Has American Christianity Failed? Quotes

“There is a kind of neo-monasticism in American Christianity. Christians gather in their Christian ghetto with Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies, Christian friends, Christian coffee shops, Christian plumbers, and the desire for a Christian government and a Christian nation. If things keep going this direction, we might soon have Christian cars and Christian sunglasses and Christian resorts, where Christians can vacation without temptation and eat Christian hamburgers made from Christian cows and Christian cheese.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Most human talk is descriptive, but God’s Word is creative. I can tell you if it is light or dark, but God says, “Let there be light,” and the darkness becomes light. Pow! His Word creates. His Word declares. God’s Word makes things happen.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“We never outgrow the Gospel.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Dear Christian, the Gospel is for you. The forgiveness of sins is for you. Jesus, and His death and resurrection, His mercy and grace, His undeserved kindness are still for you, today and always. Your life is hidden with God in Christ, and it is His lavish love and kindness, not your obedience and commitment, that make a Christian life.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“If you live by the experience, you will die by the experience. Trusting a secret part of your insides that says God is close also means trusting that secret part of your insides that says God is far away.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Revivalism, pietism, mysticism, and enthusiasm are the four rivers that water the errors of American Christianity.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The alternative that Jesus has for us is light and easy. It is the yoke of the forgiveness of sins. It is the burden of His mercy and kindness. It is the comfort of His smile and the joy of His promises. It is His voice, full of grace and truth, calling us through the Scriptures. When we listen for that voice in the Scriptures, we hear it, and we rejoice.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The teaching focused on my Christian life instead of on Christ, on my resolve instead of on God’s mercy, on my decision instead of on the death of Jesus.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“American Christianity teaches the centrality of the individual, my will, my experiences, my decision, my heart, my work and dedication—to the detriment of Christ and His saving and comforting work. American Christianity most often preaches the Christian instead of the Christ, and our senses are so dulled that we don’t even notice He’s missing.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“In a similar way, Christians in America have gone theologically nose-blind. There are theological thoughts and ideas that are always around us—so much so that we stop noticing them.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The shelves of the Christian bookstores are full of books about “Christian living.” This points to a bigger trend. American Christianity focuses not on the life of Christ but on the life of the Christian. The faith has shifted from “done” to “do,” and Jesus’ glorious and comforting cry, “It is finished,” has become, “Get after it!”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“God gives the Scriptures to us so that we would have hope, life, and comfort. So we ask, at last, “Where is the comfort? Where is the forgiveness of my sins? Where is my Savior Jesus?” With these questions, the Gospel shines through. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). When we look for the comfort of the text, then we find the heart of the Scriptures and the purpose of God’s Word: the forgiveness of our sins. The Bible, at last, is a revelation of God’s work of salvation for us. The Scriptures give what we can obtain nowhere else: the life-winning, sin-forgiving death of Jesus brought into our ears and heart as the sure and certain promise of God’s kindness for us.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Having taken its eyes off of Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of faith, American Christianity replaces the work of the Holy Spirit with the choice of the sinner. It replaces the comfort of the Gospel with the doubt of our resolve. It replaces the certainty of God’s promise with the shakiness of our feelings. It puts burdens and doubts where the Lord would give us freedom and faith. The alternative that Jesus has for us is light and easy. It is the yoke of the forgiveness of sins. It is the burden of His mercy and kindness. It is the comfort of His smile and the joy of His promises. It is His voice, full of grace and truth, calling us through the Scriptures. When we listen for that voice in the Scriptures, we hear it, and we rejoice.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Make no mistake, the Law is good. But the Law does not save. It cannot comfort the sinner. It cannot comfort the Christian sinner. The Christian needs the Gospel just as surely as the unbeliever. The Scriptures teach and preach the Gospel for Christians. Forgiveness is also for Christians. Mercy and grace and the blood of Jesus are also for Christians. There is not a moment in this life when we do not need Jesus and His mercy, and there is not a moment when the Lord’s mercy is not for us.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Each one of us is, according to our”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“When, then, I ask what I ought to do every day, the answer is found in my vocation. What is my station in life according to the Ten Commandments? That is what I should do. Who is my neighbor in my family, at my work, in my congregation? It is my task to love them according to vocation. It is really that simple, and the Lord really is pleased with these simple works of service in our vocations. It is not glorious; it is not noticed by anyone else; there might be no 'Thank you' card. Our neighbor might not even notice. Works according to vocation are often dirty, small, and completely lacking the glory of more 'holy' works, but if these are done with faith in God and love for the neighbor, these small works are great, high, and glorious in the Lord's estimation.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“God has not promised the feeling of forgiveness. He promises forgiveness itself, if we feel it or not. God has not promised that we will experience His presence. He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. The Lord delivers His comfort to us in the promise of the Gospel - which is true even if we don't feel it. Mysticism runs aground on the solid rock of the Scriptures. John writes, "Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart" (1 John 3:20).”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The devil puts before us every sort of thing we could want or desire. Our longing is pulled away from the things that are good and pushed toward things that destroy life and peace. We delight so easily in the things of the world. Our attention is swept away with the troubles and excitements of this life. These things are all passing away. Only the Lord's Word endures forever (Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:25). His Word is our delight, and when we delight in His Word, we have life and peace.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The cross of Jesus is the fulcrum of the scriptures. The saving work of Jesus is His death. He is our Savior in His death. He is our Savior on His cross. Every word in the Bible is either pressing toward or flowing from the cross.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“It is a wonderful surprise that Jesus is glorified in saving us! He is exalted on the cross. The purpose of history is both God's glory and man's salvation, and both of these are found on the cross.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“When the Lord of the universe commands us to pray, He is giving us the beautiful privilege of standing before Him and presenting to him our petitions and intercessions. His command emboldens us to stand and speak when we should hide in silence. We know that the Holy Trinity wants to hear our prayers. This is the comfort of the command to pray.”
― Bryan Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“Unbelief came first, then death. By the time Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they were already dead. And so were you.”
― C Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“If we are not the “children of wrath,” then the wrath of God poured out on Jesus is ridiculous. If”
― C Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?

“The Word of God is the means the Lord uses to work, to create and sustain faith, to deliver spiritual gifts, to convict us of our sin, and to comfort terrified consciences.”
― C Wolfmueller, Has American Christianity Failed?