#astor

Human beings seem to have a perpetual tendency to have somebody else talk to God for them. We are content to have the message second-hand. One of Israel's fatal mistakes was their insistence on having a human king rather than resting on the theocratic rule of God over them. We can detect a note of sadness in the word of the Lord, 'they have rejected me from being king over them' (1 Sam. 8:7). The history of religion is the story of an almost desperate scramble to have a king, a mediator, a priest, a pastor, a go-between. In this way we do not need to go to God ourselves. Such an approach saves us from the need to change, for to be in the presence of God is to change. ↗

— Richard J. Foster

#god #old-testament #pastor #priest #spiritual-mediation

A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men. ↗

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#faith

If you perceive right you receive right. If you perceive wrong you receive wrong. ↗

— John Paul Warren

#john-paul #john-paul-warren #leadership #pastor-john-paul-warren #sozo

Your circumstances do NOT define you. Expect a GRAND finale. ↗

— John Paul Warren

#central-christian-church #church #inspirational #john-paul #john-paul-warren

I have learned that the harder you fall…the higher you bounce! ↗

— John Paul Warren

#conferences #crusades #eeaders #inspirational #john-paul

It’s not just picking the right friends. It is being the right friend. ↗

— John Paul Warren

#john-paul-warren #leadership #pastor #sozo-global #sozo-life

The real architect of a life is the hard and almost impossible circumstances one faces. ↗

— John Paul Warren

#church #inspirational #leadership #motivational #pastors

Many have exchanged the touch of God for the applause of men ↗

— John Paul Warren

#john-paul #john-paul-warren #leadership #pastor-john-paul-warren #leadership

Be a FRIEND and stop worrying about having any ↗

— John Paul Warren

#john-paul-warren #leadership #men #pastor #pastor-john-paul-warren

In a team setting, leadership is shared by a community of people, which counters the tendency for pastors to form congregations in their own images. ↗

— Adam S. McHugh

#introverts #leadership #pastors #teamwork #leadership