Going back to move forward

I love to read books. This was a love cultivated in me by my parents when I was a child and reignited in me as a young adult. One thing I notice when I walk into my favorite bookstores is that I always go to the new releases. I want to know what's new, what's hot, what's fresh. I want the new insight, the new knowledge and the new information. For better or worse, I have always tended to like newer books and newer things in general (which I guess, simply makes me a product of my culture). When people recommend books to me that are more than a few years old, I tend to shy away (which, of course, is very ironic since I am a pastor and hold the bible up as my guide and authority in life. I can be confusing sometimes). So I was a hesitant to pick up a book recently that was published in 1997. 1997?? Really?? That's the year I graduated from Seminary. That's the year I got married. That was before I had a cellphone and just as I was getting internet access. What could a book from 1997 teach me? Well, the book is called The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. I'm only about halfway through. It's a long book but its teachings are incredible. Dr. Willard isn't really teaching anything new, but he is helping us see Jesus and the "kingdom of the heavens" that Jesus came proclaiming in a brand new light. He makes it accessible for anyone who has ever had a desire to follow Jesus. He helps the reader see what Jesus was about, and thus, what we should be about - which is being in relationship with God so that we can make this kingdom a reality for our world and all those that inhabit our world. It's a high calling, indeed - but one that is unchanging. Our calling is timeless but the way in which we live out our calling will change and must change with the advent of new technologies and the other massive changes our world has experienced. This book reminds me, though, that while everything else in the world presses forward at a breakneck pace that sometimes it's good to look back at the wisdom of ages past. Who knows? We might find a nugget of gold that will change our lives. We might even find God...