The world commands our desire for purity but bids that we not be too precise about it.

authoritative personalities” springs frequently enough from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive.

We’ve taken the lifeblood out of Christianity and put Kool-Aid in its place so that it tastes better to the crowds, and the consequences are catastrophic. ~Follow Me, pg. 7

Failure means nothing now, only that it taught me life.

Survivor” is not a label you choose for yourself.

We would do our theology better if more was at stake in what we said.

If spiritual formation is the purpose of the church, then personal transformation should intentionally be the purpose of the small group ministry. Bible study is great. Fellowship is wonderful. Evangelism is essential. But changing and...

The heart of a Christian, who believes and feels, cannot pass the hardships and deprivations of the poor without helping them.

You think you’re a role model, and they (protégés)turn around and tell you you’re a negative role model.

Who are we aligning ourselves with? Are we aligning ourselves with the presence of God as it is abused, broken, bleeding, and mocked and scorned even now in this world? Do we take that one...

We have been shown how to fight hate without becoming hate ourselves. We have been given a Companion and a Friend and not just a good idea. We have been given joy in the midst...

He (Peter) doesn’t know if he’s looking into the eyes of a madman, or the eyes of a King.

It’s exciting to work with the kids so devoid of irony, so unguarded. And also terrifying.

God will not give me humility, or patience, or holiness, or love as separate investments of His grace. He has given only one gift to meet our need, His Son Christ Jesus.

No one has ever been deeply changed by an act of the will. The only thing that can re-forge and change a life at its root, is love.

Every desire must be criticized by the whole Man.

For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change....

You can’t counter a heroic impulse with a mundane and bourgeois response. You can counter it only with a more compelling heroic vision.

I always have the feeling we are merely fearfully trying to save room for God; I would rather speak of God at the center than at the limits, in strength rather than weakness, and thus...

A major element in Lincoln’s greatness was the way in which he could hold a strong moral position without the usual accompaniment of self-righteousness.

One of the consequences of sin is that it makes the sinner pity himself instead of causing him to turn to God. One of the first signs of new life is that the individual takes...

Life has a peculiar feel when you look back on it that it doesn’t have when you’re actually living it. It’s as though the whole thing were designed to be understood in hindsight, as though...

Perhaps, she had dreamed, she would teach some future King, shaping his child mind for a new and better world.

Kids don’t always stop to judge or analyze a new experience unless the adults around them react strongly. Otherwise, they just take in the experience and move on to the next one.

I have traveled millions of miles, speaking to Christians. I have counseled privately with hundreds of them about their beliefs and lifestyles. What I have found has to be one of the most tragic ironies...

Learning is the heart of discipleship. You can’t just take up your cross daily. You need to take up the Bible every day.

The farther you get from the actual historical person of Jesus and His time, the more the church knows about Jesus and understand more deeply the truth of the Scriptures. We know more of the...

Men need men to keep their edges hot and clean, whereas women keep us warm and soft.

Followers of Jesus do well to spend more time engaging him than explaining him.

Kings can only use their best tools.

I hated the flashcards and I hated the multiplication tables, but I did enjoy the fact that my dad took time out of his schedule to help me in the areas in which I needed...

There are only three ways to teach a child. The first is by example, the second is by example, the third is by example.

Every good man resists others in those points in which he resists himself.

wonderful people are made, not born – that the people I admired had achieved an unfakeable inner virtue, built slowly from specific moral and spiritual accomplishments.

God’s Word is the living seed that brings new birth. It is the milk that nurtures the new life of a young Christian and the meat that builds the muscle of a mature believer.

We have to make these young people (of the Depression) feel that they are necessary. (They should be given) “certain things for which youth craves – the chance for self-sacrifice for an ideal.

The idea of having faith in Jesus has come to be totally isolated from being his apprentice and learning how to do what he said.

Many pastors have been reduced to secular “mentors” and “coaches” in exchange for authentic disciplers of men.

You can’t teach a person to love something. But you can get him to feel the heat of your love for something.

We are not built for mountains and dawns and artistic affinities; they are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff of life, and this is...

You cannot force people to walk with God. You cannot force them to repent. All you can do is live with integrity and invite them to do so as well. Take things a step at...

Jesus-shaped spirituality hears Jesus say “believe and repent,” but the call that resonates most closely in the heart of a disciple is “follow me.” The command to follow requires that we take a daily journey...

I want every one of our members to grow into maturity more quickly than they seem to, but the Lord has taught me to shepherd people, call them to repentance and let Matthew 18:12­–14 play...

How vigilant we must be to ensure that we don’t allow our impression of Jesus to be held captive by the prevailing mores of our secular culture! Rather, it is essential that we continue to...

I do not politicize Christianity nor my discipleship as Jesus did not politicize either His divinity nor his humanity.

Cause every task of your day to be a sacred ministry to the Lord. however mundane your duties, for you they are a sacrament.

Giving up everything must mean giving over everything to kingdom purposes, surrendering everything to further the one central cause, loosening our grip on everything. For some of us, this may mean ridding ourselves of most...

Sometimes Eli believed his mother was embarrassed by him. “I swear, my mom thinks if I do one thing differently than the average person, I’m weird,” Eli said later. “It’s like she thinks I’m a...

We need both reverence and obedience. If we worship but do not walk in obedience and discipline, we are emotional, lacking self-control and godly character. If we obey God’s commandments but are not true worshipers,...

When grace has won the day, the worldling seeks the world to come.