Quotes & Short Thoughts

Quotes on this page are mine unless otherwise noted. I’m sure, since there is nothing new under the sun, that even my quotes are not necessarily original; it’s just that I don’t know who else to attribute them to.

The gifts of the Spirit are investments God makes in us. The fruit of the Spirit is our way of paying it forward. – Glenn Burris

More than ever, I’m convinced that the way forward–to raise up numbers of future leaders (regardless of their age)–is to train them for practical, hands-on ministry that emphasizes discovery over lecture, practice over theory and relationship over information. Short, flexible, individual-focused training venues offer tremendous ‘return’ for the minimal costs involved. It’s time to move away from the old ‘brick-and-mortar’ institutional model for training. It costs too much time and money for what it actually produces. Where and how we spend our time/money toward the future tells a great deal about our priorities. I say it’s time to invest in new ways forward… – Daniel Brown

God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior. – Timothy Keller

Let your problems drive you to have less confidence in this world and more trust in the eternal God – Greg Buckiewicz

“I can do small things in a great way.” – James Freeman Clarke

“We are either progressing or retrograding all the while. There is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.” – James Freeman Clarke

“Seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you.” – James Freeman Clarke

“All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” – James Freeman Clarke

I’m thankful that in spite of all of my imperfections and your imperfections, that we have the opportunity to be bound together in the perfection of Christ.

We are God’s media by which He tells His story to the world.

The target of all spiritual warfare is relationships.

We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thoughts and behaviors. (Excerpted from “Authentic Christianity”)

We don’t teach morality, we teach identity. Once we know who we are we will give up immoral things. – Garris Elkins

Grace does not grant permission to live in the flesh; it supplies power to live in the Spirit. ~John MacArthur

How quickly humans turn friends into enemies. The slightest disagreement becomes provocation for rejection. Christians are not to be this way! We are to make war on conflict and discord in our midst! Yet so often we give ourselves such a wide berth to “process” or “pray about” offense that we end up making wounds familiar friends who entered the door of the heart, grabbed a cup of tea and now sit at the hearth languishing about, hoping we never get around to insisting they leave. – Marcie Adams

The picture to the right includes a great quote. I enjoy the ability of a good smart phone to take the picture and the quote all at one time and share here. “Faith in Jesus does not diminish risk but gives courage to take it on.”

Until the future of the world is more important than the future of your church, your church has no future. – Jim Scott quoting a banner he saw in a church

“God’s grace is my superpower” – Regan Pickrel

“Earth was for man to fill. Man was for God to fill” – Pastor Stovall Weems

“God uses commands to help us navigate safely through a world that has been broken by the sin-force, as though torn up by a massive earthquake. His commands get us around and through the obstacles and danger-places in life. Commands are God’s loving set of instructions for abundant survival-life on planet earth after it collided with sin.” – Daniel A. Brown

“Ahhhh the wonders that are escaping our notice because we allow the busyness of our lives to miss the business of our Heavenly Father.”

“The mystery of godliness, is God humbling Himself to become man. The mystery of iniquity, is man exalting himself to become God.” — A. J. Gordon

“Rather, we hold that the Bible stands beneath us, giving a foundation to our understanding; that it encircles us, marking boundaries for our speculation; that itresides within us, granting and confirming the true understanding of God and of ourselves; and that it ultimately stands over us, judging according to the very mind of God. The Bible for us, then, is not merely one religious resource among many, but an unrivaled touchstone for shaping all Christian belief and practice.” – Jerry L. Walls and Joseph R. Dongell

Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the observation that when lust takes control, “At this moment God…loses all reality… Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.” What a world of wisdom there is in this statement! When we are in the grip of lust, the reality of God fades… – from a Facebook friend’s post

“If you are a Christian, God is not punishing you when you suffer. Jesus died for you, so your punishment has been paid. You will suffer because of your sin, sin of someone else, or consequence of the Fall. But, God is not punishing you. So, run to Him & not from Him” – Mark Driscoll

“The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.” – Thomas Watson

“Art is an expression of the he(art)”

“Never confuse the sensational with the supernatural, and never confuse religious experience with true transformation. It’s all about the long-term fruit.” – Pastor Dick Remington

“Our job is not proving things, proving the Bible is true, proving there is a God, proving Adam and Eve, proving the Flood, proving the tomb was empty, and so on. Offer arguments and you breed arguments-that is all. What you sow you reap! Don’t argue against darkness. Just shine! “Let your light shine before men.” MT. 5:16-you can’t light even a little candle by logic. The Gospel raises the dead. Logic won’t.” – Reinhard Bonnke

“I am a simple eater” – Marianna Berber

“I wonder how many times we miss what God is doing because our expectations don’t match up with God’s activity?”

“Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He’s the chap who makes it possible for civilized folk to despise war.” – Allan Massie

“If my life is fruitless, it doesn’t matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn’t matter who criticizes me” – John Bunyan

Grace – “The action by the Holy Spirit on the human spirit that disposes that human to walk in a way that God can favor.” The shortened definition is: The divinely given ability to please God.” Synonyms are: Grace, the walk in the Spirit, and the New Covenant (Heb. 8). – Dr. Jerry King

“While all Bible-believing Christians share one single language of faith, we all speak it with our own accent. Be proud of your accent. Thank God for it. Add yours to the rich diversity of tongues that speak of the great things God has done.” – taken from the Christian Reformed Church’s website

“The admiration of man is such a fleeting thing; it comes and goes with little or no warning. In stark contrast, the love of God sustains and comforts in the midst of the fickleness of this world.”

“The real goal of ministry is NOT to minister to as many people as possible—but to minister through as many people as possible. I believe that extra ministry/training poured into a few men and women will, in the long run, multiply into more ministry to more people than if I gave lots of extra training to large groups of people. It’s counter-intuitive, but it is what I believe.” – Daniel Brown

“Pastoring is a calling, not a vocation; a ministry, not a position; a privilege, not a right; a humble response to the Shepherd, not a personal attainment to exalt ourselves; an endearing recognition by those we serve, not a title to be demanded.”

“Christian prayer is not an attempt to use God for our purposes but a petition that he will use us for his.” – Archbishop William Temple

“We are not responsible for the rocks in our life-we are responsible if they remain.” Matthew 13 – Roy Hick Jr

another great one from Roy Jr. when a council member told him he was too strong. Roy replied,“You don’t want me to get weaker – you want to grow stronger.”

I am grateful to Garris Elkins and Stan Simmons for sharing the two quotes above from Roy Hicks Jr. I knew Roy when I was a little boy at Camp Crestview and grew up knowing the value of his example.

“This year will not be a year of resolutions instead I am aiming for a revolution in my heart. Let it turn more full to God every day.” – Pastor Jason VanBuskirk

“Prayer is a divine tool, given to us by God, to help make room for a move of God in less than perfect circumstances.”

“Spiritual pride causes great weakness in the body of Christ because God is opposed to the proud… no wonder there has never been so much knowledge and so little being accomplished for the kingdom of God… we all think we are smarter than everyone else.”

“When what we do determines who we are, the fruit of our lives diminishes. When who we are determines what we do, the fruit of our lives is enjoyed beyond us.” – Clint Pickrel

“The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men… men of prayer.” - E.M. Bounds

“The ministry of building up the kingdom of God is often confused with the building up of the kingdom of man.”

“Leadership is not intimidating, when we intimately know who we are imitating.”

“Oh, the inconvenience of wholeness when I am more comfortable with my brokenness.”

“Make your mark in your Bible so that your Bible can make its mark in you.”

“Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray–to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight–all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word ‘concern’ out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice.” – Robert E. Lee.

“Too often we pray like we text” – Ken Lee III

“Someone has defined a committee as a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide that nothing can be done.” – ???

“It is one of the ironies of the ministry that the very man who works in God’s name is often hardest put to find time for God. The parents of Jesus lost Him at church, and they were not the last ones to lose Him there.” – Vance Havner