Conferences

Beyond Belief

This 2-day conference was held at Grace Fellowship in Maryland on May 1-2, 1998. In titling the conference "Beyond Belief," Dallas was referring to the fact that we can live a life that encompasses what we read in the Bible and hear in our Christian teaching - a life that is beyond belief!

  1. Who You Are, Why You Are Here
  2. Getting the Good News Right
  3. Apprentices of Jesus
  4. What the Spiritual Disciplines Are
  5. Spending One Day with Jesus
  6. Prayer - What it is and How it Works (Plus Q&A)
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Biola University Conferences

Dallas was invited to speak at many different conferences hosted by Biola University over the years. We are pleased to make some of those talks available to your here.

  • Taking Theology and Spiritual Disciplines into the Marketplace

Talbot School of Theology faculty retreat: “Biblical Wisdom for the Business World.“
Palm Desert, CA
September 15, 2011
[NOTES]

Calvin College Institute of Christian Worship 2008 Symposium on Worship

Three recordings from Dallas’s time at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) for their Symposium on Worship in January of 2008:

  1. Plenary Address: Worship as the Fine Texture of Real Life
    Outline PDF
  2. Workshop: Understanding the Battle Between the Flesh and the Spirit
    Handout PDF
  3. Interview: Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. interviewed Dallas about key topics in The Great Omission, The Divine Conspiracy, and Renovation of the Heart.
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Divine Conspiracy Conference

Each General Session of the Renovare International Conference in Houston, Texas, corresponded with a chapter in Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy. Recorded June 30 through July 3, 1999, the sessions were presented by many of the Renovare Team Members.

  • Living the Divine Conspiracy - Dallas Willard

  • Discipleship: Beyond Sin Management - Roger Fredrikson

  • God Wants To Be Seen - Dallas Willard

  • Everyone Wants the Good Life - Marti Ensign

  • The Kingdom Heart of Agape Love in the Holy Spirit - Siang-Yang Tan

  • Nourishing the Inner Life - Donn Thomas

  • Doorways into the Prayerful Life - Emilie Griffin

  • Whose Disciple Are You? - James Bryan Smith

  • The Ways and Means of Grace - Richard J. Foster

  • ...and the Life Everlasting - William Vaswig

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Doing What Jesus Did

The University's Responsibility for Moral Guidance

After speaking at the Ohio State University Veritas Forum, Dallas had the opportunity to participate in a Saturday conference at the Vineyard Church of Columbus on November 16, 2002. The title of the conference was “Doing What Jesus Said.”

  1. Part One: How can we live in a way that the mind of Christ is in us? (Philippians 2:5-8)
  2. Part Two: We can learn to walk in the character and power of God by a process of discipleship that uses the acronym VIM (Vision, Intention, Means).

At the 2004 National Faculty Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, Dallas taught three sessions on themes related to the disappearance of moral knowledge and the university’s responsibility for moral guidance.

  1. Who a Good Person Is According to the University Now?
  2. Nihilism and Moral Theory in the 20th Century
  3. Recovery of Self-Knowledge and Moral Insight Today
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For Such a Time as This

Dr. Willard spoke at the Baylor University and Truitt Seminary church staff retreat February 23-24, 2004.

  • "For Such a Time as This'--Streams in the Desert and Wells of Living Water: Christ's Congregations as Fountains of Light and Life" (Isaiah 43:19-21; John 4:10-14)
  • "Finding the Kingdom of God Now, Though Jesus and His Words" (Matthew 6:32-33; John 6:63; 8:51-52)
  • "Living Without Hurry and Worry in 'Such a Time as This'" (Philippians 4:4-9; Psalm23)
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Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God

The recordings below are from a conference at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama. August 5-6, 2011

  1. Theological Foundations of the “Hearing God” life.
    - The Life of the Trinity as Communicating Community.
    - The Purpose of Creation.
    - The Spiritual Nature of Man and His Kingdom Under God. Gen. 1:26.
    - The Gospel of Jesus—Return to the Kingdom. Col. 3:17.
  2. Experiences of “Hearing God.”
    Biblical Patterns and What They have to Teach Us.
    The “Normal” Way It Works—Then and Now.
    The Nature and Meaning of “The Still, Small Voice.” I Kings 19:12
    Why God’s Voice Is So Gentle and Must Be Sought.
  3. The “Sermon on the Mount” and Other Essential Biblical Teachings as the Framework of a Hearing God Life.
    The Essential Role of Spiritual Disciplines in This Life.
  4. Barriers to and Blessings of a Hearing God Life.
    Standard Objections to and Problems for a life of Hearing God.
    Why It Is So Important for All Disciples to Understand and Practice the Hearing God Life.
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Holy Living

Dallas gave two presentations at the Azusa Pacific University School of Theology's 2010 Malcolm R. Robertson Lectureship on Holy Living. Recorded September 20, 2010.

Kingdom Living Conference

This conference was led by Todd Hunter and Dallas Willard at Church of the Open Door, Mineapolis, MN, November 4-7, 2004.

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Knowledge for Life

Soon after the publication of Knowing Christ Today, the Vineyard Anaheim invited Dallas to come and teach about the importance of the knowledge of God in our Christian faith. This resulted in a Saturday conference on April 10, 2010, entitled “Knowledge for Life: Learning to Trust and Grow in Spiritual Knowledge.”

As you listen, we invite you to follow along with the Conference Handouts or with the Study Guide created by Joe Gorra specifically for use with these recordings.

  1. Knowledge and Biblical Faith and Spirituality
  2. How Christian Spiritual Knowledge is Assaulted by Secularism
  3. Knowledge and Desire
  4. Knowledge and Public Presence as Witness
  5. Communities of Love and Knowledge
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Living in the Kingdom of God

During this Regional Renovare Conference from the Spring of 2002, James Bryan Smith and Dallas Willard explored the possibilities for and practicalities of living in God's Kingdom on a day-to-day basis. Filled with helpful insights and encouraging challenges, the majority of talks are followed by dialogue between the presenters and the audience.

  • Free and Alive in Christ (Smith)
  • The Fine Texture of Life in the Kingdom of the Heavens (Willard)
  • Kingdoms in Cooperation (Willard)
  • Inviting Others to Experience God's Kingdom (Smith)
  • Q&A (Smith and Willard)
  • The Kingdom and the Local Church Congregation (Willard)
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Men's and Women's Retreats

In October of 1987, Dallas had the unique blessing of leading both the men’s retreat and the women’s retreat for Valley Vista Community Church, his home church. Both retreats were small and intimate, and it often seems like we’re listening in as a father or older brother talks with his family. This is very practical advice on living as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, including working on our plans for how we follow Christ with all the spiritual and the practical aspects of our lives.

Women’s Retreat: A Woman’s Prerogative in Christ

  1. Does God Talk to Girls?
  2. Discussion of "Does God Talk to Girls?"
  3. No Bystanders in the Kingdom!
  4. What is Your Relationship to God?
  5. Discussion of “What is Your Relationship to God?”
  6. Accepting Change
  7. Discussion of “Accepting Change”

    The book Dallas asked the ladies to read prior to the retreat was The Blessing, by Gary Smalley and John Trent.

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Redemption of Reason Conference

Dallas had the opportunity to join a group of Christian scholars conversing with the secular mindset at the University of Chicago on November 3, 2005. The title of this conference was inspired by Dallas’s 1998 talk at Biola University.

  1. Lecture One: Is There a Problem about the Human Use of Reason Today? If so, how did it come about? How do things stand in Academe?
  2. Lecture Two: The Way Back: Thinking about a Possible Christian Response to the Plight of Reason today.

“Talking Points” Handout

This conference was hosted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowships at the University of Chicago, and there are more resources available on their Redeeming Reason website.

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Renovare Regional Conference: Ortberg, Willard, Foster

Menlo Church, Menlo Park, CA, November 2005.

  • My Grace is Sufficient for You - Dallas Willard
  • Transforming Grace - Richard J. Foster
  • The Renovare Balanced Vision - Richard J. Foster, John Ortberg, and Dallas Willard
  • The Renovare Practical Strategy - Richard J. Foster
  • Q&A & Jesus' Grand Invitation of Grace - Richard J. Foster, John Ortberg, and Dallas Willard

2005 | ChristianAudio | grace, renovare, transformation, spiritual formation

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The Disappearance of Moral Knowledge in the 20th Century

A series of 3 talks given at Wheaton College’s Staley Lecture Series, October 31 – November 2, 2001. The Moral Knowledge theme has a specific focus on “the emergence of Christianity without discipleship.” 

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The University's Responsibility for Moral Guidance

At the 2004 National Faculty Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, Dallas taught three sessions on themes related to the disappearance of moral knowledge and the university’s responsibility for moral guidance.

  1. Who a Good Person Is According to the University Now?
  2. Nihilism and Moral Theory in the 20th Century
  3. Recovery of Self-Knowledge and Moral Insight Today
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The With-God Life: The Dynamics of Scripture for Christian Spiritual Transformation

These recordings from the Renovaré International Conference in Denver, Colorado, were presented June 19-22, 2005, by many of the Renovare Team Members:

  • "Get a Life!: The With-God Life" by Richard J. Foster

  • "Plain People Lifted Into God's March Through Human History: The With-God Life Under the Hebrew Covenant" by Dallas Willard

  • "Never Without a Witness: The With-God Life in the Intertestamental Period" by David deSilva

  • "No Longer Alone with God as Jesus in the Eternal Kingdom - NOW: The With-God Life Under the New Covenant" by Dallas Willard

  • "Longing for God and the Quest for Meaning in Life: The With-God Life through Christian History" by Gayle Beebe

  • "Walking Cheerfully Over the Earth: The With-God Life and the Individual Today" by Glandion Carney

  • At Home with God: The With-God Life and the Family Today" by Brenda Quinn

  • "Being the People of God: The With-God Life and the Congregation Today" by Todd Hunter

  • "One Body, Many Members, All in Christ: The With-God Life and the Church Today" by Michelle Lee

  • "From Here to Eternity - With God Forever: The With-God Life into Eternity" by Virginia Owens

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