others think of me. I found the most relevant part to be starting from a place trusting God in this area. Trusting God with regards to what others think of me. Equally the call to fast is something that constantly challenges me. I try to fast twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays but I often fall short of this goal (food tastes so good!!!) and so reading this draws me back into that desire to fast. Reading this changed my view on fasting from a  discipline of deprivation to a discipline of strength and upholding. Chapter List Introduction Chapter 1 - Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now Chapter 2 - Gospels of Sin Management Chapter 3 - What Jesus Knew: Our God-Bathed World Chapter 4 - Who is Really Well Off? - Th...

Welcome to part 5 of my blog series on Dallas Willard's book "The Divine Conspiracy". Please look at the chapter list to move between the other parts of this series. What I learnt From This Chapter The main thing that I learnt from this chapter is that there is an order to the sermon on the mount. It is not just a random collection of saying by Jesus but should be seen as a full sermon where the points lead into one another and build upon what has gone before. This has been an extremely profound and life changing insight. Chapter List Introduction Chapter 1 - Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now Chapter 2 - Gospels of Sin Management Chapter 3 - What Jesus Knew: Our God-Bathed World Chapter 4 - Who is Really Well Off? - The Beatitudes Chapter 5 - The Righteousness of the Kingdom Heart: Beyond the Goodness of Scribes and Pharisees Chapter 6 - Investing in the Heavens: Escaping the Deceptions of Reputations and Wealth Chapter 7 - The Community of Prayerful Love Chapter 8 - ...

Welcome to part 4 of my blog series on Dallas Willard's book "The Divine Conspiracy". Please look at the chapter list to move between the other parts of this series. What I Learnt From This Chapter The beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) of Jesus are often very misunderstood. Dallas does an amazing job of clearing up many misconceptions, and perhaps the greatest one for me was his statement about how we often take Jesus out of our treatment of the list. The beatitudes only work when we understand who Jesus is and his role in the availability of the kingdom of God. Chapter List Introduction Chapter 1 - Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now Chapter 2 - Gospels of Sin Management Chapter 3 - What Jesus Knew: Our God-Bathed World Chapter 4 - Who is Really Well Off? - The Beatitudes Chapter 5 - The Righteousness of the Kingdom Heart: Beyond the Goodness of Scribes and Pharisees Chapter 6 - Investing in the Heavens: Escaping the Deceptions of Reputations and Wealth Chapter 7 - The Commu...

This book is a classic on the life of community. I have read it several times and this time I decided to make fairly extensive notes to try and capture more of what Bonhoeffer is saying. I have published these notes for anyone who is thinking about reading this and would like to get an idea of what it says, or for someone who has read it and wants to quickly refresh themselves on it's basic content. For a small book it has a lot to say, so if you enjoy these notes I highly recommend reading the whole book if you haven't. You can get a copy of the book from here (please note this this is an affiliate link which means that I get a small amount from the sale of the book). 20 Things I Learnt From This Book There is so much that this book has to say but here are 20 key things that really stuck out to me: 1 – To dwell in fellowship with other believers is a great blessing . We often take this for granted because we experience it daily, but we should thank God for it ...

In Acts 6:1-17 we see a curious scene. We find ourselves in Jerusalem , and the fledgling church is growing and has set about providing food for the widows in Jerusalem. To be a widow at this time would have been a difficult life. Typically being a widow meant that you were too old to re-marry, and couldn't work. Caring for widows and orphans was a major part of Jewish culture and history (Deuteronomy 14:29, Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 10:2, Malachi 3:5 etc.), and was also a particular concern for Luke - the author of Luke & Acts (Luke 2:36-38, Luke 18:1-8, Luke 20:47, Luke 21:1-3, Acts 9:36-43). The section also distinguishes between two types of people there at the time: Hebraic Jews Hellenistic Jews Hebraic Jews were the natives in that place. They represent the dominant people group in that area. Hellenistic Jews were Jews who had moved to Jerusalem from outside of Palestine (diaspora Jews), therefore their culture and language were much more influen...