A Broken Church

“A church without the broken is a broken church.” -- Ed Stetzer

Photo by Fruitnet.com

God's Vision for Man

“When the New Testament speaks about evangelism or missions it isn’t a new idea and it’s not separate from God’s plan for us in Genesis 1. God’s vision is the fulfillment of his commission in Genesis 1—that man would fill the earth with his glory. This is the eschatological hope of the prophets and is stated beautifully in Habakkuk 2:14: ‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.’” -- Dustin Crowe

Photo by Makena Zayle Gadient

Not Our Cosmic Butler

“Probably the most important thing to understand about evil and suffering is that God is not our cosmic butler. It’s not his job to provide happiness for his human pets. You would never get the idea from the Bible that God is interested in making people feel happy, especially if they ignore him and his moral laws. Everything God does with people is meant to make them know him better and serve him better, and many things that happen to us that don’t make us happy, but they do give us the opportunity to either grow towards God or away from him.”

Photo by www.audio-luci-store.it

Focus on What Jesus has Done

“When you sin it’s perfectly natural to feel bad and it takes no faith to reach for the fig leaves of dead religion. But if your sorrow is to be godly sorrow, then your focus must be on what Christ has done and not what you have done. As Andrew Wommack says: ‘If you feel like you’re so sorry, then praise him for the fact that he loves such a sorry person as you! Instead of focusing on your unworthiness, thank him for his goodness.’” -- Paul Ellis

Photo by Racineur

Becoming Like Jesus

“We need to spend less time forming Jesus into an appealing hero of our own design, and more time being transformed by Jesus into a holy people. The more we paint a true picture of Jesus, the more like that Jesus we will become, and the less of a disconnect between the Jesus we say we follow and what they see in our lives.” -- Ed Stetzer

Where Happiness Comes From

“The happiness the Bible advocates isn’t dependent your circumstances. It comes from living in relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” -- Hugh Whelchel

Why Do You Want Forgiveness?

“Test your heart. Why do you want forgiveness? Why do you want to be justified? Why do you want eternal life? Is the decisive answer: ‘because I want to enjoy God?’” -- John Piper

Transformation Not Information

“Discipleship is to be more like Jesus. Christ-like transformation is the goal, as we are "to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29). The point is not information, but Christ-like transformation. And, that means it is not about knowledge in general, but about knowing Jesus better. Trying to be like Jesus, without the power of Jesus, dishonors Jesus.” -- Ed Stetzer

The Prize of the Gospel

“The gospel is the good news that God in Christ paid the price of suffering, so that we could have the prize of enjoying him forever. God paid the price of his Son to give us the prize of himself.” -- John Piper

Worship Creates Humility

“Addressing the will (moralism) produces bored Pharisees. Addressing the intellect (abstract doctrine) creates heart-detached eggheads. Awakening the heart with wonder births humble believers. Wonder leads to adoration. Adoration leads to worship of the One who gave up all for the joy of knowing us. And worship creates humility.” -- Sam Williamson

Skepticism and Desires

“We are easily skeptical of authority, of church, of anything institutional although it is God who created these institutions. Whereas doubt is a natural effect of a pursuit of truth—of a sincere faith—skepticism is the youthful passion of someone who just doesn’t want to commit to anything or submit to anything other than their own desires.” -- Jim Essian

Biblical Understanding of Humility

“Entrusting ourselves to God is the essence of the biblical understanding of humility.” -- Dan Notti

Test of Maturity

“The true test of our maturity is not measured in how much we leave behind, but how much we love.” -- Ed Stetzer

Photo by fauxto_digit

Joy and Fulfillment

“We don’t pursue God’s glory at the expense of our joy and fulfillment, but rather we pursue, proclaim, and replicate God’s glory as the means by which our joy and fulfillment can reach their highest heights.” -- Dustin Crowe

Photo by Marina del Castell

Grace Requires Death

“Grace requires death. We must die to our bookkeeping existence that builds our identity on anything other than Jesus. We must relinquish, give up on ourselves, throw in the towel. And out of this death—letting God love us in, not after getting over, our messiness—resurrection life quietly blossoms.” -- Dane Ortlund

Photo by Murielle

Godly Sorrow

“Godly sorrow is not something you have to manufacture to impress the Lord. Nor is it a work that has to accompany your faith. Godly sorrow is when God works through the aches and hurts of our mistakes to draw us to himself. If your sorrow leads you to God, then it’s good and godly sorrow. But if it leads you away from him, perhaps because you have been told to focus on your unworthiness, then it’s not.” -- Paul Ellis

Finding Happiness

“Happiness for the Christian is not found in fulfilling one’s own pleasure, but in living a life based on God’s design as expressed in Scripture.” -- Hugh Whelchel

Living Dangerously

“The Christian life is not about finding safety and comfort; it’s about finding yourself in a dangerous place of vulnerable compassion.” -- Ed Stetzer

Understanding Leads to Worship

“A growing grasp of the gospel proves itself through a growing desire to worship Jesus Christ.” -- John Henderson