The Kingdom Life Quotes

“To seek the kingdom of God is to seek to know and conform to the laws that God has established for nature and for human living.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“The kingdom of God was the major theme of Jesus’ ministry and His favorite description of what God is doing in the world. Jesus often began His parables by saying, “The kingdom of God is like . . .” In fact, the word kingdom is used more than 150 times in the New Testament.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“what God blesses and what God permits and uses may radically differ. What are the things in my life that God permits but does not want? That is one of the most important questions to keep before us in spiritual formation.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“The first question St. Anthony asked Jesus was, “Why didn’t You come sooner?” And Jesus replied, “I wanted to see how you would do.”[2] Now, actually, that is a biblical theme. God did it with Abraham (see Genesis 22:12) and with the Israelites in the wilderness (see Deuteronomy 8:2), for example. Jesus did this with the disciples (see Mark 6:37,48-51). You can be sure He will do it with you and me. It is indispensable to our growth in grace.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“Here is the basic idea behind all temptation: God is presented to our minds as depriving us of what is good (or at least of what we want) by His commands, so we think we must take matters into our own hands. This image of God leads to our pushing Him out of our thoughts and putting ourselves on the throne of the universe. We can see that the single most important thing in our minds is our idea of God.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“Spiritual formation is a matter of ordering desires and putting them in their place with reference to what is good under God.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“spiritual formation is precisely formation in this life and of this life from above.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“I like to translate metanoeite this way: “Think about how you have been thinking.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“Theological books like to use the word reign for it and that is fitting, but reign doesn’t mean very much to ordinary people. Rule might be a substitute, but it is more informative to say that the kingdom is God in action.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“We need a whole gospel for the whole person to the whole world.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“The kingdom of God is the realm of God’s action, His resurrection life, and His mission.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“process elements and theological elements. Process elements are those elements that have more to do with our practice of ongoing formation. The theological elements have to do with the major foundational biblical pillars of our being transformed into the image of Christ.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“We were not seeking diversity for diversity’s sake but knew that if we were to tap into what God was telling us about spiritual formation, it would be something that would connect with His whole body, not merely small demographic strands of it.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

“we believe that spiritual formation is an outcome of three vital factors: sound personal spiritual growth, healthy formation of community, and participation in strong mission.”
― Alan Andrews, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation