“We need those (thirty minutes of silence in heaven) moments of silence on this side of the space-time continuum too. It’s one way we nurture a sense of wonder. Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century French philosopher, went so far as to say, ‘All of man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a […]
“If loving God with all our heart means a heart that breaks for the things of God, then loving God with all our soul means a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and majesty, a soul that hallows God above all else.”- Mark Batterson […]
“What if . . . our litmus test for worship was a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God? What if we saw compassion as a form of worship? Worship without words. Worship beyond words?”- Mark Batterson “It’s more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor […]
“I think it’s easy to talk about things like faith and obedience and compassion in abstract terms. The more abstract, the less convicting the truth is. So let me get concrete. Faith equals God-ordained risks in the face of fear. Obedience equals God -honoring decisions in the face of temptation. And compassion equals Spirit-prompted generosity […]
“As we grow in our love relationship with God, we begin to empathize with God. We feel what He feels. Then we begin to sympathize with others. We experience sympathy breakthroughs as we see the image of God in others. And when those empathetic feelings turn into compassionate actions, they set off chain reactions with […]
” . . . just as you are responsible for your actions, no matter how right or wrong they are, you are also responsible for your reactions. And compassion is always the right reaction.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 2 of Primal, he talks about the concept of sympathy breakthroughs. Jonathan Glover, who […]
” . . . minds often remain closed to truth until hearts have been opened by compassion. There is certainly a place for logical, left-brained explanations of faith. But compassion is the ultimate apologetic. There is no defense against it.”- Mark Batterson “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in […]
“You cannot listen to just half of what the Holy Spirit has to say. It’s a package deal. If you aren’t willing to listen to everything He has to say, you won’t hear anything He has to say. If you tune out his convicting voice, you won’t hear His comforting voice or guiding voice either.”- […]
“Certain truths qualify as prime truths. . . . But prime truths have an indivisible quality to them. and chief among them — the even prime, if you will — is what Jesus called the most important commandment. We call it the Great Commandment.”- Mark Batterson “Love the Lord your God with all your heart […]
“We are so quick to judge the quality of our lives and the reliability of God based on individual events rather than the eventual good God is working on putting together. We must know that just like the master baker has reasons to allow the flour and eggs in right measure into his recipe, Jesus […]
“We don’t even like to touch dust, especially if it’s made up of the shattered pieces of our own hearts. Thankfully, we don[t have to. We can hand it over to God — the one who forms our dust into something we want but never could have made for ourselves. . . . it’s better […]
“Life may be swirling all around me, threatening to steal my hope, my peace, my joy. But I am declaring right now that I will not be swept up into a storm of fear and wild emotions. . . . I very much recognize that I will steer where I stare. So I must watch […]