Mirtika > Mirtika's Quotes

“Can our prayers change our circumstances? Absolutely! But when our circumstances don’t change, it’s often an indication that God is trying to change us.”
― Mark Batterson, Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge

“Why do we mistakenly think that God is offended by our prayers for the impossible? The truth is that God is offended by anything less! God is offended when we ask Him to do things we can do ourselves. It’s the impossible prayers that honor God because they reveal our faith and allow God to reveal His glory.”
― Mark Batterson, Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge

“Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.”
― Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears

“The clearest picture of the Rapture and Resurrection is the Transfiguration.”
― James Jacob Prasch, Shadows of the Beast

“There is no distinction in the original languages between “faith” and “faithfulness”. If faith is real, it will be a saving faith evidenced by works—that is to say, true Christians do works not in order to get saved, but because they have been saved.”
― James Jacob Prasch, Harpazo: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church

“the return of Jesus will not be a welcomed event either by the Christian religious establishment, the political authorities of Judeo-Christian nations, or even the majority of people falsely claiming they believe they want Him to come. Just as it was but a remnant of Jews who desired and were prepared for His First Coming, so too there will be but a remnant of faithful Christians who likewise desire and are prepared for His return.”
― James Jacob Prasch, Harpazo: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were tossed into the furnace of affliction clothed and bound, but they emerged free and the stench of the fire was not on their garments. Persecution at the end will unchain the true Church and will not singe what Isaiah called the “garments of salvation” (Is. 61:10)—that is, the robes of righteousness, calling them “bigda yesha”—the “clothes of salvation” and the “mahil tsdaka”, “the robes of righteousness”. Such clothing is given by God to His saints and cannot be damaged or invaded by anything the enemy can do.”
― James Jacob Prasch, Harpazo: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church

“In Daniel’s experience in the lion’s den, the Aramaic term “netzel” is used for rescue three times. This Aramaic term has its Hebrew equivalent in the term “natzel”. The pronunciation is almost identical and they mean the precise, same thing. Remarkably, “natzel” means “to rescue by snatching away” or “to be snatched out in order to be saved or delivered”, matching the definition of the Greek term “harpazo”. The term is also used in the rescue of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in Daniel 3:29. There is no other God who is able to “natzel”—that is, “rescue by snatching away”.”
― James Jacob Prasch, Harpazo: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church

“Jesus is the Word made flesh, and that “knowing Jesus” demands embracing the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of someone’s imagination. The whole Bible. Even the places that took my life captive.”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ

“Here was the shattering of the second wall: I had read the Bible many times through, and I saw for myself that it had a holy Author; I saw for myself that it was a canonized collection of sixty-six books with a unified biblical revelation. I heard for myself that when the words “this is mine” came out of my mouth in congregational singing, I was attesting to this one, simple truth: that the line of communication that God ordained for his people required this wrestling with Scripture, and that I truly wanted both to hear God’s voice breathed in my life, and I wanted God to hear my pleas. The fog burned away. The whole Bible, each jot and tittle, was my open highway to a holy God.”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ

“When the Lord entered my world, I experienced that gospel-ignited “expulsive power of a new affection” (to quote the title of Thomas Chalmers’s famous sermon). That new affection was not heterosexuality, but Jesus, my Jesus, my friend and Savior. I was not converted out of homosexuality. I was converted out of unbelief.”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ

“Because of our fallen natures, we expect that we will be repenting of sin until glory. But repentance is not simply proof of failure. It is, more importantly, a sign of God’s hand upon us. It is a conversion proof, as only a saved person can repent of sin.”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ

“Even readers who think they only want to read 100% original fiction, totally unlike anything else that’s ever been done before, are mistaken. The human mind is drawn like a magnet to established story patterns. That’s why the “hero’s journey” pattern of ancient myth has persisted throughout all of human history.”
― Libbie Hawker, Take Off Your Pants! Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing

“We currently have around forty pastors who lead our churches in San Francisco. They all work other jobs. None of them are paid by the church. They never received formal training to become pastors. It has all been on-the-job training from the elders. They have grown because they have felt the pressure of pastoral responsibility. They have become great pastors and are making disciples who will soon be pastors also.”
― Francis Chan, We Are Church

“Contrary to popular belief, we are all called to pastor (a word that simply means “shepherd”). Older women are to shepherd the younger (Titus 2:3–5). Parents are to shepherd their children (Eph. 6:4). Timothy was told to teach others what he himself had been taught (2 Tim. 2:2). We’re all called to be making disciples (Matt. 28:19–20). If you can’t find a single person who looks to you as a mentor, something is wrong with you.”
― Francis Chan, We Are Church

“If you’re looking for the heart to start making something, you need to understand what forces hold you back. You need to know how to make the most of life’s inevitable collisions.”
― David Kadavy, The Heart To Start: Stop Procrastinating & Start Creating

“We talk a lot about interpreting the Bible in context, but Christian history is not the context of the biblical writers. The proper context for interpreting the Bible is not Augustine or any other church father. It is not the Catholic Church. It is not the rabbinic movements of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. It is not the Reformation or the Puritans. It is not evangelicalism in any of its flavors. It is not the modern world at all, or any period of its history.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Creeds serve a useful purpose. They distill important, albeit carefully selected, theological ideas. But they are not inspired. They are no substitute for the biblical text.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“Those who want to avoid the clarity of Psalm 82 argue that the gods are only idols. As such, they aren’t real. This argument is flatly contradicted by Scripture. It’s also illogical and shows a misunderstanding of the rationale of idolatry.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“The story of the Bible is about God’s will for, and rule of, the realms he has created, visible and invisible, through the imagers he has created, human and nonhuman. This divine agenda is played out in both realms, in deliberate tandem.”
― Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

“I am in the business of prayer creation; I leave the editorial and distribution responsibilities to God.”
― Adam Stadtmiller, Praying for Your Elephant: Boldly Approaching Jesus with Radical and Audacious Prayer

“God’s ability to respond far beyond what we ask is one of the things that makes prayer spiritually nuclear. Each prayer is an atom that if split by God has unending possibilities. I call these prolific responses by God the tailwind of prayer. The basic concept is that a single prayer often has the ability to achieve more than you ever imagined. Prayer has a way of blowing wind into other sails in your life that you might not even be praying about.”
― Adam Stadtmiller, Praying for Your Elephant: Boldly Approaching Jesus with Radical and Audacious Prayer

“What gives prayer its power and effectiveness is less about the people who pray or the system of prayer they use, but rather God the Father who delights in turning His children’s weakness into great strength.”
― Adam Stadtmiller, Praying for Your Elephant: Boldly Approaching Jesus with Radical and Audacious Prayer

“Sometimes the sin we take on becomes such a part of us that it requires this same kind of ripping and tearing to free us. The Holy Spirit does not seek to hurt us, but He does seek to make us Christlike, and this can be painful.”
― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit