Luke

“Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, ‘Prove that you are a good person.’ Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’ There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says, ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear . . . Listen to the Voice who calls you beloved, otherwise you will run around begging for affirmation and praise from everyone else.” 

Henri Nouwen

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed . . . Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” 

1 Peter 4:12-13, 19

“The way beyond is through.” 

Michael Kuehn

“Stir me, O Lord, to care;
for a world that is lost and dying,
for values that are rejected and scorned,
for enemies that hate and malign me.
Amen.” 

Richard Foster

“Like rocks dropped into a pond, Christians are dropped into society. What kind of waves do they make? Jesus calls us to make waves that are positive and transforming while we simultaneously keep our distinctively Christian identity. This kind of living – being salt and light in our communities – will draw people to the Father . . . Why do Christians fail to be salt and light? They fail because the world is a dangerous place, especially for those who are “out of line” with their society. Jesus says that we will be a dissonant group and will be ostracized if not persecuted. Saltless salt and hidden light describe two apparently safer ways to live. Each allows us to avoid rubbing shoulders with potential cynics or persecutors.” 

Dick Keyes

“I’m so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.”

Gresham Machen

“Waiting on God isn’t about the suspension of meaning and purpose. It’s part of the meaning and purpose that God has brought into my life.  Waiting on God isn’t to be viewed as an obstruction in the way of the plan.  Waiting is an essential part of the plan.  For the child of God, waiting isn’t simply about what the child will receive at the end of his wait.  No, waiting is much more purposeful, efficient, and practical.  Waiting is fundamentally about what we will become as we wait.” 

Paul David Tripp

“Waiting is active. Most of us think of waiting as something very passive, a hopeless state determined by events totally out of our hands. But there is none of this passivity in scripture. Those who are waiting are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing. That’s the secret. The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun. Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it.” 

Henri Nouwen

“It’s hard to wait, so hard to wait.” 

Flo Paris

“Many years ago a Hindu friend of mine, a very learned man, said to me something I have never forgotten: ‘I can’t understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as a book of religion. It is not a book of religion – and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India. We don’t need any more! I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole of creation and the history of the human race. And therefore, a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history. That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it.” 

Lesslie Newbigin, A Walk Through the Bible, 4.

“The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne – everything – to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!  You see, the best thing about this Story is – it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle – the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend. This is the Child who would one day – but wait. Our Story starts where all good stories start. Right at the very beginning . . .” 

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible