REPENTANCE is not seen in tears; it is not seen in words; it is not seen in emotion. Repentance is long, slow, consistent change over an extended period of time because it is from the heart outward. Heart change is supernatural work.... REPENTANCE of habituated sin is...
Many Christians fail to grasp the basic point of the Bible: to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, many Christians love the Bible more than Jesus. They say things like “a biblical worldview” and “we’re a Bible-believing church” and “we believe in the Bible.” But in reality,...
You cannot know it now,cannot even imaginewhat lies ahead,but I tell youthe day is comingwhen breath willfill your lungsas it never has before,and with your own earsyou will hear wordscoming to you newand startling.You will dream dreamsand you will see the worldablaze...
It's okay to grieve and hope at the same time.It's okay to exhale all of your loss and sadness and pain and feel an aching emptiness words cannot express.And it's okay, in the very next breath, to inhale joy and expectation and assurance with all the strength you...
The final secret, I think, is this: that the words "You shall love the Lord your God" become in the end less a command than a promise.
Consider this remarkable fact: In the Sermon on the Mount there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do and how to be. By the time the Nicene Creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word in it about what to...
If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and as a preacher it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less...
And yes, I still am terrified every day. Yet fear can be love trying its best in the dark. So do not fear your fear. Own it. Free it. This isn't a liberation that I or anyone can give you--it's a power you must look for, learn, love, lead and locate for yourself. Why?...
As I was lying on a gurney in pre-op awaiting knee replacement surgery three days before Christmas, before the “happy drugs” were administered, I noticed a painting on the wall beside the gurney. It was rather nondescript, a field of blue flowers in a garden of rocks...
God,Grant that I may pass through the coming year with a faithful heart. There will be much to test me and make weak my strength before the year ends.In my confusion I shall often say the word that is not true and do the thing of which I am ashamed. There will be...