Quotable Quips - Encounter

"The word ENCOUNTER carries a nuance of surprise with it. Encounters are not always planned; in fact the cliche 'chance encounter' is nearly redundant. Well it is simply a spiritual truth that encounters with God usually occur, not when they have been planned, but in unexpected places when God chooses to reveal Himself in a more personal way."

David M. Edwards, songwriter, worship leader, and editor of Worship Leader Magazine. Quoted from his book "Encountering God"

Encounter is a great word that is packed with meaning!

Quotable Quips - Sing Me Better Songs

"If they want me to believe in their God, they'll have to sing me better songs... I could only believe in a God who dances."

Frederich Nietzsche, German philosopher

Just an interesting thought. Never mind those who don't believe, do you think God is satisfied with the songs we sing to Him? How about the lackluster way we sing them? If we don't seem to believe what we sing, how will others? What do you think?

Quotable Quip - New Eyes

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking, but in having new eyes."

Marcel Proust, from a poster at the Optometrist.

I saw this quote on a poster at the optometrist recently while I was getting some new glasses (photos to come). Seeking is not enough, we need to ask God to give us "new eyes."

Quotable Quips - The Dangerous Good

The heart of the gospel is not niceness or decency but death ... It's much easier to impress people than surrender to God.

David Timms, faculty member at Hope International University, Fullerton, California. From his eNewsletter called In Hope. (June 12, 2008)

I've been thinking a lot lately about spiritual things - especially about what it means to be a Christ follower and a member of a community that makes up His body (the Church).

As David wrote about the "Dangerous Good," I was struck by the thought of our true calling: to continue the ministry of Christ here on earth until He returns. Basically, Jesus came to "seek and save what was lost." We can only carry out His purpose by daily surrendering ourselves to Him.<

Quotable Quips - The Grave Is Too Weak...

"yep, alive. the grave is too weak for Jesus.
and one day, because of Him, the grave will be too weak for me."

Lee McDerment, Worship Leader, NewSpring Church, Anderson, South Carolina. From his Virb blog. (March 23, 2008)

Lee also has a really cool album now available at cdbaby.com and iTunes.

Quotable Quips - Exult In Monotony

"Grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. Is it possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon? The repetition in nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.

G.K. Chesterton,Early 20th century writer. As quoted by Mark Batterson here. (August 18, 2007)

To exult simply means to rejoice. The truth is that we often forget that God not only created this world, our lives, and our very being; but He also sustains it all moment-by-moment. That means that many things that we see as repetition and monotony are actually a grand testimony to His great grace.

How beautiful it is to exult in the repetition of life!

Quotable Quips - What You're Meant To Do

"Doing what you're meant to do is the best form of marketing (which is why everyone is so excited about the iPhone)."

Kevin D. Hendricks, Chief Blogger of ChurchMarketingSucks.com. As quoted from his post Turning Churches Into Homeless Shelters (July 5, 2007)

While Kevin makes a point here, I believe our job in ministry is to help people discover what they are "meant to do." We were all created with a specific purpose (see the last post). As for the iPhone, it's too bad you can't get service for one in the whole state of Montana!

Quotable Quips - Tell Me Something I Don't Know

"Tell me something I don't know... The church ought to be the place where original thought is most prevalent. We have the Holy Spirit to illuminate us and lead us into all truth. But all too often I hear what I've heard a thousand times. So I tend to tune out. Challenge my assumptions. Violate my expectations. Shift my paradigms. The best speakers have a way of saying old things in new ways."

Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor of National Community Church< in Washington, DC, and author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. As quoted from his post Tell Me Something I Don't Know (April 27, 2007)

Mark really has something here. There are so many people that find church boring - and it often is. The problem is that God is NOT boring. I truly believe that it is a sin to make God and His truths boring. This is one sin the Church really needs to get past. We need to repent and find the true joy and creativity that only comes from the Creator of all things.

Quotable Quips - The God Of The Actual Bible

"I began to slowly realize that the God of the Bible, not the God of formula and bullet points that some have turned the Bible into, but the God of the actual Bible, the old one before we learned to read it like a self-help book, had a great deal to say to me."

"Perhaps if we stop reducing the text to formulas for personal growth, we can read it as stories of imperfect humans having relations with a perfect God and come to understand the obvious message He is communicating to mankind."

"I wondered what it would it would have been like to have studied the Bible and not be tainted by lists and charts and formulas that cause you to look for ideas and infer notions that may or may not be in the text, all the while ignoring the poetry, the blood and pain of the narrative, and the depth of emotion with which God communicates His truth. I think there would be something quite beautiful about reading the Bible this way, to be honest - late at night, feeling through the words, sorting through the grit and beauty. It wouldn't bother me at all to read the Bible without all the charts and lists because a person could read the Bible, not to become smart, but rather to feel that they are not alone, that somebody understands them and loves them enough to speak to them - on purpose - in a way that makes a person feel human."

Excerpts from Searching For God Knows What, by author and speaker Donald Miller.

Here's my two cents. The book of the Bible is NOT THE OBJECT of our faith. Instead, it points us to the person of our faith - the one and only triune God.

I've heard it said that we need to develop our relationship with the Bible. That thought seems blatently wrong to me. We need to develop our relationship with the PERSON of God. We need to know Him.

I am tired of the Bible being referred to as my "text book," my "instruction book," or my "authority." (I am not questioning the authority of the Bible here.) To me, these labels belittle the Word of God and our faith. For that matter, I am insulted when I am told that the sum of my Christian life and God's purpose for me on the earth is to sit in the "classroom" of our worship services and be a good "student" of this text book.

I believe our lives, our faith, and especially the Bible are something different - something much more important. The Bible is the very breath of God spoken to humanity. It is a narrative of how God has interacted with mankind since the beginning. It shows us who He is and what He is like, and more importantly - how desperately God loves us. By reading it, we begin to know his nature and, more importantly, we begin to know Him.

'Nuf said.

Quotable Quips - The Most Painful Decision

"The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the painful decision you refuse to make."

Craig Groeschel, the founding and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As quoted from the C3 Conference by Mark Batterson from his blog. (April 14, 2007)

We often cause ourselves a bunch of pain and hardship when we refuse to follow God, don't we. I can't help but think of Jonah.

Quotable Quips - Stupid Duck!

"We need to focus on what matters. People's problems are not their behavior - people's problems are that they don't know Jesus. Boycotting Disney as an example. That's stupid. Disney isn't a Christian organization. We can't expect a organization that isn't a Christian organization to act like a Christian organization. That's like getting mad at a duck because it acts like a duck. 'All you do is quack. Stupid duck!'"

Perry Noble from the Unleash Conference at New Spring Church in Anderson, North Carolina. As quoted by Tony Morgan from his blog. (March 18, 2007)

This is a great quote. I have talked about the "duck" repeatedly since I first read this. We have got to stop blaming the dark for being the dark. If we want to blame someone, we should be blaming ourselves. We are called to be salt & light to the world!

It is not society's or culture's fault that we sin. Although we can be influenced, we MUST be responsible for our own actions. Getting mad at and complaining about the world is like yelling at the duck! - "Stupid duck, all you do is quack!"

Quotable Quips - Full of Grace and Truth

"Grace means I'll love you no matter what. Truth means I'll be honest no matter what. Grace without truth is weak and shallow! Truth without grace is counter-productive. But grace and truth is a Christlike combo that will impact people!"

Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, and author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. As quoted from his blog (February 20, 2007)

John 1:14 says "Jesus was full of grace and truth." I agree with Mark; it is a dynamic and powerful combo!

Quotable Quips - Seek Jesus Over All

"God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus Himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus!"

Max Lucato, Senior Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas - as quoted from PerryNoble.com (January 5, 2007)

When we seek or glorify "doctrine or religion or systems or creeds" rather than Jesus himself, it is idolatry. When we stand before Christ, He won't ask us about these other things before He'll ask us, "Did you know Me?"

Quotable Quips - Apple and God

"QUESTION: I don't own an Apple computer.
I feel like I'm missing out. Am I?

ANSWER: This is like me asking you, 'I don't believe in God.
Am I missing out?'"

Guy Kawasaki, CEO of Garage Technology Ventures in Silicon Valley, California and part of the team responsible for marketing the Macintosh at Apple Computer. Quoted from Tony Morgan's blog at TonyMorganLive.com (October 20, 2006)

While owning an Apple is in no way comparable to knowing God, I thought it was an interesting conversation. Read the whole interview here.

Quotable Quips - Why Waste People's Time?

"Believe it or not–I have STRONG political opinions–STRONG ONES! AND…I love to discuss politics with people in a one on one conversation OR in a small group. However, while I will use sermon illustrations that include people in politics…I will never use the platform God has given me to support a political candidate or party…why would I waste people’s time on a Sunday talking about the government when I can tell them about Jesus?"

Perry Noble, Senior Pastor or NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina - as quoted from his blog at PerryNoble.com (August 29, 2006)

What other things do waste people's time with on Sundays when we could be telling them about Jesus?

Quotable Quips - Why Blame The Dark?

"We reclaim the church as a blessing machine not only because that is what Jesus intended from the beginning but also because serving people is the only way their perceptions of church are ever going to change.

This is why it is so toxic for the gospel when Christians picket and boycott and complain about how bad the world is. This behavior doesn't help. It makes it worse. It isn't the kind of voice Jesus wants his followers to have in the world. Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be."

Rob Bell, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan - as quoted from his book Velvet Elvis

Quotable Quips - Celebrate Out Loud!

Okay, I'm starting a new, recurring feature in my blog. You guessed it, it's called Quotable Quips. I run across so many great stuff on the web and more, it would be great to share a tidbit or two. So here's the first one:

"... we have two choices - the first is we can be silent. We can choose to “celebrate in silence.” We can give God a mighty “golf clap” every time He moves in an undeniable way. We can seal our lips out of fear that someone may get offended at the words we speak. And if we do this ... then people around us will be pleased ... and the Lord will be dishonored.

The second choice is that we can boast in the Lord! If you read Scripture you will discover that when God moves in an awesome way - people rejoice - OUT LOUD ... and they BOAST in what HE has done...

... I mean, people boast all the time ... you see athletes boast about their abilities ... you see rich people boast about their money ... you hear movie stars boast about their accomplishments ... and that is all fine and well. BUT for some reason a person who will accept this will not tolerate someone talking about all that God is doing in their church? That doesn’t make sense. I will continue to boast in the Lord."

Perry Noble, Senior Pastor or NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina - as quoted from his blog at PerryNoble.com (July 27, 2006)