Michael Mack > Michael's Quotes

“Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest and sacrificial. God hates this wishful dreaming because it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. Those who dream of this idolized community demand that it be fulfilled by God, by others and by themselves. They enter the community of Christians with their demands set up by their own law, and judge one another and God accordingly. It is not we who build. Christ builds the church. Whoever is mindful to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it, for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess he builds. We must proclaim, he builds. We must pray to him, and he will build. We do not know his plan. We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down. It may be that the times which by human standards are the times of collapse are for him the great times of construction. It may be that the times which from a human point are great times for the church are times when it's pulled down. It is a great comfort which Jesus gives to his church. You confess, preach, bear witness to me, and I alone will build where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is not your providence. Do what is given to you, and do it well, and you will have done enough.... Live together in the forgiveness of your sins. Forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. . . . Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord. . . .”
― Charles Spurgeon

“Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.”
― Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

“God is not interested in what you think you should be or feel. He is not interested in the narrative you construct for yourself, or that others construct for you. Rather, He is interested in you, the you who suffers, the you who inflicts suffering on others, the you who hides, the you who has bad days (and good ones). And He meets you where you are.”
― Tullian Tchividjian, Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free

“There is an essential connection between experiencing God, loving God, and trusting God. You will trust God only as much as you love him. And you will love him to the extent you have touched him, rather that he has touched you.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

“I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
― Benjamin Franklin

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”
― William Faulkner

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
― Howard Thurman

“Not every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all to survive is prosperity.”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“God directs his people not simply to worship but to sing his praises “before the nations.” We are called not simply to communicate the gospel to nonbelievers; we must also intentionally celebrate the gospel before them.”
― Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

“Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves.”
― Joni Eareckson Tada, The God I Love

“But success and failure reveal nothing about our spirituality.”
― Larry Osborne, A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God: Spirituality for the Rest of Us

“In the Scriptures, a comrnu- nity is a group of people, living under God's rule, who are learning how to love God and love one another.”
― Jeffrey Arnold, The Big Book on Small Groups

“I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”
― Mother Teresa

“It is good to tell people what we mean, but it is infinitely better to show them. People are looking for a demonstration, not an explanation.”
― Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

“Jesus did not urge his disciples to commit their lives to a doctrine, but to a person who was the doctrine, and only as they continued in his Word could they know the truth ( John 8:31–32).”
― Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism