Whatever else it is, the kingdom of God is decidedly not a call to violent revolution. Philip Yancey More Quotes by Philip Yancey More Quotes From Philip Yancey We respond to healing grace by giving it away. Philip Yancey grace healing giving The Christian sees the world as a transitional home badly in need of rehab, and we are active agents in that project. Philip Yancey christian home needs ... we need to reclaim the "goodnewness" of the gospel, and the best place to start is to rediscover the good news ourselves. Philip Yancey best-place news needs The uncommitted share many of our core values, but if we do not live out those values in a compelling way, we will not awaken a thirst for their ultimate Source. Philip Yancey source share way ... the approach of admitting our errors, besides being most true to a gospel of grace, is also most effective at expressing who we are. Propaganda turns people off; humbly admitting mistakes disarms. Philip Yancey errors mistake people Individuals and societies are not helpless victims of heredity. We have the power to change - not by looking "down" to nature but "up" to God, who consistently calls us forward to become the people we were designed to be. A confused world urgently needs a model of what that looks like. If Christians fail to provide that model, who will? Philip Yancey confused christian people The shift in American society from admiring Christians to fearing and criticizing them provides an opportunity for self-reflection. How have we been presenting the message we believe in? Might there be a more grace-filled way? Philip Yancey reflection christian believe ... learning humility is a prerequisite for grace. Philip Yancey prerequisites humility grace All too often the church holds up a mirror Philip Yancey reflecting-back church mirrors Christians fail to communicate to others because we ignore basic principles in relationship. When we make condescending judgments or proclaim lofty words that don't translate into action, or simply speak without first listening, we fail to love - and thus deter a thirsty world from Living Water. The good news about God's grace goes unheard. Philip Yancey grace christian water The church works best not as a power center, rather as a countercultural community - in the world but not of it - that shows others how to live the most fulfilled and meaningful life on earth. In modern society that means rejecting the false gods of independence, success, and pleasure and replacing them with love for God and neighbor. Philip Yancey independence community meaningful Prayer is a place where God and humans meet. Philip Yancey humans prayer Love was compressed for all history in that lonely figure on the cross, who said that he could call down angels at any moment on a rescue mission, but chose not to - because of us. At Calvary, God accepted his own unbreakable terms of justice. Philip Yancey angel lonely justice Pleasure represents a great good but also a grave danger. Philip Yancey graves pleasure danger Never do I see Jesus lecturing people on the need to accept blindness or lameness as an expression of God's secret will; rather, he healed them. Philip Yancey expression people jesus I have found that lived out, the hardest place to be a Christian is to be in a nice prosperous country with a lot of entertainment options because there's so many distractions. Philip Yancey nice christian country We should do whatever we can to cut through the scum that has grown on our understanding and rediscover freshness. Philip Yancey scum cutting understanding If I just think of the churches in my little town here because I've been to every one of them, there are 27, there aren't that many where you walk in and say wow, people are excited about their faith. A lot of them, it's just what you do on Sunday at 10:00 or 11:00 and that's not true in other countries. In some other countries, it's still a very lively, vibrant experience. Philip Yancey sunday country thinking We should be asking: How do we respond to a post-Christian society? Philip Yancey should christian asking One Harlem preacher likens us to the pink plastic spoons at Baskin Robbins: we give the world a foretaste of what lies ahead, the vision of the Biblical prophets. In a world gone astray we should be activity demonstrating here and now God's will for the planet. Philip Yancey biblical giving lying
