As I understand the American Founders, the most brilliant and daring idea they had was that it's possible to create a free society that could stay free forever. Os Guinness More Quotes by Os Guinness More Quotes From Os Guinness We may be in the dark about what God is *doing*, but we are not in the dark about God. Os Guinness dark may By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we have become not only unfaithful, but irrelevant; by our determined efforts to redefine outselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world than are faithful to Christ, we have lost not only our identity but our authority and our relevance. Our crying need is to be faithful as well as relevant Os Guinness irrelevance faithful effort This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for our perfect gifts. The truth is not that God is finding a place for our gifts but that God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing – and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there. Os Guinness employment agency perfect People in the secular world have too much to live with, too little to live for. Os Guinness littles people world Friedrich Nietzsche predicted that secular people, losing touch with transcendence, would eventually lose a reference point from which to look down and judge themselves. In the end they would lose even the capacity to despise themselves. Thus, because of the 'death of God', they would confuse heaven with happiness, and happiness with health. Os Guinness judging heaven people In terms of distance, the prodigal's pigsty is the farthest point from home; in terms of time, the pigsty is the shortest distance to the father's house. Os Guinness distance home father If Jesus Christ is the head of the church and hence the source and goal of its entire life, true growth is only possible in obedience to Him. Conversely, if the church becomes detached from Jesus Christ and His Word, it cannot grow however active and successful it may seem to be. Os Guinness goal successful jesus Evangelicalism can only remain evangelical if it is passionately serious about truth and theology. Os Guinness evangelical theology serious We betray our modern arrogance and forget the place of mystery in God's dealing with us. Os Guinness mystery arrogance forget To come to faith on the basis of experience alone is unwise, though not so foolish as to reject faith altogether because of lack of experience ... the quality of a Christian's experience depends on the quality of his faith, just as the quality of his faith depends in turn on the quality of his understanding of God's truth. Os Guinness quality understanding christian Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460 The evidence for Christian truth is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. Too often, Christianity has not been tried and found wanting--it has been found wanting, and not tried. Os Guinness bishops missionary christian Anti-intellectualism is a disposition to discount the importance of truth and the life of the mind. Os Guinness disposition importance mind In other words, we are never freer than when we become most ourselves, most human, most just, most excellent, and the like. Os Guinness excellent humans The United States is at a turning point because of a decreasing influence of faith . Os Guinness united-states religious christian Culturally, one of the best arguments we can make is, wait and see. Os Guinness argument waiting Thus, for followers of Christ, calling neutralizes the fundamental position of choice in modern life. “I have chosen you,” Jesus said, “you have not chosen me.” We are not our own; we have been bought with a price. We have no rights, only responsibilities. Following Christ is not our initiative, merely our response, in obedience. Nothing works better to debunk the pretensions of choice than a conviction of calling. Once we have been called, we literally “have no choice. Os Guinness responsibility rights jesus We may at times be unemployed, but no one ever becomes uncalled. Os Guinness unemployed may Calling is a 'yes' to God that carries a 'no' to the chaos of modern demands. Calling is the key to tracing the story line of our lives and unriddling the meaning of our existence in a chaotic world. Os Guinness keys calling stories Negative freedom is freedom from - freedom from oppression, whether it's a colonial power or addiction to alcohol oppressing you. You need to be freed from negative freedom. Positive freedom is freedom for, freedom to be. And that's what's routinely ignored today. Os Guinness addiction alcohol negative The opposite of having faith is having self-pity. Os Guinness have-faith self opposites
