Finding God in Unexpected Places Quotes

“Can God forgive you? Of course. Read your Bible. David, Peter, Paul—God builds his church on the backs of people who murder, commit adultery, deny him, and persecute his followers. But because of Christ, forgiveness is now our problem, not God's. What we have to go through to commit sin distances us from God—we change in the very act of rebellion—and there is no guarantee we will come back. You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“Alcoholics Anonymous discovered long ago that the path toward cure involves more than a quick-fix solution based on increased knowledge. In fact, it involves a change that seems more theological than educational. Somehow the “victim” of addictive behavior must regain an underlying sense of human dignity and choice, a profound reawakening that usually requires much time, attention, and love.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“What would it look like if a Christian took literally Jesus' sweeping commands and acted on them. What would a Good Samaritan look like today, in urban America?”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“Earth is crammed with heaven And every bush aflame with God But only those who see take off their shoes. —ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“until recently no one could know that the little blob of light marked the presence of another galaxy, one twice the size of the Milky Way and home to half a trillion stars. Or that these next-door neighbors were but two of 100 billion galaxies likewise swarming with stars.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“Learning about the universe does little for earthly self-esteem. Our sun, powerful enough to turn white skin bronze and coax oxygen from every plant on earth, ranks fairly low by galactic standards. If the giant star Antares were positioned where our sun is—93 million miles away—the earth would be inside it! And our sun and Antares represent just two of 400 billion stars that swim around in the vast, forlorn space of the Milky Way. A dime held out at arm's length would block 15 million stars from view, if our eyes could see with unlimited power.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“A curious law of reversal seems to be at work in the Gospels: faith appears where least expected and falters where it should be thriving.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“An institution cannot love; only people can love. As the proverb says, apart from love, giving becomes an insult.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“It takes great effort, and considerable faith, to keep the Big Picture in mind. In some ways it makes me feel utterly insignificant, in some ways eternally significant”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“We need a renewed awareness of death, yes. But we need far more. We need a faith, in the midst of our groaning, that death is not the last word, but the next to last. What is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated

“Where is the church when it hurts? If the church is doing its job—binding wounds, comforting the grieving, offering food to the hungry—I don't think people will wonder so much where God is when it hurts. They'll know where God is: in the presence of God's people on earth.”
― Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places: Revised and Updated