A
Diverse Collection of Quotables
These
quotes are listed in (most recently listed) date order,
while the index is in thematic alphabetical order.
Currently featured: The Third Way by Richard Rohr
Apostasy,
its identification - Francis Schaeffer put it this way....
Baptism In The Holy
Spirit - Its Purpose
Bill Gates face-the-facts and get on with your life advice to youth.
Control
- ungodly methods and witchcraft - Derek Prince's definition
Definitions Of Bondage
Definition of a Child - from our church's
Parenting series
Definitions And Excuses
Faith
Movement and balanced expectations - Ken Chant offers a balance
Federation of Australia - Henry Parkes vision of a
godly nation
Information Overload
- Hearing But Never Doing.
Great Commission's
Centrality To The Church - Missing The Purposes Of
God
True Happiness - a definition
Helpless Dependence before Usefulness
Legalism - rules and regulations substituting for
relationship
Leadership
- sundry pithy quotes
Made In The Image Of God
- Broken, Messed Up, And All!
Maturity - Ed
Cole's Definition
Nature Of True Idolatry -
Shrinking The Deity
Personal Fulfilment
Prophecy
- a definition
Plea For Depth In Our
Christian Walk And Church Life
Power And Love - God's
Way
Prayer
- wasting time in real prayer
Protection
-
safety in a spiritually very dangerous realm
Reformation - carrying the people into its benefits
Serving
- Yancey on fulfilment
Spiritual Foundations of a Society -
Alexander Solzhenitsyn says something we in the West need to listen to -
carefully!
Spiritual Warfare - The
Enemy's Defeat
Spiritual
Warfare - Luther's famous challenge
Style Versus
Character Postmodern
trends.
Travel
- opening up your mind and prejudices...
True Spirituality - Gordon Fee's definition
Witness In Word And
Action - The
Essential Purpose Of God's Church
Our church recently conducted a three-week Sunday series on “Parenting”. It covered the rôle of parents, their children, and examined among other things, when does a child become a person responsible for their own life?
Here’s an interesting quote relayed by David Di Ienno (who coordinated the series and supplied the bulk of the material) on the definition of what constitutes a (dependent) “child”…..
A child is someone still dependent on a household for their material, social, and spiritual needs. This definition is not dependent on their actual age. Therefore, the definition of an adult is the opposite – anyone who has learned to be self-supporting materially, socially, and spiritually, They are then ready to repeat the cycle and emerge to form the next generation.
Identification of Apostasy - Francis Schaeffer
"...in a post-Christian world and in an often post-Christian church it is imperative to point out with love where apostasy lies. We must openly discuss with all who will listen, treating all men as fellow men, but we must call apostasy by its proper name. If we do not do that, we are not ready for reformation, revival and a revolutionary church in the power of the Holy Spirit." -
Exercising ungodly control
Derek Prince, in 'Uproar in the Church' (1994) comments, "Witchcraft is the attempt to control people and get them to do what you want by the use of any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. And if anyone has a spirit he can USE, it is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, and NO ONE uses God."
Spiritual Warfare - facing up right now! - Martin Luther
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I am professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven.
Bill Gates face-the-facts and get on with your life advice to youth.
In Bill Gates' message about life for recent high school and college graduates, he lists 11 things they did not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings have created a generation with a warped concept of reality and how these warped views have set them up for failure in the real world.
RULE 1 - Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2 - The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3 - You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
RULE 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
RULE 5 - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
RULE 6 - If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
RULE 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try 'delousing' the closet in your own room.
RULE 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
RULE 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
RULE 10 - Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
RULE 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
The Power of Travel
Mark Twain said, " Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness". We wish we could take our whole church community in our city with us to Africa!
Comment on the Faith Movement and the need for balance in expectations
Perhaps the problem is not that some of us encourage people to expect more and more from God, but rather that other preachers, playing the fool, have promised too much. Encouraging hope is one thing; guaranteeing a particular result is another. The first I think we should never stop doing; the second none of us has any right to do. – Ken Chant in a personal correspondence.
A curious thing happened during my wife's time at the senior citizens' center. Watching her and the others involved in outreach to the poor, I saw the personal sacrifice involved. Social workers get little pay for their long hours and receive few accolades. It surprised me, though, that despite the personal toll on her, Janet seemed to benefit as much the seniors did. The missionary-martyr Jim Elliot once observed that many Christians are so intent on doing something for God that they forget that God’s main work is to make something of them. I saw that principle lived out in my wife. As she showered her own skills and compassion on people judged undeserving by most of society, she grew stronger in ways that matter most.
In a fundamental human paradox, the more a person reaches out beyond themself, the more they are enriched and deepened, and, the more they are in likeness to God. On the other hand, the more a person "incurves”, to use Luther's word, the less human they become. Our need to give is as great as anyone's need to receive. – Philip Yancey – Reaching for the Invisible God p239.
Sheila Cassidy in her Prayer for Pilgrims says real prayer is not just spending time with God, but wasting time with him!
Spiritual Foundations of a Society
The strength or weakness of a society depends more on the level of its spiritual life than on its level of industrialization. Neither a market economy, nor even general abundance constitutes the crowning achievement of human life. If a nation’s spiritual energies have been exhausted, it will not be saved from collapse by the most perfect government structure, or by industrial development. A tree with a rotten core cannot stand. - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
God’s protection from demonic attack is not something you can take for granted irrespective of how you behave. This protection is conditional on your willingness to respond to God’s provision. We are told to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14), to put on the armour of God and to stand firm (Ephesians 6:11), to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). If we irresponsibly ignore God’s resources by failing to obey these commands, how can we expect Him to protect us - Neil Anderson
The armour of God provides all the spiritual protection we need. When we put on the armour of God (Eph 6:10-20), we are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (see Rom 13:12-14). There is no physical place that can serve as a spiritual sanctuary; our only sanctuary is our position in Christ… We cannot passively take our position in Christ… It is our responsibility to “take up the full armour of God so you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, stand firm. Stand firm therefore…” God has provided all the protection we need, but it will be ineffective if we don’t assume our responsibility to stand firm in our faith” – Neil Anderson
Humility Quotes
In Philippians 2: Paul speaks of 'vain conceit' - thinking too highly of ourselves. As exemplified on one occasion by a former Australian Prime Minister who, at a press conference at the outset of the Gulf War, said to the assembled media, "George Bush has telephoned me - and other world leaders..." - Rod Benson
"Teach me, good Lord, to give and not count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do Your will." - Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits,
Being truly humble is passing on to God all praise untouched - Joy Doughty
On a visit to the Beethoven Museum in Bonn, a young American student became fascinated by the piano on which Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works. She asked the museum guard if she might play a few bars on it. To help persuade the guard, she also slipped him a lavish tip. The guard agreed and the girl went to the piano and tinkled out the opening of the Moonlight Sonata. As she was leaving she said to the guard, “I suppose all the great pianists who come here want to play on that piano.” The guard shook his head and said, “Paderewski [the famed Polish pianist] was here a few years ago, and he said he wasn’t worthy to touch it.” That young woman wanted the chance to play the piano that Beethoven had played, but what she got was a valuable lesson in humility. What is humility? Humility is a fitting response to greatness. That applies not only to how people respond to the likes of a unique person like Beethoven, but to how all of us should respond to God.
If you know God but do not know your own misery, you will become proud. If you know your own misery but do not know God, you will end in despair. If you cannot be Christian, at least be honest. - Pascal
The Church... will have to take a strong line with the blasphemies of hubris, power-worship, envy and humbug, for these are the roots of evil. She will have to speak of moderation, purity, confidence, loyalty, steadfastness, patience, discipline, humility, content and modesty. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
Reformation
- winning the people to its benefits
Every great Reformation
must bring people to a place of deep understanding. Without understanding,
people will not change their position. They will see change as inflicted
pain and not perceive the prophetic necessity to embrace change in order to
bring to fulfilment the deep purposes of God. When the heart of a people
is changed under the dynamic apostolic impartation of a season of Reformation,
they begin to see in the changes taking place in their spiritual environment,
the fulfilment of their heart's desire. They will come to a place of
acceptance and willingness and cease to fight against God and reject what is
fresh and new Judges 5:2 "When the princes in
Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves Psa
110:2-3 The LORD will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion; you will
rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops (people) will be willing
(offer themselves as volunteers) on your day of battle (power)… - Noel
Woodroffe - Present Reformation.
Definition
of Prophecy
Prophetic ministry is the declaration of the mind of God, in the power of the
Spirit,
with a special bearing on the particular situation - F F Bruce.
Federation
of Australia
Standing before the
uplifted veil, let the meanest of us breathe a fervent prayer that the Almighty
may guide our young Commonwealth on the high road of her starry future and that
her people may be abundantly blessed within these encompassing seas of peace,
that their influence beyond may be a blessing to all mankind. - Henry
Parkes (1892)
Definition of True Spirituality
True
spirituality is not simply inward devotion but worship that evidences itself in
obedience and the same kind of God-likeness we have seen in Christ Himself. - Gordon
Fee - Listening to the Spirit in the Text p8
Helpless Dependence before Usefulness
Paul escaped from Damascus by being let down over the wall in a basket. He was
useless to God until he became a basket case! We also are useless until we are
'utterly bankrupt before some demand of life, and then discover it to be a
blessing,' because it forces us to 'depend wholly on the Lord at work in
you.' - Ray Stedman, in Authentic Christianity
Leadership
He
who leads without anyone following him, is merely taking a walk! (unknown)
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way - John Maxwell.
The chief responsibility of leadership is to provide an environment of faith that conforms to God's revealed Word, the Scriptures - an environment in which every committed member can grow as a worshipper of God, increasing in the effectiveness of their God-given grace, while being firmly held in loving relationship with the other members of their Christian family - the local church. - Brian Rensford
Legalism
Legalism is the substituting of rules and regulations for relationship. The closer the relationship the less need
for rules. The more we love God, the
more we will do what He wants without regulations and enforcements. Backsliders stray in relationship before
they slide back into the pit of sin. - Jim McNeice.
True Happiness
" There
can be no true, lasting happiness based on the gratification of your own
desires. The only true happiness in
life is vicarious... the joy you get
from seeing the happiness you bring to others." Copyright © 2000 Jennifer Gokmen
Spiritual Warfare - The Enemy's Defeat - Mark Roser
The ascension of Christ and empowerment of the Church have forced Satan and his
legions into a defensive posture. One of the greatest mistakes many in the
Church have made is to conclude that the intensification of evil and demonic
activity in the world is the result of Satan's offensive strategy. In reality,
it is the sign of increasingly desperate defensive manoeuvres by an enemy who
knows he is defeated and running out of time, Cleansing the Heavenlies, p165.
Bibles that are falling apart, are usually read by people who aren't!
Witness In Word And Action - Roland Croucher
Conduct
yourselves... so that... they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God.
Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an
accounting for the hope that is in you. 1 Peter 2:12, 3:15.
The Dutch theologian Johannes Blauw has written: ‘There is no church other than the church sent into the world... The great apostasy is for any church, in an introverted mood, to imagine that it is the final goal of the purpose of God.’ The church exists in the world as a means to the end of proclamation. It, too, is meant to be the ‘light of the world’.
How is this prophetic and evangelistic ministry to be carried out? Peter gives us two ways: ‘Your conduct ... should be so good ... that they will praise God’ (2:12); and ‘Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect’ (3:15).
Holy proclamation is always to be by both deed and word. What you do by way of humble service to others should always be consistent with what you say about the good news. We need both these ‘legs’ to carry us into the world! .
A Plea for Depth in our Christian Walk and Church Life - ... A. W. Tozer, The
Pursuit of God [1948]
A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is
impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have
been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our
chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up for our
deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to
another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from
afar. The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow
religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel
meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities,
quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic
personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the
symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.
Centrality of the Great Commission - B. Atkinson [1937]
The
gospel (Great) Commission is the key to all problems of church history, large
or small. It is the key to the success or failure of the many organisations
built up to form the channels of witness to the world. Churches, societies,
individuals, ... have concerned themselves with this or that theological
problem. They have made worship central instead of the Gospel commission. They
have concerned themselves with their relations with the State. They have
concentrated on philanthropy and social service.
Wherever they have done this and have forgotten the purpose for which the Master has placed them in the world, wherever they have lost the Master’s vision of a perishing humanity, wherever they have become inattentive to the cry of spiritual anguish, the Spirit has passed them by, and when they have persisted He has extinguished the light of their witness. And the pages of church history are strewn with their wreckage.
They may have shouted their loyalty to Christ, they may even have suffered for Him. But if once they have forgotten that our Lord combined in a single phrase "for My sake and the Gospel’s", devotion to Himself and loyalty to His commission, they have lost their influence and sunk into spiritual death.
NATURE OF TRUE IDOLATRY - Brian Rensford
All idolatry can be best understood as human attempts to reduce the greatness
of the Deity to a size and scale mankind can handle with minimum threat to his
control, lifestyle, and / or his personal belief system. But the true
God, as revealed through our Lord Jesus Christ, is beyond such reductionism.
The beauty of the true God is that, without losing any of His transcendence, He
has come down and revealed Himself in such vulnerable terms. In His glorious
transcendent greatness, God is still very knowable!
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
A
well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the
room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started
going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first,
let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then
asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it
on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked
it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still
the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God’s eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him.
THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - James Dunn
Empowering
for service should not be taken as the primary purpose of the anointing (see
Acts 10:38), but as a corollary to it. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not primarily
to equip the (already) Christian for service; its function is to initiate the
individual into the new age and covenant - to "Christ" him, and in
doing so, to equip him for life and service in that new age and covenant
MATURITY - Ed Cole
Maturity doesn't
begin with age, but with taking responsibility. The biggest single factor in family breakdown is fatherlessness - men acting
like children.
POWER AND LOVE
Power, no
matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable,
absorbs it. In a point of convergence. At Calvary, God renounced one for the
sake of the other. - Philip Yancey - The Jesus I never Knew p205
PERSONAL FULFILMENT
Personal
fulfilment is a BYPRODUCT for the Christian, not the goal, which is to glorify
God (Phil 2:19-20, v1-2).
MODERN EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY - Dave Hunt - the Berean
Call 1995
Ironically,
Christians are repeating in the church the same error which conservatives
recognize and oppose in government and education. The American educational
system, the world's most costly, is an international disgrace, with our
students ranking last in most academic comparisons. There are about 500,000
violent incidents each month in our schools, including serious injuries to
1,000 teachers. We have 15 to 20 times as many students in special education
classes as other developed countries. Psychologists increase their influence by
inventing new "scientific" labels for what used to be known as
laziness, selfishness and disobedience. Spanking is now "child abuse"
and correction of any kind is avoided as "negative" and harmful to a
"positive self-image," which is the key to all "behavior
modification." The same delusions have come into the church through
"Christian psychology."
The purpose of school is to teach essential skills and knowledge in subjects which prepare students to earn a living. Psychology provides phoney excuses for incompetence, rebellion and sin. No one is guilty; everyone is a victim. The heart is not evil; low self-esteem is the problem. Sin has become "mental illness" requiring not repentance but therapy. Instead of the fundamentals of reading, writing and maths, educators consume vital school time teaching environmentalism, sex education (which has only made matters worse), multiculturalism, self-esteem and self-importance. The only hope is a return to the old-fashioned fundamentals of teaching the essentials and enforcing discipline.
DEFINITIONS OF BONDAGE - Noel Gibson
Bondage is when a believer does
not have the freedom to do what he knows is right. Similarly, domination is where they are unable to resist a driving urge
to deliberately do anything they know to be contrary to God’s will. And perfectionism is excellence with bondage!
STYLE VERSUS CHARACTER - Gary Dench
Image,
style, and appearance have rated higher than character in the (modern Church).
Through the influence of the world spirit, this shift has crept into the
Church's thinking. The same mentality sells weekly women’s magazines. Charisma
is rated above character, the package above the content. Hype is
more important than substance.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD - Gary Dench
Christians are suffering from information overload; information is coming at them
from all sorts of sources, but they don’t DO the stuff! Christians are being
stuffed full of information and experiences, but failing to appropriate the
benefit of the information, by putting it into practice. Jesus Himself
emphasised this vital element continually.