discipleship

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 sides with God against himself.

The Christian life does not just evolve. It also requires specific decisions and public commitments to deepen our faith and obedience.

Someone suddenly had direct, unabashed access to my heart.

We should be more concerned with reaching the lost than pampering the saved.

Jesus of Nazareth always comes asking disciples to follow him--not merely "accept him," not merely "believe in him," not merely "worship him," but to follow him: one either follows Christ, or one does not. There is no compartmentalization of the faith, no realm, no sphere, no business, no politic in which the lordship of Christ will be excluded. We either make him Lord of all lords, or we deny him as Lord of any.

Never go into venture capital if you want a peaceful life.

We email, Facebook, tweet and text with people who are going to spend eternity in either heaven or hell. Our lives are too short to waste on mere temporal conversations when massive eternal realities hang in the balance. Just as you and I have no guarantee that we will live through the day, the people around us are not guaranteed tomorrow either. So let's be intentional about sewing the threads of the gospel into the fabric of our conversations every day, knowing that it will not always be easy, yet believing that eternity will always be worth it.

We are not meant to die merely in order to be dead. God could not want that for the creatures to whom He has given the breath of life. We die in order to live.

A soul that is happy in the things of God can overcome tremendous obstacles.

Most principles are limp until they are tested.

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 where we have to prove our mettle. A false Christianity takes us up on the mount and we want to stay there. But what about the devil-possessed world? Oh, let it go to hell! We are having a great time up here.

I'm of the opinion and quite certain that our 'personal histories' with God are meant to be well informed by the Scriptures

A big part of me needed something outside myself to tell me who I was. The thing that had been designed to tell me who I was was gone.

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

No language about God will ever be fully adequate to the burning mystery which it signifies.

True knowledge of God is born out of obedience.

The repentance we are called to is about choosing one audience over another.

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