“There is a striking similarity between Paul’s attitude here and Luther’s quoted words from the preface to the Letter of James in his German New Testament of 1522: ‘That which does not teach Christ is not apostolic, even if Peter or Paul taught it. Again, that which does preach Christ is apostolic, even if Judas, […]
“Life isn’t measured in minutes. It’s measured in moments. It’s not the length of days that really matters. [Life’s] the stewardship of moments. . . . In other words, make each day count.”- Mark Batterson “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”- Psalm 96:12 (NIV) “Preach [and live] […]
“Prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance but laying hold of God’s willingness.”- Martin Luther “[God] has a purpose in His processes. Our story, our desperate needs, are never all about us. God answers our prayers when He’ll get the most glory and can reach the most significant number of people with our story.”- […]
“Concentration on our sin against God is the opposite of self-pity. Wallowing in self-pity may appear to be repentance, but it is not . . . . Our sorrow is not over how we wronged God or others but over the trouble it has brought us. We are not truly troubled by the sin, and […]
“Driven and motivated to always feel okay is not a steadying way to navigate your life. If your only way to navigate your inner landscape is to manipulate, control, and dominate your outer landscape, you’ve lost the map to joy. . . . Just because the road doesn’t seem to be upward and onward, doesn’t […]
“Deep personal blessing carries more power when you become a treasure hunter who accurately discerns someone’s unique identity and potential. You can learn to mine the gold in others’ souls.”- Alan Wright Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. . . . And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this […]
“Sometimes our strivings to ‘be like God’ can become self-made super-works that we subconsciously employ to pay off our sins. The trap is that there’s just as much sin in the spiritual stuff as the earthly stuff — just ask anyone who’s ever worked . . . in the church. Often this leads to greater […]
“Martin Luther had a curious but helpful way of talking about [God working through sinful, ordinary people]. He described people doing God’s work as His masks — Larvae Dei (masks of God) is the Latin phrase. . . . We’re His masks, giving the appearance that it’s merely human beings at work. But remove our […]
“Faithfulness in the ordinary, everyday callings of life — ‘sweating the small stuff.’ so to speak — is the beginning of any great task and a virtue of any great person. . . . we are called to be faithful in the smallest and largest of callings. God sees us ‘sweating the small stuff,’ and […]
“The liberating truth, however, is that we do not have one great calling in life but instead are given many callings simultaneously. Although these may seem small and insignificant, they have sacred worth, given to us by God’s own hand. This truth . . . enables us to participate with joy in life’s many relationships, […]
“But to the world it is very foolish and offensive that God should be opposed to the wise and condemn them, when, after all, we have the idea that God could not reign if he did not have wise and understanding people to help him. . . . Everything that God does they must improve, […]
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”- Martin Luther “The LORD is close to all who call on him, to all who all who call upon him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues […]