The Collected Wisdom from various sources on a variety of topics, including miscellaneous Quotes, Illustrations, and Ideas for Preaching and Ministry.
ACCOUNTABILITY: "Being creatures with blind spots and tendencies toward rationalization, we must also be in close touch with a few trust worthy individuals with whom we meet on a regular basis. Knowing that this encounter is going to happen helps us hold the line morally and ethically. I know of nothing more effective for maintaining a pure heart and keeping one's life balanced and on target than being a part of an accountability group. It is amazing what such a group can provide to help us hold our passions in check! Recently, I was encouraged to hear about a minister who meets once a week with a small group of men. They are committed to one another's purity. They pray with and for each other. They talk openly and honestly about their struggles, weaknesses, temptations, and trials. In addition to these general things, they look one another in the eye as they ask and answer no less than these seven questions:
1. Have you been with a woman this week in such a way that was inappropriate or could have looked to others that you were using poor judgment?
2. Have you been completely above board in all your financial dealings this week?
3. Have you exposed yourself to any explicit material this week?
4. Have you spent daily time in prayer and in the Scriptures this week?
5. Have you fulfilled the mandate of your calling this week?
6. Have you taken time off to be with your family this week?
7. Have you just lied to me?
Chuck Swindoll quoted in Point Man
ANGER: "It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I just beat people up." Muhammed Ali, (Cassius Clay) - American boxer
BALANCE: "The ninth beatitude: Blessed are the balanced for they shall outlast everyone else." Rick Warren
BAPTISM: True Story: A young pastor was conducting his first baptismal service and the first candidate entered the water. The pastor's mind went blank and all that he could think of came out of his mouth, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, drink ye all of it."
BIBLE: "Sure, we must be current, relevant, and cutting edge, but God's word is unchanging." Unknown
BIBLE: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes good sense, seek no other sense." Unknown
BIBLE: "I fear that the current profusion of study Bibles may give people two erroneous ideas: first, that God can't speak to us from His Word without 'professional help'; and second, that the most important thing you can do with the Scriptures is to outline it." Warren W. Wiersbe
BIBLE: "We owe Scripture the same reverence that we owe God." John Calvin
BIBLE: "I think I love the Bible more than any alcoholic loves his liquor. " D. L. Moody
BUILDINGS (CHURCH): "Most churches build too early-- the shoe must never tell the foot how big it can grow." Rick Warren
CHANGE: "If the horse is dead, dismount." Rick Warren
CHANGE: Some people are highly resistant to change--their motto is: "Nothing ventured, nothing lost."
CHANGE: "Unless we are willing to change (within the confines of what is Scriptural), we will cease to be a credible voice. We will become as 'quaint' as the Amish."
CHARACTER: "Give me 100 men who have only one fear, and that's sin, and only one desire, and that's God, and we'll shake the world for Jesus Christ." John Wesley
CHARACTER: "Men are looking for better methods. God is looking for better men." E.M. Bounds
CHARACTER: "If I harm someone, the damage is done. If I use my tongue loosely, the destruction is irreversible. Life amounts to drawing without an eraser." John Christian
CHARACTER: We want the thrill of "feeling right" without the inconvenience of being right. Unknown
CHARACTER: "Your life is the sum total of your desires and passions." Unknown
CHARACTER: "In these days of exceptional evil, are you doing anything exceptional?" D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
CHARACTER: "When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then the battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith." Abraham Kuyper
CHARACTER: "Tolerance is the virtue of men who don't believe in anything." G.K. Chesterton
CHARACTER: Jim Elliot's prayer: "Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road. Make me a fork that man must turn one way or another upon facing Christ in me."
CHARACTER: "A man who wants to lead the orchestra must first turn his back on the crowd." James Crook
CHARACTER: "Health is not defined as the absence of disease, but the presence of strength." (Your character is more than just what is not true of you.--Don't smoke, drink, swear.-- I.E. I don't want a doctor to summarize a routine check-up by saying, "Well, you don't have AIDS." I want him to say, "You're healthy.")
CHARACTER: "The second half of a man's life is made up of the habits he acquired in the first half." Dostoyevski
CHARACTER: "A century ago, Samuel Smiles made this observation: Sow a thought and reap an act; sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny."
CHRIST: "Sweetest note in seraph song; sweetest name on mortal tongue; sweetest carol ever sung. Jesus, blessed Jesus." John H. Stockton
CHRIST: "He was the new father of all humanity; He was the Savior of the world." Engraved on the Lenin's tomb
CHRISTMAS: "Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming" or "arrival". That's what we celebrate an arrival."
CHRISTMAS: 2 Cor 8:9-- "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
CHRIST: "Christ was at the center of all of Paul's efforts. Paul was a Christocentric man!"
CHURCH: "Some think the church is just a place to be hatched, matched, and dispatched." Unknown
CHURCH: "You cannot let 'whiners' set the agenda for the church!" Rick Warren
CHURCH: "The Church isn't perfect, but She's about the only boat afloat!" Pastor Mike Bates
CONVICTIONS: "A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for." Howard Hendricks
CONVICTIONS: "The people who have made the greatest impact on this world, for good or evil, have not been necessarily the smartest, wealthiest, or best-educated people; they have been the people with the strongest, deepest convictions. Karl Marx, Columbus, Martin Luther are just a few of the people who changed the face of the world because of their convictions. In 1943, 100,000 young people in brown shirts filled the Olympic stadium in Munich, Germany, the largest stadium in the world at the time. They formed with their bodies a sign for the fanatical man standing behind the podium. The message read, "Hitler, we are yours."
COMMITMENT: "No reserve; No retreat; No regrets"! William Borden, heir to the Borden dairy wealth, died at 24 years of age after giving away millions to missions in Inland China.
COMMITMENT: "Indecision is a curse." General Douglas MacArthur
COMMITMENT: Acrostic S.P.A.M. (Specific. . . Practical. . . Achievable. . . Measurable)
COMMITTEES: "We have no committees at Saddleback. We do, however, have. . .ministries. What is the difference between a committee and a ministry. Committees discuss it, but ministries do it. Committees argue, ministries act. Committees maintain, ministries minister. Committees talk and consider, ministries serve and care. Committees discuss needs, ministries meet needs. Committees also make decisions that they expect other people to implement. At Saddleback, the implementers are the decision makers. We do not separate authority from responsibility, but trust people with both. This makes committees irrelevant. We don't give decision making authority to those who don't minister. Who, then, does the maintenance at Saddleback? The paid staff does it. I'm sure you realize how radical this approach is. Saddleback is structure in the exact opposite way of most churches. In the typical church, the members handle the maintenance of the church and the pastor is supposed to all the ministry. No wonder the church can't grow." Rick Warren
COMMITTEES: "What do the words committees, elections, majority rule, boards, board members, parliamentary procedures, voting, and vote all have in common? None of these words are found in the NT! We have imposed an American form of government on the church and, as a result, most churches are as bogged down in bureaucracy as our government is." Rick Warren
COMMITTEES: Do you know what a giraffe is? A horse put together by a Baptist committee. Unknown
COMPARISONS: The favorite indoor sport of many believers: comparative analysis. Unknown
COMPASSION: You have never locked eyes with a human being that is not valuable to God. Unknown
COMPASSION: When you've mastered pouring your life into others, you've mastered life. Unknown
COMPASSION: "Love people where they are. Then love them to where they ought be." Unknown
COMPASSION: It was said of D.L. Moody, that he was the only man of his generation who ought preach on hell, because he did it with such compassion.
COMPASSION: "One of the truest definitions of compassion is your pain in my heart." Unknown
CONFESSION: "Confession is the vomiting of the soul." Old Puritan, Thomas Watson
CONSCIENCE: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, was also a practical joker. He sent 5 of his friends, all residents of Great Britain, the same telegram. "All has been discovered. Flee at once." They all left England.
COUNSELING: "I have a sophisticated approach to counseling: If I find a scab, I pick it 'til it bleeds." Steve Farrar
COURAGE: "Courage is fear having said it's prayers." Lewis Smedes
COURAGE: Uncle Buddy Robinson's prayer: "Dear Lord, give me a backbone like a sawlog. Put galvanized breeches on me. Hang a wagon-load of gumption up to the gable end of my soul. Help me to sign a contract to fight the devil as long as I have a fist, to bite him as long as I have a tooth, and to gum him until I die." Robinson was a Nazarene preacher
COURAGE: "Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." Victor Hugo
CRITICISM: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Unknown
CRITICISM: A young boy had practice for years to become a great pianist. Finally, the night of his debut concert arrived. The auditorium was jammed. The teenage boy played his heart out for the audience, yet when the newspapers came out, the critics ripped apart his performance. A wise old musician put his arm around the boy and said, "Remember, young man, no city has ever erected a monument to a critic."
CRITICISM: "Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair." George Burns
CRITICISM: humorous: "If you lined up all the (fill in the blank: youth pastors, teenagers, Yankees, whoever you want to shame) on the equator from head to toe, it would be a good thing."
CRITICISM: humorous: "Show me a person who likes (fill in the blank: youth pastors, teenagers, Yankees, whoever you want to shame), and I'll show you a lobotomy scar."
CROSS OF CHRIST: "The winds of hell have blown, The world it's hate hath shown, Yet it is not overthrown, Hallelujah, for the cross! It shall never suffer loss!"
DEATH: Time magazine on Ted Turner: "Life has been a struggle to master what he calls his greatest fear--the fear of death."
DECISIVENESS: "Indecision is a curse." General Douglas MacArthur
DIFFICULT PEOPLE: "The qualifications of a pastor are: the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros." Stuart Briscoe
DIFFICULT PEOPLE: "To live above with Saints above, that will indeed be glory, to live below with saints we know, now, that's another story." Unknown
DIFFICULT PEOPLE: "You cannot let 'whiners' set the agenda for the church!" Rick Warren
DIFFICULT PEOPLE: "Hurt people hurt people". Unknown
DIFFICULT PEOPLE: "You can't pick up every stick in the road--some you have to step over and keep walking." Pastor Tim Robson
DIFFICULTY: "God whispers in our conscience; He speaks in His word; and He shouts in our pain." Unknown
DIFFICULTY: "God never wastes an experience." Rom 8:28-- "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
DOCTRINE: "If Christianity was a philosophy then our primary activity might be study. But Christianity is NOT a philosophy, it is a relationship and a life. The words used most often in the NT to describe the Christian life are love, give, believe and serve. The word, study, in fact, only appears a couple of times in the NT." Rick Warren
ENDURANCE: In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the Marathon event coming to a close. Most of the spectators had left for the night, only a few remained. Sirens and motorcycles accompanied the last runner, a man by the name of Fallison, from the Republic of Tanzania. This country was participating in it's first Olympics after being formed in 1964. He had fallen and injured himself and when he arrived at the finish line, he was at the point of exhaustion. A sportscaster asked him, "You were injured early in the race, why didn't you withdraw when you fell?" His response: "My country didn't send me 7,000 miles to start a race, but to finish it."
FAITH: "Faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse." Phillip Yancey
FAITH: "Faith is not trying to figure out how things will turn out well; that's reason on it's tip toes. Faith is trusting." Unknown
FAITH: "Habakkuk 2:4--'. . . the just shall live by faith. . . ' --literally, '. . . the just shall survive by faith'."
FAITHFULNESS: "More than 200 years ago, when the US Marine Corps was being formed, much time was given to considering an appropriate motto. They finally chose the Latin phrase Semper Fidelis. Those two words are engraved on the mind of every United States Marine. What does it mean? ALWAYS FAITHFUL."
FAITHFULNESS: A number of years ago, Phyllis George interviewed Dallas Cowboy legend, Roger Staubach. It was a typical, dull sort of interview until Phyllis blindsided the quarterback with this question: "Roger, how do you feel when you compare yourself with Joe Namath, who is so sexually active and has a different woman on his arm every time we see him?" Staubach was known for keeping his cool is pressure game situations, and the tension was just as great. Once again, Staubach kept his cool. "Phyllis," he said calmly, "I'm sure I'm as sexually active as Joe. The difference is that all of mine is with one woman." TOUCHDOWN!
FAMILY: Family identity-- "All of us are 'we'; all of them are 'they'. " Rudyard Kipling
FEAR: Fear is a direct indication of your value system. What I fear most indicates what I value most.
