I don't want to end up a bureaucrat in the time-management business for God or a librarian cataloguing timeless truths. Salvation is kicking in the womb of creation right now, any time now. Pay attention. Eugene H. Peterson More Quotes by Eugene H. Peterson More Quotes From Eugene H. Peterson The task of the prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right. Eugene H. Peterson smooth prophet tasks People learn to shop for churches; there is no loyalty to the church. They're consumers being attracted to one product or another. I think it's sacrilege, to tell you the truth, it really is. Eugene H. Peterson loyalty people thinking Isn't it interesting that all of the biblical prophets and psalmists were poets? Eugene H. Peterson biblical poet interesting The role of the pastor is to embody the gospel. And of course to get it embodied, which you can only do with individuals, not in the abstract. Eugene H. Peterson individual abstract roles The minute the church and pastors start saying what do people want and then giving it to them, we betray our calling. We're called to have people follow Jesus. We're called to have people learn how to forgive their enemies. Eugene H. Peterson giving people jesus In high school I was very much involved in poetry. You cannot read a poem quickly. There's too much going on there. There are rhythms and alliterations. You have to read poetry slow, slow, slow to absorb it all. Eugene H. Peterson rhythm too-much school Pastors are highly susceptible to the sin of sloth. Eugene H. Peterson pastor sin sloth I didn't write because I had anything to say, but in order to find out what there was to say. Eugene H. Peterson teaching writing order Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines. Eugene H. Peterson pursuit goodness adventure One of the reasons that Christians read Scripture repeatedly and carefully is to find out just how God works in Jesus Christ so that we can work in the name of Jesus Christ. Eugene H. Peterson christian names jesus Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be - you get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean. Count yourself lucky - God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from Him. Eugene H. Peterson fresh-start clean lucky Spirituality is no different from what weve been doing for two thousand years just by going to church and receiving the sacraments, being baptized, learning to pray, and reading Scriptures rightly. Its just ordinary stuff. Eugene H. Peterson reading two years You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Eugene H. Peterson speech religious sound I cannot fail to call the congregation to worship God, to listen to his Word, to offer themselves to God. Eugene H. Peterson congregation failing worship There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays. When I was tiny we would by a real tree and stay up late drinking hot chocolate and finding just the right place for the special decorations. Eugene H. Peterson real drinking fun I think pastors are the worst listeners. We're so used to speaking, teaching, giving answers. We must learn to be quiet, quit being so verbal, learn to pay attention to what's going on, and listen. Eugene H. Peterson teaching giving thinking The Spirit works through community. Somebody will have a stupid, screwy idea. That's okay. The point of having creeds and confessions and traditions is to keep us in touch with the obvious errors. Eugene H. Peterson errors stupid ideas Religion is a very scary thing, because a pastor is in a position of power. And if you use that power badly, you ruin people's lives, and you ruin your own life. Eugene H. Peterson position-of-power scary people
