Living in Christ's Presence: Q&A with Dallas Willard and John Ortberg

In February 2013, The Dallas Willard Center hosted a conference featuring Dallas Willard and John Ortberg. After each teaching session, Dallas and John sat down together to discuss the teaching further. These conversations became some of the most precious moments of the conference. This is our favorite Q&A from the conference, and we are grateful to InterVarsity Press for allowing us to post it here for you. DVDs of the entire conference are available on Amazon: amzn.to/3TaC1Ob
Visit our website to learn more about the conference and the corresponding book: dwillard.org/books/living-in-...
#DallasWillard #JohnOrtberg #LivingInChristsPresence #WillardWednesday

[@philmccrevis4493]

I simply love Dr. Willard's mind. In my view, his brilliance was in taking extremely difficult concepts and simplifying them for the rest of us to understand.

[@pdailey76]

I have learned more from Dallas in the year since I discovered his teaching than I’ve learned over the other 45 years if my life. Sooooo rich!!!!

[@samuelc7137]

I've learned more from Dallas this year than I've learned over the other 44 years of my life!

[@jbLR218]

I absolutely agree!!! What an absolute blessing and gift that God created Dallas and then lead us all to him and his teaching! ❤❤🙌🏼

[@robvandiver8921]

A downside, if there is a downside, of listening and learning from Dallas is that there are very few others you want to listen to. You end of listening to others and saying to yourself, "that's not right."

[@Gster1234]

So moving and powerful knowing that he only had three months to live. The emotion he showed seems to be mingled with anticipation for his better home.

[@winedivadenny]

😮‍💨

[@terriwerning3477]

What a rich conversation and what a gift Dallas was, and still is. I’m so grateful we get to watch these talks.

[@davidgross8182]

At the time, we understood the pain and the short time he would be with us. Laughter has a lot of functions, not just ridicule.

[@winedivadenny]

I love what he is saying here about joy and play!

[@t.boonegardner7746]

What a wonderful handling of such important truths. I am reminded of second Corinthians 5 verse five and six when death is described by Paul aa being “swallowed up in life”…

[@hibbelers16]

Thanks for sharing this gold mine.

[@superhoop4358]

weird how at 6:20 he shares something very specific and profound and everybody interprets it as humor

[@mxrc179]

14:46: WORK is creation of value 14:50 PLAY is creation of values that are not necessary 18:09 DIGNITY is worth that has no substitute 29:44 DISCIPLINE is an area of creativity, not law, a venture on the reality of the kingdom of God. We learn ways from others that set us free.

[@alistairmatheson4964]

It seems Willard’s impact was/is not just his combination of spirituality and intellect - I find it so inspiring to see spirit and mind so dynamically interact in him. But Willard also (- and I think this is what seems to make him so magnetic to disciples of Jesus) grounds it all in lifestyle; i.e., the believable and understandable is also do-able. I base these conclusions on reading his books and watching online, rather than knowing him personally, so I realise I’m far from the most qualified to draw them, but I’m probably among many who have learned so much from him ❤.

[@elizabethryan2217]

I find it profoundly odd that people are laughing so hard at what appear to me to be sacred moments of vulnerability that Dallas is sharing here. 🥺💔 Is that just me? 🤔

[@OneMoreStoryWithMK]

Are you viewing it in hindsight, knowing it was near the end for him in this life?

[@elizabethryan2217]

@@OneMoreStoryWithMK in the sense that he's clearly not well and seems very aware that his time to pass may be coming soon: yes.

[@OneMoreStoryWithMK]

@@elizabethryan2217 I get it. When you listen to the entirety of the conference, it seems different. It was sacred, but the kind of sacred that makes laughter good and right. But I can see how watching this clip might lead to your comment.

[@elizabethryan2217]

@@OneMoreStoryWithMK yes, I was particularly struck by the phase at 6.35 or so, when he is getting emotional, and it's possible the audience thinks he is still sharing dry humour, as he had been before. Possibly just misinterpretation, but it hit me the first time I watched. 🙂🙏 He was a diamond 💎

[@christiannairz5366]

If I would have been there, I would have laughed as well. Otherwise, all I could have done instead was completely fall apart with sadness. He has and is helping me learn to walk with God. Seeing him like this is in a weird way uncomfortable. Still.

[@danjustthinking1188]

Are the sessions he mentions available to see?

[@wescharlton]

Hey Dan, not certain, but there’s a link to the DVD from the sessions of the “Knowing Christ” conference in the description. There’s also a book called “Living in Christ’s Presence” that is essentially the transcripts from these sessions, at least it seems very familiar. Grateful to learn from Dallas through the videos shared in this channel

[@danjustthinking1188]

@@wescharlton thank you Wes! I love these teachings from Dallas. I’m so sorry I did not discover him until after he went home. Biblical concepts that I have struggled my whole life to understand now make sense to me. I’m working to integrate my life with the Kingdom now and into eternity. I’ve never ever understood how to do this without being a miserable jerk.

[@darnellyork7019]

𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘮 😢