Jeff > Jeff's Quotes

“It's like the people who believe they'll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn't work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If you see what I mean.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

“God, help me to see others not as my enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage and compassion to offer your Living Water, which alone quenches deep thirst.”
― Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?

“I’m convinced that human beings instinctively seek two things. We long for meaning, a sense that our life somehow matters to the world around us. And we long for community, a sense of being loved.”
― Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?

“What would it take for church to become known as a place where grace is “on tap”
― Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?

“Why is Brennan Manning lovable in the eyes of God? Because on February 8th of 1956, in a shattering, life-changing experience, I committed my life to Jesus. Does God love me because ever since I was ordained a priest in 1963, I roamed the country and lately all over the world proclaiming the Good News of the gospel of grace? Does God love me because I tithe to the poor? Does he love me because back in New Orleans I work on skid row with alcoholics, addicts, and those who suffer with AIDS? Does God love me because I spend two hours every day in prayer? If I believe that stuff I’m a Pharisee! Then I feel I’m entitled to be comfortably close to Christ because of my good works. The gospel of grace says, “Brennan, you’re lovable for one reason only — ​because God loves you. Period.”
― Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?

“Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, decided to leave her clergy position in part because of the church’s failure to administer that grace: One thing that had always troubled me was the way people disappeared from church when their lives were breaking down. Separation and divorce were the most common explanations for long absences, but so were depression, alcoholism, job loss, and mortal illness. One new widow told me that she could not come to church because she started crying the moment she sat down in a pew. A young man freshly diagnosed with AIDS said that he stayed away because he was too frightened to answer questions and too angry to sing hymns. I understood their reasoning, but I was sorry that church did not strike these wounded souls as a place they could bring the dark fruits of their equally dark nights.”
― Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?

“can be a terrible curse for a man to get everything he ever dreamed of. If the shining prizes turn out somehow to be empty baubles, he is left without even his dreams for comfort.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”* 10Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
― Anonymous, The One Year Chronological Bible NLT

“Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.”
― Joshua DuBois, The President's Devotional: The Daily Readings That Inspired President Obama

“The critics—coaches and newspaper columnists—who had condemned him for following his own training schedule and not running in enough pre-Olympic races would soon be silenced.”
― Neal Bascomb, The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It