Soa > Soa's Quotes

“Your circumstances do NOT define you. Expect a GRAND finale.”
― John Paul Warren

“In a team setting, leadership is shared by a community of people, which counters the tendency for pastors to form congregations in their own images.”
― Adam S. McHugh, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture

“We must admit that simply knowing the contents of the Bible is not a sure route to spiritual growth. There is an aweful assumption in evangelical churches that if we can just get the Word of God into people's heads, then the Spirit of God will apply it to their hearts. That assumption is aweful, not because the Spirit never does what the assumption supposes, but because it excused pastors and leaders from the responsibility to tangle with people's lives. Many remain safely hidden behind pulpits, hopelessly out of touch with the struggles of their congregations, proclaiming the Scriptures with a pompous accuracy that touches no one. Pulpits should provide bridges, not barriers, to life-changing relationships.”
― Larry Crabb, Inside Out

“Leaders in OVER their heads is the mere result of getting ahead of their intended SEASON.”
― John Paul Warren

“The secret to strong leaders is that strong leaders are strong because they have been tempered by the negative. They have discovered the secret of combining the negative and the positive to PRODUCED their very own POWER plant!”
― John Paul Warren

“The church is not a campus but a community. Pastors are not CEOs; they are shepherds.”
― Dillon Burroughs, Undefending Christianity: Embracing Truth Without Having All the Answers

“You're going to come across some truly gifted people in your lifetime that seem to know all the answers. However, they lost their personal relationship with God, along the way. Love them anyways, and do everything you can to help them restore that relationship. They are fighting a war that you don't know anything about.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“You may have your diploma from a seminary, ordained by a Bishop, or commissioned by a denomination but ONLY God can “mark” a man.”
― John Paul Warren