Thriving in Babylon Quotes

“Fortunately, there’s a way to lessen the impact of spiritual amnesia. It’s found in practicing the discipline of gratitude, the habit of regularly giving thanks for all God has done. It’s such a powerful preventive that God actually commands us to give thanks in every circumstance.4 It’s not that God needs the praise. It’s that we need the reminder.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“In the school of life, Trials, Hardship, and Suffering are three classes no one wants to take.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“It’s no different in the spiritual realm. Our failures don’t have to define us. It all depends on how we respond. If we curse our luck, blame others, and fail to take responsibility, we’ll continue to fail. But if we face the facts, accept responsibility, and humbly get back on the right path, our failures can lay the groundwork for future success.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Fear and pessimism make no sense when victory is guaranteed.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Winning or losing is not the right scorecard. Obedience is. When we do the right thing, we’re being faithful. Even if we get the wrong results.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“We’re called to live a life of hope, humility, and wisdom.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“And then it hit me. Don’t we claim to know how the game of life ends? And if we do, shouldn’t that affect the way we interpret and respond to the Enemy’s short-term victories and temporary advances? If our sins are forgiven and our destiny assured, if we are joint heirs with Jesus and certain he’s coming back to set all wrongs right, then despair and panic over the latest court decision, or even the steady erosion of morality in our culture, hardly seem like appropriate responses.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“But it illustrates an important point: A father disciplines his own kids, not someone else’s. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God’s discipline always begins with those he calls his own. It was true of Israel and it’s true of Christians today.1 Yet for many of us that can be confusing. At times, those who mock him, deny him, or high-handedly sin seem to do so with impunity. We assume God’s judgment should begin with those who do the greatest evil. But it doesn’t. It never has. It begins with us. And that’s been perplexing to God’s people throughout the ages.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“It’s not illegal to pray. We can own a Bible. We can utter Jesus’s name without fear of being tossed into jail or killed. When we refuse to bow down to the idols of our culture we may lose our job. We may lose some friends. But we won’t be thrown into a fiery furnace.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“We’re supposed to weep with those who weep. We’re not supposed to smother them with banal truisms, out-of-context Bible verses, shallow advice, and links to our favorite podcasts.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Without perspective, everything gets blown out of proportion. We catastrophize. The loss of privilege becomes harsh persecution. Opposition becomes hatred. And every legal or electoral setback becomes cause for anguish and despair. In short, we evaluate and extrapolate without putting God into the equation.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“That’s what the backside of hardship and suffering does. It teaches us perspective. It takes the fear out of the things that terrify others. It”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“He could clearly see what was happening right in front of him. But he couldn’t see what God was doing off in the distance. As”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“We didn’t win because we had more talent than other teams. We won because we had more endurance.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“We’re supposed to weep with those who weep. We’re not supposed to smother them with banal truisms, out-of-context Bible verses, shallow advice, and links to our favorite podcasts.3 The”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“I believe the primary reason for our long run of spiritual and cultural setbacks is something else. It’s sin in the camp.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Sometimes the innocent suffer with the guilty. They can get caught in the backwash.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Yet the crushing defeat of an inexperienced team need not be final. In some cases it lays the foundation for future victories. It all depends on how the players respond. If they curse their luck or fail to take responsibility, they’ll keep on losing. But if they lick their wounds, take a long look in the mirror, and set out to acquire the things they lack, a crushing defeat can become a major step toward future championships. In fact, it’s amazing how many champions failed miserably the first time they appeared on the big stage.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“But I think not. I believe the primary reason for our long run of spiritual and cultural setbacks is something else. It’s sin in the camp. Just as Achan’s high-handed sin led to Ai’s shocking victory over Joshua and the Israelites, our pattern of pick-and-choose morality has led to a series of equally shocking losses for the church in America.5 God loves us too much to let us stray for long. He’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that we bear the fruit of righteousness. If it means pruning, he’ll prune. If it means using his enemies to teach us a lesson, he’ll use his enemies. If it takes letting the “bad guys” win to bring us to our knees, he’ll let the “bad guys” win.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Let’s be honest. Chad is not an exception. Our churches have long been filled with people who claim to be Christ followers but who live like pagans. Our lives have not been all that different when it comes to things such as divorce, sexual purity, forgiving those who wrong us, loving our enemies, slander, gossip, and the harder things of discipleship.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“In response, Habakkuk wrote one of the greatest expressions of faith in all of Scripture. He finally grasped what God was up to. He was using the wicked to discipline those who were his own in order to bring about godly sorrow and full repentance.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“The Bible says that immediately before Jesus’s return, a mighty angel will come down from heaven crying out, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!”2 Now that’s strange because historic Babylon has ceased to exist and according to biblical prophecy will never be rebuilt or inhabited again. So why harken back to a kingdom that’s already long gone? The answer is simple. Babylon is the personification of evil. Even at the end of human history, it will still represent to the angelic host the worst of the worst. Nothing will ever reach its depths of depravity. Not al Qaeda. Not Mexican drug lords. Not the Tower of Babel. Not Sodom. Not Gomorrah. Not even Nazi Germany.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Granted, those of us who take Scripture seriously are often written off as ignorant or narrow-minded bigots in America today. And it’s becoming increasingly common to be discriminated against for simply articulating biblical values. But let’s be real. We’ve got it easy compared to many who are attempting to live their lives for Jesus in other parts of the world. We have nothing to whine about.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“Political leaders and presidents were shot at or assassinated about as often as rap artists are today. An unpopular war cost fifty-eight thousand American lives. Those who bravely served our country returned home to be treated with unwarranted scorn. Promiscuous sex and hallucinatory drugs were celebrated as the path to enlightenment. Race riots set major cities aflame. Police were called pigs. And no one over the age of thirty was to be trusted. Worse, some people wore leisure suits—in public—and they were proud of it.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“That’s why I cringe when I hear aging baby boomers decry the moral and political chaos that has overtaken our country. No doubt things are a mess. But I wonder if these former hippies have forgotten or simply romanticized the decadent and violent days of their youth.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“The absence of biblical morality is proof positive that I don’t know or follow Jesus.6 But the presence of biblical morality doesn’t necessarily validate that I have a genuine relationship with Jesus.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“He chose to be with them in their trials rather than delivering them from their trials.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture

“We’re no longer trying to impose our will on non-Christians. We’re trying to keep non-Christians from imposing their will on us—and our churches. If you haven’t noticed, the culture wars are over. We lost.”
― Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture