What constitutes our fellowship and our unity as Christians/the church? This is a serious question. Many today think we are united by a shared mission or denomination affiliation, by program or strategic goal, or united around a strong leader and his or her vision. Bonhoeffer digs deeper: The more genuine and the deeper our community … More The Essence of Christian Community (Bonhoeffer)
“Let’s face reality: There are no programmatic shortcuts to effective disciplemaking. There is no “easy button”. Disciplemaking is about relationships. Relationships are inefficient. Disciplemaking is about life change. Life change is messy. Disciplemaking is centered in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ allows no pretense. Disciplemaking is unpredictable. Unpredictability requires risk. Disciplemaking is unique … More QUOTABLES: On Making Disciples
“In theology, mind and heart – study and prayer – are both important. With the mind we analyze data, while in the heart we wait for illumination on it. We place the truths discovered in God’s Word into the sanctuary of the soul for pondering. The mind attends to analysis; the heart dreams and listens … More QUOTABLES: Clark Pinnock
Another excerpt from Will Willimon’s book “Pastor.” I began this series many months ago, sharing excerpts from this great book on the vocation of pastor. Now, I’m back reading the book for a class I’m taking in November. -JB “A number of years ago, James MacGregor Burns wrote a classic book on leadership in which … More Pastor 10 – Transformational Leadership
God loves reluctant leaders and, even better, he loves reluctant leaders who know they are frightened, confused, and broken. In fact, he seems to have a special fondness for rebels and fools. Does God choose troubled leaders because few other people are foolish enough to say yes, or does he choose weak, troubled people because … More QUOTABLES: Dan Allender & the Reluctant Leader
I’m reading the great biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. It’s very long and filled with wonderful quotes from Bonhoffer’s writings and letters. But the following quote rises above them all, one that so resonates with my own passion and convictions that I told Keri last night, “This would be a quote I would like … More QUOTABLES: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“If a man looks at eggs with hunger, he has already committed breakfast with it in his heart.” – C.S. Lewis
“The basis for the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount is not what works but rather the way God is. Cheek-turning is not advocated as what works (it usually does not), but advocated because this is the way God is — God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. This is not a … More QUOTABLES: The Cost of Following Jesus
“Life must be lived forward, but understood backwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard
“Can the church stop its puny, hack dreams of trying to “make a difference in the world” and start dreaming God-sized dreams of making the world different? Can the church invent and prevent, redeem and redream, this postmodern future? -From Soul Tsunami by Leonard Sweet
“The true understanding of the Bible is that it tells a story of which my life is a part, the story of God’s tireless, loving, wrathful, inexhaustible patience with the human family, and of our unbelief, blindness, disobedience. To accept this story as the truth of the human story (and so of my story) commits … More QUOTABLES: Leslie Newbigin
The following quote on keeping the main things the main thing is a favorite of mine. Yet, it seems like there is some confusion over who gets credit for it. Was it Saint Augustine? Most attribute it to him. Can someone identify where it is recorded in his vast collections of writings? Who else has … More QUOTABLES: Saint Augustine
“Everybody thinks of changing humanity but nobody thinks of changing himself.” -Leo Tolstoy
“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” – C. S. Lewis
Jeremy L. Berg 