“We come into the world not primarily as people who think but as people who feel. Emotions flood through our bodies and souls — our mind, will, and emotions — reminding us of this truth. They don’t stop at assigned places, and when we do try to stem their flow, we fail.”- Jennifer Allen In […]
“There is an entire field of mathematical study devoted to the study of knots. It’s called, well, ‘knot theory.’ . . . By simply studying a knot . . . [smart people] could identify certain characteristics that would ensure that a few simple steps could be used to undo the knot. . . . They […]
“When we deny our pain, losses, and feelings year after year, we become less and less human. We transform into empty shells with smiley faces painted on them.”- Peter Scazzero, pastor and author, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality As Jennifer Allen continues Chapter 2 of Untangle Your Emotions, she describes a broad spectrum of response to feelings. […]
“My feelings were trying to tell me something important, but I thought they were attempting to take over. And I wasn’t about to let them take control. Your feelings aren’t trying to control you — they are trying to tell you something.“- Jennifer Allen In Chapter 2 (“All Tangled Up”) of Untangle Your Emotions, Jennifer […]
“Feelings can’t be beat back, by the way. Even if you’re the most effective stuffer ever to live, the very best at stuffing feelings way down deep, so far down you believe they can never be found. I’m here to tell you that those feelings don’t go quietly.”- Jennifer Allen In Chapter 1 (“Where Did […]
“You can’t go to the cross with just your head and not your heart. It doesn’t work that way. Calvary’s not a mental trip. It’s not an intellectual exercise. It’s not a divine calculation or a cold theological principle. . . . God, may we never be so ‘educated,’ may we never be so ‘mature,’ […]
“God, meanwhile, never enters a shouting match with Satan. Truth need not scream. He stands permanently, quietly, pleading, ever present. No tricks, no side shows, no temptations, just open proof.”- Max Lucado “A third time [Pilate] said to [the crowd], ‘Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. […]
“All [a Roman centurion] did was see Jesus suffer. He only witnessed the way he died. . . . [Luke 23:47] says the rubber of faith meets the road of reality under hardship. It says the trueness of one’s belief is revealed in pain. Genuineness and character are unveiled in misfortune.”- Max Lucado “The centurion, […]
“All of us are signing on Jesus’ credit card. And it also makes me smile to think that there is a grinning ex-con walking the golden streets who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians. No one would have given him a prayer. But in the end that is all he had. And in […]
“Any serious study of the Christian claim is, at its essence, a study of the cross. To accept or reject Christ without a careful examination of Calvary is like deciding on a car without looking at the engine. Being religious without knowing the cross is like owning a Mercedes with no motor. Pretty package, but […]
“Any reading of God’s Word with a performance-based, do-to-be-tree mentality instantly veils our spiritual sight. . . . While we diligently, fearfully try to keep the law, we miss the greater thins that Jesus wants us to see.”- Alan Wright “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, […]
“Repentance is more that turning from sin — it’s repositioning ourselves to look with Jesus. The Old Testament word for ‘repent’ (shub) means simply ‘turn.’ When you let your heart turn in the same direction as Jesus is facing, you’re repenting of your own view and taking His.”- Alan Wright Alan Wright concludes Chapter 13 […]