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181 " Only 9 percent of evangelicals tithe to their churches. • Eight hundred new church plants survive each "
― James MacDonald , Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs For. What Every Church Can Be.
182 " Fear is a self-protection we use to insulate ourselves from hurt by pulling back. Anger is self-protection we use to insulate ourselves from hurt by striking out. In both instances the answer is to face and forgive (more on forgiveness ahead) the hurt that expresses itself in fear or anger or both. How much good is left undone by failing to act like a quality man and conquer your fears? How much damage is suffered by those you love when you fail to act like a quality man and conquer your anger? "
― James MacDonald , Act Like Men: 40 Days to Biblical Manhood
183 " Without a complete view of sin, people can burn out in their pursuit of pleasure. "
― James MacDonald , Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling: Changing Lives with God's Changeless Truth
184 " In his recent book Unexplainable, he said, “[God] wants to do the inconceivable, the uncommon, the unexpected, the remarkable, the incomprehensible, so that He—God—is the only explanation for what occurs in our lives.”3 "
185 " A church with no conflict is likely a church that is manufacturing peace in a way that prohibits glory. "
186 " And call no man your father on earth …” No religious leader is to be called father. How clear is that? Don’t call people “father” for “… you have one Father who is in heaven” (v. 9). "
― James MacDonald , Authentic: Developing the Disciplines of a Sincere Faith
187 " Wayne Grudem, my friend and seminary professor, put it well: “God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with His whole being, yet God acts differently in different places.”19 "
188 " the satanic strategy of using lies to disguise, divide, and destroy. Let’s focus on the middle word of Satan’s plan to defeat you. The word is divide and his strategy is to get a wedge between you and men who can support God’s work in your life through loving mutual community. As always he does this through lies. "
189 " Wouldn’t it be great if attacking others to feel better about ourselves was something we outgrew like acne or crying when we have to go to bed? The fact is, many men still exhaust themselves in critiquing and attacking others. Maybe we fear that other people’s success will somehow diminish ours. Maybe we take responsibility for more than we really need to and have appointed ourselves protectors of some kingdom. Deeper down, though, men are driven to stand in judgment of others because we have a deeply engrained bent and a pesky, persistent pattern of seeming to be wise in our own eyes. This makes love an impossibility. "
190 " God's holiness … puts everything and everyone in their rightful place. "
― James MacDonald , Downpour: He Will Come To You Like The Rain
191 " Suffering related to circumstances beyond my control, suffering related to consequences of my besetting sin, and suffering caused by others who refused to see their own sin. In all these instances, the Lord has been at work, refining my focus upon personal holiness, amplifying my ministry through very humbling experiences, and reminding me repeatedly to extend grace not just to the gracious but to those who lack a grace I took too long to come to myself. "
192 " Turning to him, Spurgeon said, “If you had gone up the way you came down, you could have come down the way you went up. "
193 " We know we are called to act like quality men with urgency that is governed by clarity in the strength of the Lord. What remains is this matter of love. "
194 " You would think that the more a man knows and loves God, the deeper he gets into understanding His Word, and the further he progresses in personal holiness, the better he would be at being a watchful man, "
195 " When God is recognized for the infinitely holy being that He is, you don't stand around questioning His decisions. "
196 " true encounter with the God of the universe makes me feel gladly small, perfectly puny, and happily so, in my assigned place and actual size! A true experience of eternity leaves us feeling, as C. S. Lewis said, “the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life.”28 "
197 " Men need to know that you don’t need to become a woman to love others as God designed for the benefit of all. "
198 " to be about helping people discover what they can’t get anywhere else. "
199 " From the furnace of manifest presence, born of unashamed adoration and unapologetic preaching, comes an army of worshippers unafraid in their witness, determined to see others discover what they have found in the LORD. "
200 " Church has to be about helping people discover what they can’t get anywhere else. "