FEAR: "Courage is fear having said it's prayers." Lewis Smedes
FORGIVENESS: "If I say I can forgive but I cannot forget, as if the God who, twice a day, washes all the sands on all the shores, on all the beaches in the world cannot wash those vile thoughts from my mind then I know nothing of Calvary's love." Amy Carmichael
GOD PRESENCE: Nietzsche was a German higher critic and the most outspoken leader in the 'God is dead' movement. His ideas were heavily influenced by Nazism. One of his typical lectures would begin with him walking into his classroom and writing on the chalkboard these words: 'God is dead: Nietzsche'. On the day following his death, one of his students arrived at his class, approached the chalkboard and wrote these words: 'Nietzsche is dead, God'." Song: "You ask me how I know he lives, He lives within my heart."
GOD'S PRESENCE: "O, God, we come into your presence. . ."----where do you think you've been all day long? Unknown
GOSSIP: "If I harm someone, the damage is done. If I use my tongue loosely, the destruction is irreversible. Life amounts to drawing without an eraser." John Christian
GOSSIP: "You can never 'unring' a bell." Unknown
GOSSIP: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Unknown
GREATNESS: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Unknown
GREATNESS: "We cannot all be great, but we can all attach ourselves to something that is great!" Harry Emerson Fosdick (with whom I disagree on many things.)
GUILT: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, was also a practical joker. He sent 5 of his friends, all residents of Great Britain, the same telegram. "All has been discovered. Flee at once." They all left England.
HABITS: "The second half of a man's life is made up of the habits he acquired in the first half." Dostoyevski
HABITS: "A century ago, Samuel Smiles made this observation: Sow a thought and reap an act; sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny."
HOLINESS OF GOD: "We've created a God that we must help out, who we must explain, who winks at sin, who excuses our lack of love for people and God's Word." Unknown
HUMILITY: Sign on President Reagan's desk: "There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't care who gets the credit."
HUMILITY: "Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man, and puffs up the little man." Unknown (cf. Romans 8:1)
HUMOR: "He who laughs last, thinks slowest."
HYPOCRISY: "I would rather seek to be a sincere Christian than to boast that everyone else is a hypocrite." Unknown
INVOLVEMENT: Many national surveys have proven that the average person possessed from 500 to 700 skills.
KNOWLEDGE: Beware of an over-emphasis on doctrine and Bible knowledge. One well-known classroom church says that all you need to be spiritually mature is "doctrine in your frontal lobe." Spiritual maturity involves action! 1 Cor 8:1-- "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." James 2:18-- "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."
KNOWLEDGE: "Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man, and puffs up the little man." Unknown (cf. Romans 8:1)
KNOWLEDGE: "If Christianity was a philosophy then our primary activity might be study. But Christianity is NOT a philosophy, it is a relationship and a life. The words used most often in the NT to describe the Christian life are love, give, believe and serve. The word, study, in fact, only appears a couple of times in the NT." Rick Warren
LEADERSHIP: An excerpt from Steve Farrar's book, Standing Tall "Dave Johnson is a police officer in San Jose who wrote a fascinating book about his experiences as a street cop. Dave has plenty of stories that are hilarious, but here's one that could make you weep: Frank and I had just finished a call, and climbed into our police cars. . . As I started my car, I heard the police radio call out Frank's unit number. The dispatcher reported a young boy missing from his residence. I heard the address and the description: two years old, wearing tennis shoes, overalls and a light blue T-shirt. The dispatcher said the mother had lain down on the couch and fallen asleep, and discovered the boy missing when she awoke fifteen minutes later. Frank acknowledged the call, and began driving to the address. I picked up my radio and told the dispatcher I would respond to the area to help in the search. I was driving directly behind Frank's car. Our sergeant, Dennis Busch, had also heard the call and, because he was nearby, radioed back that he would also respond. Suddenly the dispatcher alerted Frank, Dennis and myself: "The lost boy had been located--in the next-door neighbor's swimming pool." Adrenaline shot through my veins as I reached for the control switch to activate my red lights. I saw Frank's lights jump on at the same time. We both accelerated. I began praying that the people who found the boy knew CPR--cardiopulmonary resuscitation--and were attempting to revive him. As Frank and I rounded the corner near the address, we saw several men standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. Dennis was just getting out of his police car and talking with the group of people. As I began getting out of my car, I suddenly saw Dennis bolt toward a gate at the side of the house. As Frank and I got closer, one of the men pointed and told us what he must have told Dennis: "The boy's in the pool in the backyard." I could hardly believe what I heard. Frank and I both ran through a narrow side yard that led to the swimming pool. As we rounded the corner of the house we could see Dennis pulling the boy's limp body out of the pool, lifting him by the back of the shirt. Dennis laid the boy on the cold cement at the pool's edge and began administering CPR, and Frank knelt down to help. With Frank and Dennis hovering over the motionless body, attempting to breathe life back into the child, I was left with nothing to do except watch--which is hard for most police officers to do in a life-and-death situation. Unable to help, I searched the boy's face, looking for any sign of life that might flicker there. If only I could do something. . . Dennis continued to breathe for the boy, while Frank kept compressing his small chest, trying to get his heart going again. My eyes fell to the overalls that hung wet on his little body. I thought how much they looked like the ones my girls wore when they were that age. I saw the small tennis shoes on his limp feet, and noticed that one was untied. I wondered if he would ever have someone tie his shoes again. I desperately tried to choke back the lump tightening in my throat, and could feel tears coming down my cheeks. I turned, walked a few steps, and took out my handkerchief to wipe my eyes. As I put it back in my pocket, I saw four men standing and watching Dennis and Frank work. I recognized them as part of the group standing out front when we arrived. I felt anger welling up inside me. "Who found the boy in the pool?", I asked. They looked at me but none of them said a word. I repeated the question, surprised at how loud my voice came out. Then I continued, "Why did you just leave him in the pool? Why didn't you at least pull him out?" They only hung their heads and stared at the ground. Just then the fire department arrived. Soon an oxygen mask was secured around the small face that hadn't changed expression. The firefighters took over the CPR. Dennis was kneeling, softly stroking the boy's small closed hand, and staring into his lifeless face. . . I looked up again at the four men still standing in their group. Suddenly, as if directed by some unseen instructor, they all turned and walked out of the yard, none of them saying a word. What was their offense? They were doing the same thing many fathers are doing. Standing around."
LEGALISM: "Someone has defined Puritanism as that haunting fear that someone somewhere may be happy."
LISTENING: Some time ago someone placed this ad in a Kansas newspaper: "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00." Did anyone call? You bet! It wasn't long before he was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pang of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship.
LISTENING: "Most people can't hear until they've first been heard." Unknown
LISTENING: "His thoughts were slow, his words were few, and never formed to glisten, but he was a joy to all his friends--you should've heard him listen! Unknown
LISTENING: "The definition of listening is silent flattery." Unknown
LISTENING: "A word to the wise is not necessary--it's the stupid ones that need the advice." Bill Cosby
LONELINESS: Some time ago someone placed this ad in a Kansas newspaper: "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00." Did anyone call? You bet! It wasn't long before he was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pang of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship.
MARRIAGE: "Marriages aren't wrecked by a 'blowout', but by a 'slow leak'. " Alan Peterson, The Marriage Affair
MARRIAGE: "More than 200 years ago, when the US Marine Corps was being formed, much time was given to considering an appropriate motto. They finally chose the Latin phrase Semper Fidelis. Those two words are engraved on the mind of every United States Marine. What does it mean? ALWAYS FAITHFUL."
MARRIAGE: "John's girl is rich and haughty; my girl is poor as clay. John's girl is young and pretty; mine looks like a bail of hay; John's girl is smart and clever; my girl is dumb, but good. But would I trade my girl for John's girl? You but your life I would!" Unknown
MARRIAGE: A number of years ago, Phyllis George interviewed Dallas Cowboy legend, Roger Staubach. It was a typical, dull sort of interview until Phyllis blindsided the quarterback with this question: "Roger, how do you feel when you compare yourself with Joe Namath, who is so sexually active and has a different woman on his arm every time we see him?" Staubach was known for keeping his cool is pressure game situations, and the tension was just as great. Once again, Staubach kept his cool. "Phyllis," he said calmly, "I'm sure I'm as sexually active as Joe. The difference is that all of mine is with one woman." TOUCHDOWN!
MINISTRY: "The church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to failure. A ministry that is college-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles." Samuel Chadwick
MINISTRY: "As pastor, it is not my job to control the church; it is my job to lead it." Rick Warren
MINISTRY: "The Bible gives plenty of proof that God uses all types of personalities. Look at the temperaments of Peter and Elijah and Paul and Jeremiah--they are all different. When you look at the different personalities in the twelve disciples that Jesus selected, it's easy to understand why there was sometimes interpersonal conflict! There is no right or wrong temperament for ministry!" Rick Warren
MINISTRY: "You cannot let 'whiners' set the agenda for the church!" Rick Warren
MINISTRY: "The qualifications of a pastor are: the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros." Stuart Briscoe
MINISTRY: "We have no committees at Saddleback. We do, however, have. . .ministries. What is the difference between a committee and a ministry. Committees discuss it, but ministries do it. Committees argue, ministries act. Committees maintain, ministries minister. Committees talk and consider, ministries serve and care. Committees discuss needs, ministries meet needs. Committees also make decisions that they expect other people to implement. At Saddleback, the implementers are the decision makers. We do not separate authority from responsibility, but trust people with both. This makes committees irrelevant. We don't give decision making authority to those who don't minister. Who, then, does the maintenance at Saddleback? The paid staff does it. I'm sure you realize how radical this approach is. Saddleback is structure in the exact opposite way of most churches. In the typical church, the members handle the maintenance of the church and the pastor is supposed to do all the ministry. No wonder the church can't grow." Rick Warren
MINISTRY: "What do the words committees, elections, majority rule, boards, board members, parliamentary procedures, voting, and vote all have in common? None of these words are found in the NT! We have imposed an American form of government on the church and, as a result, most churches are as bogged down in bureaucracy as our government is." Rick Warren
MOTHER: "She has a more influential and powerful role than any political, military, religious or educational figure. Her words are never fully forgotten. If you were blessed with a good mother, you will enjoy the advantages for the rest of your days. If your mother neglected you and her responsibilities, unfortunately the impact is almost certainly still felt today. Whether it's good or whether it's evil, a mother's impact is permanent. A child's mother is arguably the most influential figure in their life, giving credence to the old adage: the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
MOTHER: Samuel was a great man of prayer because his mother was a great woman of prayer! Jacob was crooked and deceitful largely because his mother, Rebekah was deceitful.
MOTHER: John Wesley: "I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England."
MOTIVES: "When we come to the Master's table, we come not so much because of what's on the table but because of our love for the Master." Unknown
OBEDIENCE: "If, after hearing what is right, I do not do what is right, Jesus calls me a 'foolish man'. " (Matthew 7:26)
OTHERS: "The phrase 'one another' or 'each other' is used over fifty times in the NT. We are commanded to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each others burdens, forgive each other, sing to each other, submit to each other and be devoted to each other."
PARENTING: "Less time = Less influence."
PARENTING: "Error increases with distance. The length of a regulation bowling alley is @ 60 feet. I, however prefer to bowl from a distance of 15 feet. When I bowl from 15 feet, I enjoy the game a lot more. The majority of my balls are strikes, and when I do leave a spare, I always make it. But if you move me back to the regulation line, my average drops dramatically. Why? Because error increases with distance. What's true in bowling is true in fathering. Error increases with distance. If I am to be effective, I must BE THERE. On site. Consistently." Steve Farrar, Point Man
PARENTING: Ken Canfield compares parenting to farming. There are no guarantees in either profession. A farmer can do all the right things (plant at the right time, cultivate, water, fertilize, etc.), BUT HE CAN STILL LOSE THE CROP. However, a farmer who tills the soil, plants good seed, and irrigates his crop has a much better hope for a good crop than the man who doesn't.
PARENTING: "Every child needs a cheerleader."
PARENTING: "During the teen years, children will either go to their parents to critique their peers, or they will go to their peers to critique their parents."
PARENTING: "Often parents say, 'You just don't know how badly my teenager has hurt me'! The question is not how bad your teenager has hurt you but how bad do you hurt for your teenager"?
PARENTING: "A careful man I want to be, a little fellow follows me. I do not dare to go astray for fear he'll go the self-same way. I cannot once escape his eyes. Whate'er he sees me do, he tries. Like me he says he's going to be--That little boy who follows me. I must remember as I go, through Summer suns and Winter snows, I am building for years to be--That little boy who follows me!" Unknown
PASSION: "Don't just sit there. . . feel something!!" Dr. Bob Gray
PASSION: "The people who have made the greatest impact on this world, for good or evil, have not been necessarily the smartest, wealthiest, or best-educated people; they have been the people with the strongest, deepest convictions. Karl Marx, Columbus, Martin Luther are just a few of the people who changed the face of the world because of their convictions. In 1943, 100,000 young people in brown shirts filled the Olympic stadium in Munich, Germany, the largest stadium in the world at the time. They formed with their bodies a sign for the fanatical man standing behind the podium. The message read, "Hitler, we are yours."
PASSION: We must believe passionately what we're preaching. Two men were discussing Moody's ministry. One said, "Why do you listen to Moody; you don't believe a word he says." He responded, "No, but he does."
PASTORING: "You lead sheep--you don't drive them!" Pastor Tim Robson
PATIENCE: "In prayer, we are aware that God is in action and that when the circumstances are ready, when others are in the right place, and when are hearts are prepared, He will call us into action. Waiting in prayer is the disciplined refusal to act before God acts". Eugene Peterson
PERSPECTIVE: Kierkegard said, "Life can only be understood backwards."
PESSIMISM: "We are born wet, naked and hungry. . . then things get worse." Unknown
POTENTIAL: Napoleon once pointed to a map of China and said, "There lies a sleeping giant. If it ever wakes up, it will be unstoppable." It could be said of the church, "There lies a sleeping giant."
PRAYER: "It is better to have prayer without words than words without prayer." John Bunyan
PRAYER: "Every time we pray, our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes, but every time, and the amazing thing is that we don't pray more." Oswald Chambers
PRAYER: "I pray, 'Give us our daily bread' with my sweat running down the hoe handle.' " Sam Jones
PRAYER: "Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to minister. Pray, then my dear brother, pray, pray, pray."
PRAYER: "O Brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast and lose breakfast, dinner, tea and supper--and sleep too- -than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber." Andrew Bonar
PRAYER: "Courage is fear having said it's prayers." Lewis Smedes
PRAYER: "Some prayers are so vague they are like the famous person who said, 'Give me ambiguity, or give me something else'!" Unknown
PRAYER: "Prayer is to revival what labor is to childbirth." Del Fehsenfeld
PREACHING: "Preaching is an oral address to the popular mind, on religious truth contained in the Scriptures, and elaborately treated with a view to persuasion". Austin Phelps
PREACHING: "Neurologists tell us that at the base of the brain stem is a filter called the "reticular activating system". God graciously put this filter in your mind so that you don't have to consciously respond to the millions of stimuli you are bombarded with on a daily basis. If you had to consciously respond to everything your senses pick up, you'd go insane. The reticular activating system continually sifts and sorts the things we see, hear and smell, forwarding only a few of those stimuli on to your consciousness. What does get your attention? Three things always make it past the reticular activating system: things you value; things that are unique, and things that threaten you." from The Purpose- driven Church by Rick Warren
PREACHING: "I don't use high-falutin' language. I learned long ago to put the cookies and jam on the lowest shelf." Billy Sunday
PREACHING: "I preached as never sure to preach again, as a dying man to dying men."
PREACHING: John Bunyan's portrait of a preacher: "He has his back to the world, his face toward heaven and a Book in his hand."
PREACHING: "Preaching is truth through personality." Phillips Brooks
PREACHING: "Preaching is logic on fire." D. Martyn Lloyd Jones
PREACHING: "When we cease to bleed, we cease to bless." Dr. John Henry Jowett
PREACHING: "Some pastors criticize "life application" preaching as shallow, simplistic and inferior. To them, the only real preaching is didactic, doctrinal preaching. This attitude implies that Paul was more profound than Jesus, that Romans is 'deeper' than the Sermon on the Mount or the parables. I call that heresy!" Rick Warren
PREACHING: "Most people aren't looking for truth, they're looking for relief." Rick Warren
PREACHING: "I recommend that after you have prepared the sermon, carefully review it and bravely ask yourself, 'So what?'."
