Dear Father in Heaven…

While preparing for my Summer series of sermons, which I will begin this coming Sunday, I stumbled upon – or re-discovered – Dallas Willard‘s paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. While it is a paraphrase, and therefore may be slightly skewed here and there toward the author’s personal perspective, nevertheless Willard’s was an informed perspective and his expression has both a ring of faithfulness and a refreshing simplicity.

Dear Father always near us,
may your name be treasured and loved,
may your rule be completed in us –
may your will be done here on earth in
just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
and forgive us our sins and impositions on you
as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
but deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one is charge,
and you have all the power, and the glory too is all yours-forever-
which is just the way we want it!

Source: The Divine Conspiracy

How to Make Disciples

Dallas Willard, in The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship, wrote:

“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”

Collin Marshall & Tony Payne touch on the essence of discipleship in their book, The Vine Project, (a helpful sequel to their excellent first book, The Trellis & The Vine). Here’s what Marshall & Payne have to say:

Disciple-making is really about calling people to faith and hope in Jesus Christ in the midst of this present evil age, with all its pressures.

For those who want to explore more of the meaning and the mechanics of making disciples, Steve Childers, of Pathway Learning, has published a helpful series of short audios he has titled “How to Make Disciples”. (NOTE: A transcript of each audio is available at the bottom of the posts, for those who prefer reading.)

Foundations of Discipleship (7:32)

The Master’s Method of Discipleship (7:02)

Principles of Discipleship (6:53)

Goals in Discipleship (8:32)

Imitating Christ in Discipleship (8:16)