James > James's Quotes

“God is never a God of discouragement. When you have a discouraging spirit or train of thought in your mind, you can be sure it is not from God. He sometimes brings pain to his children-conviction over sin, or repentance over fallenness, or challenges that scare us, or visions of his holiness that overwhelm us. But God never brings discouragement.”
― John Ortberg

“In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jesus speaks about hell in order to encourage the persecuted believer. He does not teach the persecuted believer to delight that others will be in hell. Rather, Jesus reminds the persecuted believer that God is more to be feared than any evil that may come his or her way. Evil can harm us physically, but God and not evil will have the last word about our lives.”
― Zack Eswine, Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons That Connect with Our Culture

“We’re not continuing to write the Bible — that is complete — but what Jesus “began” to do in his three-year earthly ministry and “continued” through his church in Acts he continues through us today. We are the next episode. We’re still in the same season, and the finale is still to come. Every believer now has a part of the story to write. The”
― J.D. Greear, Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

“Trying to share the gospel without using words is like watching a newscast with the sound turned off: I might recognize that the newscaster is agitated about something, but I won’t know why.”
― J.D. Greear, Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

“When there is nothing challenging or adventurous about your style of faith, you begin to drift toward other things that seem more interesting and meaningful. Mission helps your faith.”7”
― J.D. Greear, Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

“Business guru John Kotter says that the place most leaders fail in effecting change is in assuming their people understand the need for change more than they actually do.”
― J.D. Greear, Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

“Carl F. H. Henry was reputed to say, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”
― J.D. Greear, Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life

“The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians, and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes- a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power. The greatest danger to the Christian church today is that of pitching its message too low.”
― Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives