God’s wrath is his righteous stand against sin: For more on God’s wrath, read chap. 6, “God Is Holy,” in The Good and Beautiful God (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2009).

“Without [virtue] there can be no happiness”: Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Harcourt, 1948), p. 223.

“Discipline yourself so others won’t have to”: See Jay Carty and John Wooden, Coach Wooden One on One (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 2003).

“if the map don’t agree with the ground”: Gordon Livingston, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart (New York: Marlowe, 2004), pp. 1-2.

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself”: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1952), p. 54.

“Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace”: Dallas Willard, quoted in James Bryan Smith and Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p. 6.

Chapter 2: The Gospel Many People Have Never Heard

The kingdom of God (or kingdom of the heaven): Kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are synonymous. Matthew uses the latter, scholars think, because he was writing to a Jewish audience, who would have been uncomfortable using the sacred name of God.

Dallas Willard recounts the following: Dallas Willard, quoted in James Bryan Smith and Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p. 59.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great British preacher: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Kingdom of God (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1992), p. 8.

“The New Testament church . . . was confident”: John Bright, The Kingdom of God (Nashville: Abingdon, 1981), p. 244.

Chapter 3: The Grand Invitation

“the cultically impure were welcomed at Jesus’ table”: L. Gregory Jones, Embodying Forgiveness (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), p. 121.

“the largeness of Christ’s World-Kingdom”: Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), p. 367.

Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of “Blessed are the poor”: Matthew’s and Luke’s versions likely differ because of a linguistic problem. The word Jesus probably used (Jesus spoke in Aramaic) was the Aramaic word inwetan, which is connected to the Hebrew word anawim. The word translated “poor in spirit” is anawim (“Blessed are the anawim”). Anawim “didn’t mean ‘destitute’ but stood for a more complex concept that included a religious dimension.” According to Anna Wierzbicka, there was no Greek word that could fully explain this concept, so Matthew used this word to denote that Jesus was referring not only to those who were poor monetarily (as in Luke’s version) but those who were poor in other dimensions of life as well ( What Did Jesus Mean? [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001], pp. 37-39).

Dallas Willard’s translation of “poor in spirit”: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. 100. I also like Wierzbicka’s statement about the anawim: “the little ones . . . are people who know that they cannot live if God doesn’t do good things for them and who think at the same time that God can and wants to do good things for them” (Wierzbicka, What Did Jesus Mean? p. 39).

“those who were marginal to society or outcasts”: Wierzbicka, What Did Jesus Mean? p. 38.

a person “whose situation is wretched”: R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), p. 165.

“the kingdom of the heavens enfolds them”: Willard, Divine Conspiracy, p. 117.

Pope Benedict XVI explains this beautifully: Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth (New York: Doubleday, 2007), pp. 71-72.

“When we speak of hospitality”: Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt, Radical Hospitality (Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete, 2002), p. 3.

“Opening yourselves to the stranger”: Ibid., p. 21.

“She is the liberal if I am conservative”: Ibid., p. 63.

“You prepare for others when”: Ibid., p. 117.

“You can put down the phone and listen”: Ibid., p. 43.

Chapter 4: Learning to Live Without Anger

“The flesh is not the body”: John Chrysostom, quoted in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1909), 3:329.

“How do people change?”: Andrew D. Lester, The Angry Christian (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2003), pp. 100-101.

“Righteous anger consists in getting angry”: Neil T. Anderson and Rich Miller, Getting Anger Under Control (Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House, 2002), p. 54.

“Paul is saying here that it is not the anger itself”: Archibald Hart, Feeling Free (Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1979), p. 74.

“Sabbath rest is thus a call to Sabbath trust”: Norman Wirzba, Living the Sabbath (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2006), p. 38.

Chapter 5: Learning to Live Without Lust

Over fourteen thousand sexual references: Lauren Winner, Real Sex (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005), p. 63.

“The two main errors in the area of human sexuality”: Dallas Willard, “Spirituality and Ministry,” a D.Min. course at Fuller Theological Seminary I cotaught with Dallas for ten years.

brilliant and influential writer Augustine of Hippo: There is debate about whether Augustine ought to be blamed for this narrative. He clearly had some negative views about sexuality. But given his cultural situation, some suggest he had a fairly balanced, even progressive, view of sexuality.

“If it’s just me against the lust”: Rob Bell, Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), pp. 81-83.

“Gratitude is so central to the life God made us for”: Ibid., p. 74.

Richard Foster’s triangle diagram: The diagram appears in Richard Foster, The Challenge of the Disciplined Life (San Fransisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989), p. 129

Chapter 6: Learning to Live Without Lying

we tell an average of 3.3 lies: Ralph Keyes, The Post-Truth Era (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004), p. 3.

we are lied to every five minutes: I heard this on the August 27, 2007, Oprah Winfrey Show. It also was on the show’s website, but gave no reference for the study. I have not been able to find the original study.

“some form of deception occurs in nearly two-thirds of all conversations”: Keyes, Post-Truth Era, p. 7.

59 percent of Americans parents admitted to lying: Ibid., p. 250.

“nearly all of us tell lies, and far more often than we realize”: Ibid., p. 7.

Wealthy parents take their kids “diagnosis shopping”: David Callahan, The Cheating Culture (Orlando: Harcourt, 2004), p. 8.

“gross misinformation” on résumés: Keyes, Post-Truth Era, p. 63.

Americans have illegal offshore bank accounts: Callahan, Cheating Culture, p. 8.

“stealing $6 billion a year worth of paid television”: Ibid., p. 11.

fraudulent practices at auto repair centers: Ibid., pp. 30-32.

“Americans are not only cheating more”: Ibid., p. 13.

“excusing our lies”: Keyes, Post-Truth Era, p. 8.

“a false statement made knowingly, with the intent to deceive”: Ibid., p. 9.

“Radical Honesty”: I first heard about this from an article in the July 2007 issue of Esquire.

Chapter 7: Learning to Bless Those Who Curse Us

if a Roman soldier asked a Jew to carry his luggage: In Matthew 27:32 we see an incidence of this when Simon is ordered by a Roman to carry the cross.

“[Jesus] chose the way of the cross”: David Augsburger, Dissident Discipleship (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2006), p. 137.

“more than enough people”: Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), p. 109.

“A rich self looks toward the future with trust”: Ibid., p. 110.

Teleios refers to spiritual maturity: R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), p. 228.

John Paul II and Mohammed Agca: Volf, Free of Charge, p. 171.

“Steven’s son Bobby was killed in the September 11 attacks”: Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), pp. 204-5.

The mothers of Boyle Heights: Augsburger, Dissident Discipleship, p. 126.

“We know that we will be taken care of”: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. 181.

Chapter 8: Learning to Live Without Vainglory

John Cassian on vainglory: John Cassian, The Monastic Institutes (London: Saint Austin Press, 1999), p. 163.

“There is no pride so dangerous”: Andrew Murray, Humility (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2001), p. 64.

“This disease strikes precisely where a man’s virtue lies”: Cassian, Monastic Institutes, pp. 163-65.

“When someone gave a significant gift”: R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007) p. 236.

“[God] is himself invisible”: Ibid., p. 239.

Why “must we pray?”: John Chrysostom, “Homily 19 on St. Matthew: On the Lord’s Prayer,” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 10, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. George Prevost and rev. M. B. Riddle (Buffalo, N.Y.: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888). Rev. and ed. for New Advent site by Kevin Knight <www.newadvent.org/fathers/200119.htm>.

“The whole life of Jesus of Nazareth”: Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2007), p. 31.

John Calvin on contemplating the face of God: John Calvin, quoted in C. J. Mahaney, Humility (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2005), p. 21.

Chapter 9: Learning to Live Without Avarice

“roughly ninety percent of our consumer buying”: Martin Lindstrom, Buyology (New York: Doubleday, 2008), p. 195

Suze Orman’s story about her father: Suze Orman, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom (New York: Crown, 1997), p. 3.

“Just a little bit more”: I have heard this story many times through the years but am unable to find a reference, which means it may be apocryphal.

“We reveal what our treasures are by”: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), pp. 203-4.

“belonging to and living by the priorities”: R. T. France, Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), p. 259.

“unhealthy eye” referred to a stingy, envious, jealous person: Ibid., p. 262.

“no record of mammon being used in a negative way”: Ibid.

wealth pretends to offers what we want from God: Wesley K. Willmer, God and Your Stuff (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002), p. 26.

brain scans of people of faith: Lindstrom, Buyology, p. 108.

powerful brands and religious experiences: Ibid., p. 124.

watching ads for six straight years: Ibid., p. 37.

fear-driven advertising: Ibid., p. 138.

simplicity is “an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle”: Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HaperSanFrancisco, 1978), p. 69.

Chapter 10: Learning to Live Without Worry

“The little freckle on your arm could be a time bomb”: Adapted from Scott Bader-Saye, Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2007), p. 14.

“fear for profit” syndrome: Ibid., p. 16.

“Television news programs survive on scares”: Barry Glassner, The Culture of Fear (New York: Basic Books, 1999), p. xxi.

“This novel twisting of an old motif”: Dale C. Allison and W. D. Davies, Commentary on Matthew VII-XVIII, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991), p. 653.

“Anxiety is foolish and accomplishes nothing”: Ibid., p. 652.

Chapter 11: Learning to Live Without Judging Others

condemnation engineering: “Condemnation Engineering” is a phrase I have heard often by Dallas Willard, so I must give him credit for this insightful term.

I may be wrong, but I ask that you open your mind: Dallas Willard has shaped my interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount (see The Divine Conspiracy). It took me many years to agree with Dallas’s teaching on the Sermon, but I have come to agree with his interpretation. Though Dallas is a philosopher and not a New Testament scholar, I believe he understands the Sermon on the Mount with greater clarity than any single scholar I have read.

“Despite their arguments, I fully disagree”: Dale C. Allison and W. D. Davies, as well as R. T. France hold that Jesus is here offering a corrective to his liberal teaching on not judging, namely, that there are cases where we would be wasting our time trying to help people who do not want our help. With all due respect, I disagree. The primary reason is that it goes against the grain of the Sermon. For example, Allison believes that Jesus is balancing his laxity toward judgment by warning people about offering the gospel to those who do not want to hear it—a moral symmetry. The kingdom of God is the pearl, he notes, and there are hardhearted people who are not worthy of it: “There has to be an economy of truth” (Dale C. Allison and W. D. Davies, Commentary on Matthew VII-XVIII, International Critical Commentary [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991], pp. 674-76).

“The whole business of judging persons”: T. W. Manson, quoted in Allison and Davies, Commentary on Matthew, p. 669.

“Do not unto another what you would not”: John Wesley, “Sermon XXX: Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount,” Sermons on Several Occasions, vol. 1, ed. Thomas Jackson and Thomas Osmond Summers (New York: Carlton & Phillips, 1855), p. 285.

Chapter 12: Living in the Kingdom Day by Day

“to abide means to rest and rely on Jesus”: James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2009), p. 159.

“Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace”: Dallas Willard, quoted in Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, Devotional Classics (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), p. 16.

false prophets are not “heretics”: John Chrysostom, “Homily 23.6, Matthew 7:16,” The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. Matthew, trans. George Prevost (Oxford: J. H. Parker, 1843), p. 356.

we ought not “look to the mask”: Quoted in Matthew 1—13, ed. Manlio Simonetti, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001), p. 152.

“A Mother’s Advice to Her Daughter”: This translation comes from an excerpt in John Wesley’s A Christian Library, and was modernized by James Bryan Smith and Danielle Howard.

“Covenant Prayer”: Quoted in Frank Whaling, ed., John and Charles Wesley: Selected Prayers, Hymns, Journal Notes, Sermons, Letters and Treatises, Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1981), p. 59.

“If you’ve got troubles and just can’t sleep”: Irving Berlin, “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” 1954.