Prepare Quotes

“To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men. A.W. TOZER”
― J. Paul Nyquist, Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture

“We equate blessing with a new job, a new house, a banner year for our company, a big bonus at work, a new baby, a clean medical report, or an acceptance into the college of our choice. In our Western mindset—conditioned by the affluence surrounding us—God’s blessings are pleasant and enjoyable. When the opposite happens—suffering, hardship, loss of job, loss of health, financial strain—“blessing” isn’t usually the first word off our lips. As we cope with trials, we wonder if we’re being punished by God. We question if we’ve somehow merited God’s judgment. And we fervently pray that the burdens will be removed. In God’s economy, blessings are radically different than our American perception. This is the second counterintuitive principle we learn from Scripture: persecution means you’re blessed, not cursed.”
― J. Paul Nyquist, Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture

“The most powerful apologetic is the faithful lives of God’s people, demonstrating love, faith, and hope in the midst of a hostile world.”
― J. Paul Nyquist, Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture

“Without the reality of persecution, we trivialize cross-bearing and identify it with any form of discomfort. But the cross is not ordinary human troubles or sorrows. It’s not experiencing disease, poverty, or loss. The cross represents the ultimate sacrifice. To “take up our cross” means a commitment to die, if the Master requires it.”
― J. Paul Nyquist, Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture