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...

  5 MINUTE READ We are now well into Lent , one of the two great fasts in the Christian Calendar ( along with Advent ). Lent is the time when we contemplate Christ’s sacrifice, along with Christ’s 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. When we give up things for Lent we find ourselves tempted in similar, yet far less extreme, circumstances (Let’s be honest, who wants to hang out in the wilderness by themselves for 40 days and eat and drink nothing; I can barely handle giving up chocolate!). Much writing during this time consists of looking at the temptations of Jesus, and how Jesus overcame them as a template for our own overcoming of temptations. But in this post, I do not intend to look at the traditional views, but rather to look at the differences between how Matthew and Luke told the story of Christ’s temptation and what we can learn from these differences. Let’s look at them now. Why Differences are OK We do not like to discuss differences in ...

The opening of the New Testament is often overlooked. It begins with a long list of names in traditional format – so and so beget so and so etc. Leading from Abraham to Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17). Nowadays, reading a list of names is far from interesting. The only time we usually hear this list is around Christmas time , as we explore the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke . However, as soon as we start to peel beneath the surface of this list of names, we see a rich tapestry being revealed, full of beauty, wonder, and intrigue. Let’s delve into this beautiful tapestry and find some of the glorious patterns inside. The Inclusion of Women Women at the tomb - Jesus Mafa Genealogies were extremely important within Judaism. We see them found elsewhere within the Tanakh (Genesis 5), as well as in external sources (Jubilees 4:1-33). They helped make a claim for the person that they were leading to (in this case Jesus), a bit like a fanfare. Genealogies were traced...