THE KINGDOM LIFE:
A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY OF DISCIPLESHIP
AND SPIRITUAL FORMATION
“…you cannot manufacture disciples or commoditize discipleship…the Holy Spirit will not be in it. The American church’s fascination with business principles and programmatic strategies has reduced discipleship to mass production and left the church devoid and ignorant of the more organic and Kingdom- sized ‘life on life’ processes modeled and called for by Jesus in making disciples, especially in the making of mature disciples who are able to do all that Jesus taught.”
—Excerpt from The Kingdom Life, from the chapter titled “Whole Life Transformation,” by Keith Meyer
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This book by multiple authors in the TACT group (Theological and Cultural Thinker’sThinkers) Group), including Dallas Willard, is the product of a six -year journey of these authors and a group of other thinkers from many different backgrounds (para-church, church, lay, educators, etc.).
Keith’s chapter explores the ways our formation has been compartmentalized into a spiritual life of church activity or even “doing the disciplines,” rather than shaping our whole person and our whole relational world. People have been looking for packaged programs to make disciples. Although these can be tools, they can never take the place of what we ourselves and our life-on-life interactions can transfer in formation.
Dallas Willard has a powerful chapter explaining the Gospel of the Life in God’s Kingdom, which is followed by chapters by others on grace-filled community, intentionality and character, inner life and transformation, social justice and formation, the Trinity, Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s role.
You can buy this book through Amazon.com, NavPress, and Christian book sellers.
