it is finished

Finally finished The Divine Conspiracy.  Hopefully I can live out what I read.

The final few chapters are devoted to developing a discipleship plan.  For those with the responsibility of making disciples, he lays out a “curriculum for Christlikeness.”

The end is Willard’s vision of eternal life.  Importantly, he discusses death and our common misperceptions of it.  Once cleared, he uses scripture to illuminate the eternal world and our role in it.  This is critical to the committment to be a disciple, because you must know what you’re working toward.

In case you were wondering, the divine conspiracy (if I can sum up this weighty work in one paragraph) is that the Being greater than the universe slipped into our midst, becoming one of us.  This decision changed all of humanity for all time.  It can change me – right now.

the divine conspiracy, part 2

In case you didn’t see it, I posted earlier about trying to read The Divine Conspiracy for the third time.  I’m over half way through now, and loving it (third time’s a charm I guess).

His scholarly style does take some getting used to.  The more I read the better I understand his approach to mapping out his subject matter.  I’m also getting better at reading his unique sentence constructions.  Though it’s getting easier, I can’t read too much at a time because it requires digestion.  Here’s a snippet:

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.

But besides the mechanics of reading comprehension, how’s the book itself?  Very insightful,  thoughtful and intellectually inspiring.  I love his approach of starting with the assertion that Jesus was (is) the most intelligent person ever, so we should take seriously his teaching.  So often when we read Jesus’ words we skim over them out of familiarity, without really studying his teaching for application to our everyday life.  Willard methodically breaks down the central teachings of Jesus into readily applicable chunks of kingdom truth.

the divine conspiracy

Okay, so this is at least the third time I’ve started reading this book: The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard.  It’s deep stuff, and I don’t know if I’m ready yet (still).  But I’ll try…

practicing the presence of God

While reading The Purpose Driven Life, I was intrigued by the mention of a 17th century Frenchman named Brother Lawrence.  He was a layman who served as a cook and shoe repairman in a French monastery.  He developed a lifestyle of living in God’s presence, every moment of every day.  He mentored many people later in life, one of whom compiled several letters and short essays of Brother Lawrence’s into a small book called The Practice of the Presence of God.

I picked up a copy of the book and am reading it now.  I like the straightforward, clear yet profound exhortations.  Lawrence explains how he made a habit of speaking to God constantly, even in the middle of everyday tasks.  I was a little skeptical at first because I believe that God sometimes chooses to hide himself from us (Ps 10:1, 13:1, 89:46).  But Lawrence acknowledges this truth, explaining that God uses these spells to strengthen our faith in him.  God asks us to believe in him even when we can’t see his hand working in our situation, to continue to trust his goodness even when we can’t hear his voice.  Lawrence encourages us to keep talking to God, to keep praising him, and to keep asking for grace to live a life that pleases him.

Here are some excerpts:

If we knew how much He loves us, we would always be ready to face life, both its pleasures and its troubles.  You know, the difficulties in life do not have to be unbearable.  It is the way we look at them – through faith or unbelief. We must be convinced that our Father is full of love for us and that He only permits trials to come our way for our own good.

…

The first way in which the soul is united with God is through salvation, solely by his grace.  This is followed by a period in which a saved soul comes to know God through a series of experiences, some of which bring it into closer union with Him, and some take it further away.  The soul learns which activities bring God’s presence nearer.  It remains in His presence by practicing those activities.

I think I may read this book several times… maybe once a year.

rich dad, poor dad, part deux

I’m a little let down by the last few chapters of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  The first chapters grab your interest, and you anxiously await Rich Dad’s words of wisdom.  But by the time the author gets into the meat of the subject, his writing (and the editing) fall flat.  He uses incomplete sentences, poor grammar, repitition, and references to material that doesn’t seem to exist.

Putting aside the poor writing, there are three basic messages I got out of this book:

1. The US tax code is structured so that it’s almost impossible to get ahead by working for a living.  Income is heavily taxed, wealth is not.  (This is probably not the most socially equitable arrangement, but it’s what we have for now.  See Warren Buffet’s recent comments.)

2. Given 1., you should put your money in revenue-generating assets.  These include real estate, investments that pay dividends, etc.  Then incorporate and pay all your (legal) expenses out of your corporation.

3. Be creative and take risks.  You’ll never “win” if you never try.