This keynote presentation complements a 'sermon' I prepared for delivery at a church on the south side of Dublin, Ireland in January 2009. It's an exploration into what it means to become like Jesus Christ, since from a Christian perspective, He is the supreme example of what it looks like to live a truly human life in the love and care of God.

3. MATTERS OF
THE HEART
DISCIPLESHIP AND THE
RE-FORMATION OF THE SOUL

6. THERE’S A YEARNING DEEPER
BENEATH THIS RECKLESS
CHASE AFTER SIGNIFICANCE.
THERE’S A HUNGER TOO
STRONG TO SATISFY WITH
TEMPORARY AND
EXHAUSTIBLE SOURCES.

9. “GENUINE TRANSFORMATION OF
THE WHOLE PERSON INTO THE
GOODNESS AND POWER SEEN IN
JESUS AND HIS ‘ABBA’ FATHER -
THE ONLY TRANSFORMATION
ADEQUATE TO THE HUMAN SELF -
REMAINS THE NECESSARY GOAL
OF HUMAN LIFE.”
- DALLAS WILLARD

11. . . BUT IT LIES BEYOND THE REACH OF
PROGRAMS OF INNER
TRANSFORMATION THAT DRAW
MERELY ON THE HUMAN SPIRIT - EVEN
WHEN THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS ITSELF
TREATED AS ULTIMATELY DIVINE.
REALITY OF ALL THIS IS CURRENTLY
VEILED FROM VIEW BY THE VERY LOW
LEVEL OF SPIRITUAL LIFE SEEN IN
CHRISTIANITY AS NOW PLACED
BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC . .

13. . . THAT LOW LEVEL EXPLAINS WHY
THERE ARE AT PRESENT SO MANY
PSYCHOLOGIES AND
SPIRITUALITIES CONTESTING THE
FIELD - OFTEN LED OR DOMINATED
BY EX-CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE
ABANDONED RECOGNIZED FORMS
OF CHRISTIANITY AS HOPELESS OR
EVEN HARMFUL.”
- DALLAS WILLARD

15. DISCIPLESHIP IS A WILLFUL
SUBMISSION OF OURSELVES
TO THE WILL, INFLUENCE AND
EXAMPLE OF ANOTHER. IN
THE CASE OF THE CHRISTIAN,
IT IS JESUS CHRIST.

17. DISCIPLESHIP IS A
COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
BETWEEN OURSELVES, OTHERS
AND GOD. WE BRING WHO WE
ARE BEFORE GOD AND HE DOES
THE WORK OF TRANSFORMING
OUR LIVES IN THE PATTERN OF
JESUS.

19. THE MOST TRUTHFUL
DEFINITION OF LOVE IS
THIS:
‘ALWAYS WORKING FOR
THE BEST INTERESTS OF
ANOTHER’.

21. IT WAS JESUS’
REGULAR ENGAGEMENT
WITH GOD DURING
TIMES OF SILENCE AND
SOLITUDE THAT WERE
INDISPENSABLE FOR HIS
LIFE AND SERVICE TO
OTHERS.

23. KEVIN UNDERSTANDS THAT GOD'S
LOVE FOR HIM ISN'T JUST FOR THE
PERSON THAT HE MIGHT BECOME,
BUT THAT GOD LOVES HIM AS HE IS
(AND TOO MUCH TO LEAVE HIM THAT
WAY) AND SO HE BRINGS HIS
WHOLE SELF - DARKNESS AND
LIGHT - BEFORE GOD (PLACE OF
SOLITUDE AND SILENCE) TO RECEIVE
FROM GOD WHAT KEVIN COULD
NEVER GIVE HIMSELF.

25. THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES, OR
PRACTICES, ARE GIFTS FROM
GOD. THEY ARE IN EFFECT,
‘SPACE-MAKERS’, ALLOWING
GOD TO MEET US WHERE WE’RE
AT AS HE’S ALWAYS DONE
RIGHT THROUGHOUT HUMAN
HISTORY.

27. “THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
ARE WHAT’S WITHIN OUR
POWER TO DO WHICH CAN
ENABLE GOD TO DO FOR US
WHAT WE CANNOT DO FOR
OURSELVES, NAMELY, TO
BECOME MORE LIKE CHRIST.”
- DALLAS WILLARD

29. “THIS IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED
SO OFTEN IN THE PAST, AND
THIS FACT IS A MAJOR
BARRIER TO
WHOLEHEARTEDLY
EMBRACING CHRISTIAN
SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN THE
PRESENT.”
- DALLAS WILLARD

31. “JESUS RETURNED TO
GALILEE POWERFUL IN
THE SPIRIT.”
(LUKE 4:14, TM)

34. * JESUS SATURATED HIMSELF IN THE
SCRIPTURES (WHERE GOD IS MOST
CLEARLY REVEALED)
* JESUS ESCAPED (REGULARLY) INTO A
PERIOD OF SILENCE AND SOLITUDE
* DURING THAT TIME HE WAS TEMPTED
AND TRIED, BUT HE FOUND DEEP
CONNECTION WITH HIS FATHER

36. * HE CAME TO KNOW HIS
‘ABBA’ (DADDY) BETTER
* HE CAME TO KNOW HIMSELF
BETTER
* HE GAINED CLARITY ON HIS
LIFE’S PURPOSE

38. “WHEN SUCCESSFUL, SPIRITUAL
FORMATION (OR, REALLY, RE-
FORMATION) UNITES THE DIVIDED
HEART AND LIFE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL. THAT PERSON CAN
THEN BRING REMARKABLE
HARMONY INTO THE GROUPS
WHERE HE OR SHE PARTICIPATES.”
- DALLAS WILLARD

40. V.I.M.
VISION
INTENTION
MEANS
THE ‘SYSTEM‘ IN THE PROCESS OF
SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION.

42. SPIRITUAL FORMATION IS THE
PROCESS OF BECOMING THOSE
PEOPLE GOD DREAMS WE CAN BE,
THAT HE DESIGNED US TO BE AND
HAS DESTINED US TO BE IN
CHRIST. IT’S A HOLISTIC, OR
WHOLE PERSON, RESPONSE TO
GOD’S GRACE TO US.

44. “. . THE FUNCTION OF THE
WILL OR HEART: TO
ORGANISE OUR LIFE AS A
WHOLE, AND, INDEED, TO
ORGANIZE IT AROUND
GOD.”
- DALLAS
WILLARD

46. quot;STEP OUT OF THE TRAFFIC!
TAKE A LONG, LOVING LOOK
AT ME, YOUR HIGH GOD,
ABOVE POLITICS, ABOVE
EVERYTHING.quot;
- PSALM 46:10, TM

48. “GOD, THE MASTER, THE HOLY OF
ISRAEL, HAS THIS SOLEMN COUNSEL:
YOUR SALVATION REQUIRES YOU TO
TURN BACK TO ME AND STOP YOUR
SILLY EFFORTS TO SAVE YOURSELVES.
YOUR STRENGTH WILL COME FROM
SETTLING DOWN IN COMPLETE
DEPENDENCE ON ME—THE VERY THING
YOU'VE BEEN UNWILLING TO DO.”
- ISAIAH 30:15, TM

50. “FEW PEOPLE COULD IMAGINE
WHAT GOD WOULD MAKE OF
THEM IF THEY WOULD BUT
WHOLEHEARTEDLY ENTRUST
THEMSELVES TO HIS LOVING
CARE.”
- ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

53. MATTERS OF
THE HEART
DISCIPLESHIP AND THE
RE-FORMATION OF THE SOUL