Larry > Larry's Quotes

“JUST A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (A Kind of Preamble) We would very soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool. No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to—a God we must look up to. —Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“When I was growing up, the “name it and claim it” theology was all the rage—it thrived because it perfectly fit the unique narcissism of an American culture that treats prayer like a bank robber’s note to the teller. “Name it and claim it” has now largely been scorned to death—but not in the kingdom of heaven, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are delightedly working around the clock to name and claim all who will rejoin their family. The last lines in Chapman’s song “God Is in Control,” as he grieves over a great sadness that is not as it “should be” or “could be,” offer an exclamation point on how it “will be”, when… We finally will see We’ll see with our own eyes He was always in control And we’ll sing holy, holy, holy is our God And we will finally really understand what it means11”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“HAS ASKED …” (Jesus in Conversation with the Enemy) Take heed to yourselves because the tempter will make his first and sharpest assault on you. If you will be leaders against him, he will not spare you. He bears the greatest malice against the man who is engaged in working the greatest damage against him. —Richard Baxter, seventeenth-century English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn writer, and theologian”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“Dare 2 Share founder Greg Stier says: “Satan is not a fatalist—he does not easily give in to ‘the facts on the ground.’ He retains his intelligence, but he’s growing more and more insane, like Hitler toward the end of his life.”12 That insanity is on display in Satan’s encounter with Jesus, when he demands (the Greek word is exaiteo, which means “to ask for with emphasis and with implication of having a right to do so”) the permission to “sift” Peter and the disciples. Embedded in the request is an oxymoron—the “demand” comes from someone who’s reduced to asking permission.”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”
― John Piper

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
― John Wesley

“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael

“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”
― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

“We may speak about a place where there are no tears, no death, no fear, no night; but those are just the benefits of heaven. The beauty of heaven is seeing God.”
― Max Lucado, Experiencing the Heart of Jesus: Knowing His Heart, Feeling His Love

“He said "Love...as I have loved you." We cannot love too much.”
― Amy Carmichael

“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little.”
― William Gurnall

“It was becoming clearer and clearer that if I wanted to come to the end of my life and not say, “I’ve wasted it!” then I would need to press all the way in, and all the way up, to the ultimate purpose of God and join him in it. If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God’s passion.”
― John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

“William Paul Young, author of The Shack, was asked by a LifeTree Café interviewer: What is God’s role in suffering? Young responded: [The question is,] how can there be a good God who has the power to stop evil and doesn’t[?] [T]here [are] a lot of ways to come at that question. One of the ways that has helped me the most is to realize that God respects His creation way more than we do, that God doesn’t just step in and say, “I’m sorry, you’ve crossed the line, you’re not allowed to think that, you’re not allowed to do that.”… God has not promised that He’s … going to stop it, but He’ll show up in the middle of it, and there is nothing so dead that He can’t grow something out of it. There’s nothing so broken that He can’t heal it. And there’s not anything so lost He can’t find it. So, this idea of His respect for the creation is a little bit of a shock to us because … we want God to mete … out [justice for us].… The question is, at what point does He stop our ability to choose evil? … [T]o love, you have to have the ability to choose. And at what point does He just stop that?”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“Finally, the dark tension that immersed my soul because of these apparently dichotomous experiences of God was resolved, at least a little, when I turned my focus away from Him directly and onto the world He created. In Romans 1:18–20 Paul explains: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (NIV). Paul is revealing a reality that my own curiosity and experience undergird: The whole world is a parable (a metaphoric treatise) describing God’s character and personality. His “invisible qualities” and “eternal power” and “divine nature” are clearly seen and understood by “what has been made.” Paul is saying that all created things are inherently a living biography of God—they tell God’s story, the makeup of His character and His kingdom, for those who will pay attention.”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“Pharisees angrily labeled Jesus a “blasphemer” for claiming He was no garden-variety prophet, but the very Son of God, they were not telling the truth, but their experience of His words was “accurate” within their frame of reference. In the same way, it’s accurate for us to label how God sometimes behaves as “brutal,” but it’s not true. Five years or so ago I was slowly realizing that I’d compartmentalized God for most of my life—I did not (could not?) understand the stories about Him, or His dealings with me, in an integrated way. No one had been more tender or kind to me in my life—there’s a greatness to God’s love for me that is palpable and … fundamental. There are tears I need to cry that release only when I’m alone in His presence. There are raw places in my heart that only He knows how to access and nurture. There are secrets about my soul that only He can speak to. But He has a fearsome and nearly inexplicable side—revealed in Joshua 10 and 11 and everywhere else in the Bible—that I didn’t know what to do with. It’s as if I was offered a five-course meal of God and told the waiter to take the beet-and-brussels-sprout salad back to the kitchen; I’d rejected the parts of God that made me feel sick to my stomach. And here’s something that served only to deepen my dissonance: I’d experienced a deeper love than I’ve ever known from Him during times of great brutality in my life.”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“And the Enemy, the Destroyer, senses the surface truth that this Jesus is a threat, so he targets Him for destruction. Lucifer shows up in the desert to tempt a weakened Jesus using a trusted strategy—he will appeal to the same primal lust for power and control that bulldozed Adam and Eve into an unthinkable betrayal. But Jesus is having none of that. The Enemy is banished from His presence, where he stays until he sniffs an opportunity to launch a second assault in a lonely garden. In Mel Gibson’s brilliant portrayal of this tipping-point confrontation in The Passion of the Christ, the weight of the assault is palpable. Jesus is alone and tormented to the point of death on the eve of His crucifixion. The serpent moves through the Gethsemane garden toward the exposed feet of Jesus—now perilously within striking range. Everything hangs in the moment. And then, in a shocking burst of violence, Jesus stomps on the serpent’s head.3 It is sudden and brutal and … revelatory. It turns out that Jesus—sweating blood, abandoned, and apparently beaten—is no shrinking violet. The Great Surprise is that He cannot be leveraged and that He is no victim of circumstances. In this, He is not at all the way most Americans describe Him.”
― Rick Lawrence, Sifted: God's Scandalous Response to Satan's Outrageous Demand

