#disciple

Jesus of Nazareth always comes asking disciples to follow him--not merely "accept him," not merely "believe in him," not merely "worship him," but to follow him: one either follows Christ, or one does not. There is no compartmentalization of the faith, no realm, no sphere, no business, no politic in which the lordship of Christ will be excluded. We either make him Lord of all lords, or we deny him as Lord of any. ↗

— Lee Camp

#business

To love with expectations is, in the end, an oppressive, driven thing, and people know it when they receive it. ↗

— Mark Galli

#love #love

Many pastors have been reduced to secular "mentors" and "coaches" in exchange for authentic disciplers of men. ↗

— John Paul Warren

#john-paul-warren #leadershio #mentors #men

Jesus said his disciples would be known for their love, not for their placards of protest and angry letters to the editor. ↗

— Brian Zahnd

#christianity #discipleship #jesus #love #forgiveness

God in His sovereign goodness often uses the painful and at times debilitating injury of a spear thrower to make us readier for His service. ... One thing you discover about spear throwers is that though it’s not necessary for them to be good, it’s essential for them to appear good. ↗

— Erwin W. Lutzer

#hypocrisy #submission #forgiveness

My life is too short, and God’s work is too great for me to think of making a home for myself in this world. ↗

— George Eliot

#home

The Christian message has a moral challenge. If the message is true, the moral challenge has to be accepted. So God is not a fit object for man’s detached scrutiny. You cannot fix God at the end of a telescope or a microscope and say “How interesting!” God is not interesting. He is deeply upsetting. The same is true of Jesus Christ … We know that to find God and to accept Jesus Christ would be a very inconvenient experience. It would involve the rethinking of our whole outlook on life and the readjustment of our whole manner of life. And it is a combination of intellectual and moral cowardice which makes us hesitate. We do not find because we do not seek. We do not seek because we do not want to find, and we know that the way to be certain of not finding is not to seek … Christ’s promise is plain: "Seek and you will find. ↗

— John R.W. Stott

#christ #cost-of-discipleship #experience

By giving us control, our new technologies tend to enhance existing idols in our lives. Instead of becoming more like Christ through the forming and shaping influence of the church community, we form, and shape, and personalize our community to make it more like us. We take control of things that are not ours to control. Could it be that our desire for control is short-circuiting the process of change and transformation God wants us to experience through the mess of real world, flesh and blood, face-to-face relationships? ↗

— Tim Challies

#discipleship #idolatry #change

Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ. Yet in many ways a focus on spiritual formation fits what a new generation is really seeking. Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision. ↗

— David Kinnaman

#regeneration #transformation #faith

I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails. ↗

— John Green

#friendship #friendship