PREACHING: A line from William Wordsworth's The Tables Turned, "We murder to dissect." That is a common indictment of our preaching: Rather than letting the Scriptures speak, we allow our intellect to break down, outline, and mangle the text. We murder to dissect.
PREACHING: "Too many of our sermons share the recipe, or the menu, but not the meal; and our people go away hungry." Warren W. Wiersbe
PREACHING: "Our preaching should maintain a balance between problems and solutions. Some preaching is long on diagnosis and short on remedy."
PREACHING: We must believe passionately what we're preaching. Two men were discussing Moody's ministry. One said, "Why do you listen to Moody; you don't believe a word he says." He responded, "No, but he does."
PREACHING: "On alliteration. Some preachers are gifted wordsmiths. With the help of a thesaurus and a dictionary of synonyms, they can construct outlines that are so verbally ingenious you find yourself admiring the menu instead of eating the meal, if there is a meal to eat. . . Excessive alliteration can lead to obliteration and wipe out the message. People get distracted from the sermon itself, and anything that distracts from God's truth is suspect if not sinful. . . To say the least, it is artificial; and sermons are suppose to be authentic and alive. They are born, not manufactured." Warren W. Wiersbe
PREACHING: "I fear that the current profusion of study Bibles may give people two erroneous ideas: first, that God can't speak to us from His Word without 'professional help'; and second, that the most important thing you can do with the Scriptures is to outline it." Warren W. Wiersbe
PREACHING: "The three essentials for great preaching are: TRUTH, CLARITY, and PASSION." G. Campbell Morgan
PRIDE: "Knowledge humbles the great man, astonishes the common man, and puffs up the little man." Unknown (cf. Romans 8:1)
PROMISES: "There are more than 14,000 promises in the Bible--God has not broken one of them."
QUALITY: "The best for Jesus! Make it shine for Jesus." Ernest Reveal, long time head of the Evansville Rescue Mission.
READING: A Classic is a book that people praise but don't read. Mark Twain
REDEMPTION: "In creation, God showed his hand; In redemption, He showed His heart." D. L. Moody
REDEMPTION: "Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know, All for sin could not atone, Thou must save, and Thou alone." from the song, Rock of Ages
REPENTANCE: "Confession is the vomiting of the soul." Old Puritan, Thomas Watson
REVIVAL: A common criticism of Billy Sunday's meetings was that it was temporary. Sunday's response was, "Sure it's temporary, but so is a bath"!
REVIVAL: "Prayer is to revival what labor is to childbirth." Del Fehsenfeld
REVIVAL: "We have had the most blessed days here. I and the people have been in the suburbs of heaven." George Whitefield, the first great awakening
SERIES IDEA: Take 27 weeks to study the 27 NT books.
SIN: Nothing robs us of power like unconfessed sin.
TELEVISION: "Television is chewing gum for the eyes." Frank Lloyd Wright
THINKING: We must not let others do our thinking for us! Ted Koppel made an observation about our cultures inability to think for themselves: "We are losing our ability to manage ideas, to contemplate, to think. We are becoming a nation of electronic voyeurs whose capacity for dialogue is a fading memory. . . Yes, we can talk but only at the level of the lowest common denominator. We are imposing on our minds the same burdens that we have inflicted on our stomachs--precooked ideas--designed to appeal to the largest number of people at the lowest possible price--'The McThought'."
TONGUE: "If I harm someone, the damage is done. If I use my tongue loosely, the destruction is irreversible. Life amounts to drawing without an eraser." John Christian
TONGUE: "You can never 'unring' a bell." Unknown
TONGUE: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Unknown
UNITY: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Joseph Garlington's paraphrase of Matthew 18:20-- "If two or three of you will ever get together on anything, I'll come and see it for Myself."
WISDOM: "A word to the wise is not necessary--it's the stupid ones that need the advice." Bill Cobs
WORK: "I pray, 'Give us our daily bread' with my sweat running down the hoe handle.' " Sam Jones
WORRY: "Worry is a fast getaway on a wooden horse."
WORSHIP: "Worship is all that I am (mind, soul, body, and spirit) responding to all that God is, says and does." Warren Wiersbe
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