“SELECTING THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR GOOD BIBLE STUDY Probably one of the best-kept secrets in Christendom is the availability of practical Bible study helps. Many Christians are not aware of the many excellent reference tools currently available to make personal Bible study possible and exciting. This is comparable to a carpenter who sets out to build a house without knowing that a hammer and saw are available to him.”
― Rick Warren, Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word

“We often forget that God has emotions, too. He feels things very deeply. The Bible tells us that God grieves, gets jealous and angry, and feels compassion, pity, sorrow, and sympathy as well as happiness, gladness, and satisfaction. God loves, delights, gets pleasure, rejoices, enjoys, and even laughs!2”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“Even as I write these words, our ticking national debt clock tells us that we are increasing our debt by 3 billion dollars a day. We hear repeatedly that the 16 trillion dollars we owe nationally is “unsustainable”; that is to say, we cannot continue along this path of spending without drastic and long-term consequences. Our politicians have not yet learned that we cannot borrow our way into prosperity and survive.”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Where Do We Go From Here?: Hope and Direction in Our Present Crisis

“May the LORD smile on you…. NUMBERS 6:25 (NLT)”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“POINT TO PONDER: God smiles when I trust him. VERSE TO REMEMBER: “The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love.” PSALM 147:11 (CEV) QUESTION TO CONSIDER: Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him most?”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“If you have just been going through the motions spiritually, don’t be surprised when God allows pain in your life. Pain is the fuel of passion — it energizes us with an intensity to change that we don’t normally possess. C. S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” It is God’s way of arousing us from spiritual lethargy. Your problems are not punishment; they are wake-up calls from a loving God. God is not mad at you; he’s mad about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you back into fellowship with him.”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“Someday there may be a cataclysmic reckoning, but we are paying for our sins right now. When God told Israel that disobedience would have severe consequences, He ended by saying, “Your sons and your daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand” (Deuteronomy 28:32).”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Where Do We Go From Here?: Hope and Direction in Our Present Crisis

“When abandoned babies were left out on the streets and back alleys, the Christians in North Africa organized baby runs and brought these babies to nursing mothers. The pagans were overwhelmed with the caring attitude of the Christians. Just as Peter predicted, unbelievers were led to faith in Christ and “glorified God” in the day of visitation. The excellencies of Christ are best revealed through the lives of those who are compassionate because they themselves are profoundly aware of their own shortcomings. The world can out entertain us; outnumber us; out finance us, but let it never be said that they can out-love us, for “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:5).”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Where Do We Go From Here?: Hope and Direction in Our Present Crisis

“Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love — God and people. Life minus love equals zero.”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“As the late Charles Colson put it, “Our place is on our knees, in the streets helping people in need, winning our neighbors and colleagues to a Christian worldview by speaking the truth in love. We will win the cultural war one house, one block at a time, as God’s people are trained and equipped by the church and then go out and live their faith in the world.” Never before in American history has it been so important to become an active part of a network of other believers for worship, encouragement, instruction, and prayer. Bible studies, prayer groups, and discipleship training of believers to be change-agents in their world. The day of the casual Christian is over. No longer is it possible to drift along, hoping that no tough choices will have to be made. At this point in American history, any moral and spiritual progress will have to be won at great cost. The darker the night, the more important every candle becomes.”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Where Do We Go From Here?: Hope and Direction in Our Present Crisis

“No nation has turned away from so much light in order to choose darkness. No nation has squandered as many opportunities as we have. We can only call on God for mercy, and if it pleases Him He will come to our aid. We certainly cannot expect a revival simply because we do not want to face the harassment that well might come to us all. But if we humble ourselves, weeping for this nation, God may yet intervene and restore decency to this crazed world. Most of all, we should pray that millions would be converted and belong to God forever. People change their minds only when God changes their hearts.”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Where Do We Go From Here?: Hope and Direction in Our Present Crisis

“Every church could put out a sign “No perfect people need apply. This is a place only for those who admit they are sinners, need grace, and want to grow.”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

“Someone has said that people live their lives “crucified between two thieves—the regrets of yesterday and the anxieties of tomorrow.”
― Erwin W. Lutzer, Life-Changing Bible Verses You Should Know

“This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality. Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth when he’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?