- A man who understands and respects both the seriousness of Mad-Eye Moody and the mirth of Robin Hood is a man to be trusted.
- Biblical fidelity requires biblical scholarship. Without scholarship, what are we being loyal to?
- If you want to understand Postmodernism, don’t read about Foucault. Read Foucault.
- God doesn’t need you to defend Him to the world, though He requires it of you. He is the warrior. What he wants is for you to know him, serve him, follow him, and praise him. In the midst of that, build His Kingdom with much knowledge, ardor, and humility.
- If your theology is impeccable but you have no passion for supporting missions with your money, then I doubt your theology is impeccable.
- Christianity is not only about doctrine and knowledge, but transformation, action, and emotion.
- In a reasonable discussion, true doctrine can defend itself—it doesn’t need you to feel like a warrior who protects it. There are reasonable discussions, and then there are unreasonable discussions.
- Before engaging in a controversy, ask yourself: Am I seeking to retain power, authority, and control, or am I seeking to know the Truth, that I may know God, that I may worship Him more? If your desire is power, be silent. I say again: If your desire is power, sit down.
- Fear is the enemy of truth.
- Do not over-lament at the evils of a secular society. We are to expect nothing more. Lament at the indolence of us, the Church.
- Life without suffering is not a Christian life.
- Ecclesiastes 7:10 is always sobering.
- Never allow self-righteous feelings to endure. Always seek humility.
- If it is wrong to seek self–interest, then Proverbs is an evil book.
- Via James, solidarity without action is not very helpful.
- God does not need you. But He delights to work through you.
- A strong test: If a person can name several people who disagree with them, and name why those people disagree with them, and explain why those reasons are not valid reasons, then that person certainly has words worth listening to.
- If we do not know what we need salvation from, Christianity won’t be very appealing.
- Upon discovering a true paradox, we can either respond with anguish or mirth. We ought to respond with mirth.
- The completely clean and organized space is sterile, lifeless, and cannot adapt. The completely unorganized and chaotic space is lawless, mindless, and serves no function.
- If you do not want to repeat the sins of your parents, it is likely that you must one day forgive them of their sins.
- There are three reasons to go on a short-term mission trip. To support the missionary with your fellowship, to build permanent things (for example, through construction), and to enrich your own heart by serving the destitute for Christ.
- A measure of the health of a church: How much of the sermon is spent bringing you into the text?
- A measure of the health of a church: How long do members linger in fellowship and talking after the service ends? Are they friends?
- If you want to know what a church cares about, look at its budget. Where a church’s money is, there its heart will be also.
- Understanding does not increase fear. Understanding increases trust in the Father.
- We should not train our children to be afraid of the things that are out there. We should raise them into an awareness of the things that are out there.
- The burning question is not, “How can we prepare our children to survive this crazy culture and keep the faith?” The question is, “How can we prepare our children to love God, love others, and to do so with humility and mirth?”
- If a person does not seek virtue and happiness, why call them intelligent?
- It takes great wisdom to know how to interact with emotions—your own, and someone else’s.
- Four questions for understanding the combination of wisdom and humility. How is the clinically depressed person to approach humility? How is the humble person to receive honor? How is the humble person to love his beliefs while living in a multicultural society? How is the humble person to be bold?
- When my mind is brought into an understanding of teenage sexting, it grieves a question: “Who could possibly survive the average teenager’s world?”
- The greatness of “LOVE.” lies in the man who is singing it. Even more so with our bridegroom.
Thoughts of a Novice 