“Aim at depth, not breadth. If you get depth, breadth will be added to you. If you aim at breadth, you’ll get neither depth nor breadth.”
In practice: study one author in depth rather than reading a bit of everyone — the broad overview will then come on its own.
Dallas Willard’s advice to John Ortberg — Living in Christ’s Presence, p. 149
Resources & inspiration
I’d love to see an exhibition like this at BrodFest, for instance: a wall full of inspiration where you could add your name under the resources that are dear to you.
D. Willard · Tim Mackie · Bema · N. T. Wright · F. Laubach · Teresa of Ávila · C. S. Lewis · D. Bonhoeffer · 24-7 Prayer · Sermon tips · Audiobooks
A recording of a conference from the end of Dallas’s life — I warmly recommend the audio version. The main theme is discipleship.
An exposition of the Sermon on the Mount — probably Dallas’s most important work — dense, and named Book of the Year by Christianity Today.
An exposition of Jesus’ parables.
On discipleship.
How God spoke in Scripture and how he speaks to people today.
Dallas’s biography — his family, academic and theological life.
On the transformation of character — on the border between psychology and theology.
Spiritual disciplines that lead to a transformation of character.
Renovare.org — a community linked to Dallas Willard — when it comes to books, they often reach back to the tradition of the church fathers, so they’ll lead you to things that aren’t always easy to read but are often all the more powerful for it. I recommend their curated reading lists and their podcast!!!
dWillard.org — loads of Dallas’s output in one place — videos, audio, articles, podcasts…
D. Willard on YouTube — hours-long recordings of conferences with Dallas — lecture series that became the basis of his books. It’s all in English, but Dallas deliberately speaks slowly so that he’s easy to follow.
BibleProject is a real gem — both visually and in terms of content. They present various biblical themes through short animated videos.
But BibleProject has long been about much more than videos. In English there’s a podcast and an extensive website full of materials and texts that help you find your way around Scripture. On YouTube you can also listen to sermons and lectures by its main creator, Dr Tim Mackie.
To give you an idea, a few series titles: How to Read the Bible, Biblical Themes, Acts of the Apostles, Torah, Wisdom Literature…
But it would be a shame to focus purely on BibleProject — Tim Mackie’s sermons are fantastic!
A Jewish teacher trained by rabbis expounds the Christian message of Scripture with an emphasis precisely on its roots. The episode notes here are well worth reading!
alephbeta.org — a Jewish perspective on Scripture: beautifully produced video expositions. The skills you pick up are useful for any kind of Bible reading. The Jewish counterpart to The Bible Project!
Paul — readable and clearly structured.
Simply Christian — I keep coming back to this book — if only to see what the most prominent theologian of our day wrote, in brief, about the topic I’m currently dealing with — what he included in the “core of Christianity”.
Ask NT Wright Anything — Premier Unbelievable? — a regular Q&A podcast with the biblical scholar Tom Wright (111 episodes).
A few tips for interesting sermons (Maty’s completely biased pick 🙂
Subtitles on the English videos
Almost all the English videos have automatically translated subtitles
Tim Mackie: Paradise Now
(Paradise Now)
Before Dr Tim Mackie founded his magnificent project of animated videos on biblical themes, he worked for many years as a preacher, so YouTube is full of recordings of his Bible studies. This particular sermon, though, is from a 24-7 Prayer conference — and it is… fascinating!!!
C. S. Lewis: Giving All To Christ
(Giving All To Christ)
I only knew Lewis from his books — but his original recordings are available too! Hats off to the essay he dared to bring to public radio on the BBC. The text also forms a chapter of Mere Christianity.
Pavel Hošek: “The Universalism of Salvation”
Prof. Hošek is no universalist, but few listeners will fail to agree: “We can’t claim that hell will be empty, but we can’t help wishing it were.”
Timothy Keller: The Gospel and Your Self
(The Gospel and Your Self)
In hectic New York, in front of a demanding audience, T. Keller stands with a clear gospel — without emotionalism or a hollowed-out message.
Tomáš Halík: The Dispute between Faith and Unbelief
(TEDxPrague)
A TEDx talk on the conversation between faith and unbelief — and on what the two sides have to say to each other.
Dallas Willard: Hearing God
(Hearing God)
Of all the preachers, Dallas is my biggest favourite. An academic, a professor of philosophy and a mystic with a great love for Scripture, in the “Hearing God” series he tackles the very personal subject of the conversation between a person and God.
John Ortberg: Making Up There Come Down Here
(Making Up There Come Down Here)
A long-time student, friend and colleague of Dallas Willard; he also has a few interesting books to his name.
Nabeel Qureshi at Georgia Tech
A former devout Muslim describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity.
John Wimber: “I’m a Fool for Christ, Whose Fool Are You?”
(I’m a Fool for Christ, Whose Fool Are You?)
John Wimber’s personal testimony. It’s an explosive video: expect one burst of laughter after another 🙂 And yet there’s no lack of depth — it’s an authentic personal story.
Chase Replogle: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes
(Who Were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes?)
Who were the main groups of Jesus’ day, and which was Jesus closest to? A great companion to the infographic Groups of Jesus’ day.
N. T. Wright: Prayer and the Present Dilemma – Rom 8:18-39
(Prayer and the Present Dilemma)
An Anglican priest and a heavyweight of contemporary theology. Beyond that, a man of deep personal faith — his sermons are far more than an academic exercise.
Pete Greig: Why Pray? | The Prayer Course
(Why Pray? | The Prayer Course | 24-7 Prayer)
The founder of a prayer movement that has taken root across denominations — from prayer rooms to centres with a social outreach all over the world.
Kateřina Lachmanová: Typical Obstacles in Prayer
A theologian and psychologist, editor-in-chief of the Carmelite publishing house (Karmelitánské nakladatelství). It’s hard to pick just one of her talks!
Francis Chan: If Jesus Were the Pastor of Your Church You Probably Wouldn’t Go There
(If Jesus Were the Pastor of Your Church You Probably Wouldn’t Go There)
Francis Chan’s Bible study on what the church would look like if Jesus himself were leading it.
Andy Stanley: Investigating Jesus, Part 1 — Somebody Had To Tell It
(Investigating Jesus, Part 1: Somebody Had To Tell It)
The first part of a series in which Andy Stanley examines the story of Jesus through the eyes of an impartial investigator.
Audiobooks
A recording of a conference from the end of Dallas’s life — I warmly recommend the audio version. The main theme is discipleship.
I listen to them often — it’s a matter of the heart — with friends we’ve even played them while digging in the mud and the rain, and they worked better than music 🙂
Favourite “selfies”:
36 — you don’t have to anymore
06 — cold perfection
09 — leaving for the seminar
10 — eyes fixed on Jesus
39 — demonstration
42 — acedia — sloth
43 — there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer
A series of biblical books in Daniel Raus’s poetic retelling, performed by professional actors.