Reflect, Resonate, Reevaluate, Respond
One of the afflictions of pastoral work has been to listen, with a straight face, to all the reasons people give for not going to church.
~ Peterson, Eugene H., A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Only the person who is completely safe can understand that judgment is good news.
~ Fleming Rutledge, 1937- , Why Did Jesus Choose The Cross?, Episcopal Priest
Only our concept of time makes it possible for us to speak of the Day of Judgment by that name; in reality it is a constant court in perpetual session.
~ Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Writer
Christians are not mere wayfarers en route to the next life, but rather pioneers of God’s kingdom in advance, a sign of what will follow. By living out lives of grace in a spoiled environment, we point forward to a time of restoration.
~ Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace Study Guide, Zondervan
The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a far larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.
~ Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
We structure our churches and maintain them so as to shield us from God and to protect us from genuine religious experience… The adult members of churches today rarely raise serious religious questions for fear of revealing their doubts or being thought of as strange. There is an implicit conspiracy of silence on religious matters in the churches. This conspiracy covers up the fact that the churches do not change lives or influence conduct to any appreciable degree.
~ Clyde Reid, 1967- , Pastoral Counselor, writer, The God Evaders
Knowledge, not improved and well employed, will only increase our condemnation at the last day.
~ J. C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop