What We're Reading

Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23
by Dallas Willard

In this fear-filled year of pandemic and demonstrations, we need to pause and find a place of promise. This book, Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23, written from the teaching notes of Dallas Willard is just such a place. The book was published posthumously for Willard, edited by close friend Larry Burtoft, with Willard’s daughter Rebecca Willard Heatley. Willard is the author of many other ground-breaking books said to have forever changed the way thousands of Christians experience their faith.

The book begins with two in-depth chapters on the character of the Good Shepherd, in which the authors discuss Psalm 23 phrase by phrase, also encouraging readers to memorize the well-known Psalm. The following two chapters introduce a discussion of evil and lack in the world, before the book introduces the concepts of embracing God in faith, death to self, and agape love as being part of the abundant life we have in Jesus as our Shepherd. 

Author John Ortberg endorses Life Without Lack by saying, “If you want to know how to live in abundant satisfaction, or how to actually love somebody, or how to spend a day with Jesus . . . or how to die to your self so that your self might come alive—I can think of no better gift than this glorious unpacking of these grand old words” in Psalm 23. As a leader, you will never read Psalm 23 the same way again after reading Life Without Lack.