Aaron Burden > Aaron's Quotes

“God does expect us to say no to a whole lot of good things so that we can be freed up to say yes to the most important things he has for us.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

“Now I knew what it meant to follow God. It meant walking boldly by His Spirit of grace and love, in the firm confidence of everlasting life given through the Son, with the eternal purpose of proclaiming and glorifying the Father. Now I had found Jesus.”
― Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

“It has been said that D. M. Lloyd-Jones wasn’t always excited by people taking notes on his sermons. He felt that that was more appropriate to a lecture. The job of the preacher, he believed, was to make the knowledge live. Lloyd-Jones and Edwards believed preaching should aim to make an impression on the listener, and that impression is more important than “information takeaways.” I would say that it’s fine if listeners are taking notes in the first part of the sermon, but if they are doing so at the end, you are probably not reaching their affections.”
― Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism

“The gospel is not just the means by which people get converted but also the way Christians solve their problems and grow.”
― Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism

“In the end, preaching has two basic objects in view: the Word and the human listener. It is not enough to just harvest the wheat; it must be prepared in some edible form or it can’t nourish and delight. Sound preaching arises out of two loves—love of the Word of God and love of people—and from them both a desire to show people God’s glorious grace.”
― Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism

“I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf.”
― Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

“Am I the only one who gets embarrassed when religious leaders in America talk about having prayer in public schools? We don’t have even that much prayer in many churches! Out of humility, you would think we would keep quiet on that particular subject until we practice what we preach in our own congregations.”
― Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People

“In too many churches today, people don’t see manifestations of God’s power in answer to fervent praying. Instead, they hear arguments about theological issues that few people care about. On Christian radio and television we are often merely talking to ourselves.”
― Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People

“I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.”
― Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People

“Throw away the servility of imitation, and rise to the manliness of originality.”
― Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students

“Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do. ”
― Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place

“Perhaps only when human effort had done it's best and failed, would God's power alone be free to work.”
― Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place

“And so I discovered that it is not on our own forgiveness any more than on our own goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When he tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”
― Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

“The real sin lay in thinking that any power to help and transform came from me. Of course it was not my wholeness, but Christ’s that made the difference.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

“Oh, this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil one could almost believe one's own secret sin didn't matter.”
― Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

“Human beings are always assigning to themselves some kind of identity. There are only two places to look. Either you will be getting your identity vertically, from who you are in Christ, or you will be shopping for it horizontally in the situations, experiences, and relationships of your daily life. This”
― Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

“There is no one we swindle more than we swindle ourselves. There is no one we run to defend more than we do ourselves. And like every other spiritually blind person, Joe was blind to his blindness.”
― Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

“This is why the Word of God is so essential in the daily, ongoing life of a believer. Because from the minute you close your Bible in the morning, you’re entering a world that’s fighting every truth and teaching it represents. At every turn. And if God’s message is not deep inside you, where you can meditate on it, return to it, and frequently call it back to mind, you won’t be able to discern what’s really true from what may be really intriguing, really alluring, really convincing, but really false. And really defeating.”
― Matt Chandler, Recovering Redemption: A Gospel Saturated Perspective on How to Change

“You have no shot at experiencing real change in life if you’re habitually protecting your image, hyping your spiritual brand, and putting out the vibe that you’re a lot more unfazed by temptation than the reality you know and live would suggest.”
― Matt Chandler, Recovering Redemption: A Gospel Saturated Perspective on How to Change

“The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

“I cannot believe this! I cannot believe that I have lived long enough to see people being baptized in public. An entire family together! No one is shooting at them, no one is threatening them, no one will go to prison, no one will be tortured, and no one will be killed. And they are being openly and freely baptized as a family! I never dreamed that God could do such things! I never believed that I would live to see a miracle like this.”
― Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected

“Tender, heartfelt worship is hard for a person who thinks of himself as having arrived. No one celebrates the presence and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ more than the person who has embraced his desperate and daily need of it.”
― Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

“Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth.”
― Samuel Chand, Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth

“When we tell people to do their jobs, we get workers. When we trust people to get the job done, we get leaders.”
― Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

“The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading. If your desk is clean and no one is bringing you problems, you should be very worried. It means that people don't think you can solve them or don't want to hear about them. Or, far worse, it means they don't think you care.”
― Colin Powell, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership

“Whenever you place the cause of one of your actions outside yourself, it’s an excuse and not a reason.”
― Colin Powell, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership

“If you take the pay, earn it. Always do your very best. Even when no one else is looking, you always are. Don’t disappoint yourself.”
― Colin Powell, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership

“I wonder if being angrily shouted at or arrogantly debated with has ever swayed a single person? Are human hearts moved by being ridiculed and mocked? When people fling accusations with the presumption of knowing another person’s intentions, what possible outcome could they be hoping for? Who would ever move to their enemy’s camp under such treatment?”
― Chip Gaines, Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff

“We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we can’t be wise with other men’s wisdom.”
― David Brooks, The Road to Character

“You don't need to go back in time to be awesome; you just have to start right now. Regretting that you didn't start earlier is a great distraction from moving on your dream today, and the reality is that today is earlier than tomorrow.”
― Jon Acuff, Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters