"To be entirely safe from the devil's snares the man of God must be completely obedient to the Word of the Lord. The driver on the highway is safe, not when he reads the signs but when he obeys them." - A. W. Tozer

Spiritual Warfare

"Revivals die when people take control again and try to predict, program or direct the Spirit to work the way they want Him to work." - E. M. Bounds

"Revivals start with a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit who takes control of His Church and moves the way he chooses." - E.M. Bounds

Revival

"Now, I freely admit that it is impossible to hold a Christian service without an agenda. If order is to be maintained, an order of service must exist somewhere. If two songs are to be sung, someone must know which one is to be sung first, and whether this knowledge is only in someone's head or has been reduced to paper there is indeed a 'program,' however we may dislike to call it that. The point we make here is that in our times the program has been substituted for the Presence. The program rather than the Lord of glory is the center of attraction. So the most popular gospel church in any city is likely to be the one that offers the most interesting program; that is, the church that can present the most and best features for the enjoyment of the public.

"We'll do our churches a lot of good if we each one seek to cultivate the blessed Presence in our services. If we make Christ the supreme and constant object of devotion the program will take its place as a gentle aid to order in the public worship of God. If we fail to do this the program will finally obscure the Light entirely, and no church can afford that.

"Lord, I pray that Christ might always be the center of our worship--never the program. Even if our church is never the largest or most 'exciting,' may we never lose that focus. Amen." - A. W. Tozer

Worship

"The Christian minister, as someone has pointed out, is a descendant not of the Greek orator but of the Hebrew prophet. The differences between the orator and the prophet are many and radical, the chief being that the orator speaks for himself while the prophet speaks for God. The orator originates his message and is responsible to himself for its content. The prophet originates nothing but delivers the message he has received from God who alone is responsible for it, the prophet being responsible to God for its delivery only. The prophet must hear the message clearly and deliver it faithfully, and that is indeed a grave responsibility; but it is to God alone, not to men."

"Lord, I'm reminded this morning of the thought from the late seminary chaplain Richard Seume: 'When your people sit in front of you on Sunday morning, they're not interested in hearing another man tell them how to live their lives; they've come to hear a word from God.' May that be my prophetic perspective this week. Amen." - A. W. Tozer

Preaching

When J. Wilbur Chapman was called as pastor of the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in January of 1890, a layman approached him and said, "You are not a very strong preacher, but a few of us have decided to gather and pray every Sunday morning for you." That prayer meeting grew to over 1,000 before it was all over. Chapman conducted his own revival soon after taking the pastorate, and 400 new members were added to the church, most of them by profession of faith. The Sunday School attendance eventually reached 12,000. At the time, Bethany was the largest Presbyterian church in America.

- source Gerald Harris, The Christian Index, Volume 185, Number 23

Preaching

"To say 'lead us not into temptation' does not. . .mean that God himself causes people to be tempted. . . . First, it means 'let us escape the great tribulation, the great testing, that is coming on all the world.' [Second], it means 'do not let us be led into temptation that we will be unable to bear.' . . . Finally, it means 'Enable us to pass safely through this testing of our faith." - N. T. Wright

"Many assure us that Jesus really means 'keep us away from temptation,' or 'lead us out of temptation,' or 'remind us that you never tempt us.' Of couse none of these things is what Jesus actually said. He told us to beg God not to put us to a test, presumably because we would fail it. What a vote of confidence in us! What a vote of confidence in God! What a way to conclude a conversation!" - Telford Work

"If we spend all our effort on our own white-knuckled struggle against a temptation, it grows bigger and bigger." - Glen H. Stassen

"The way we tinker with our temptations and tweak our reasons for acting on them are indications that we actually enjoy dancing the tango with the Devil." - Albert Haase

"In praying to God to deliver us we acknowledge that God is greater than any foe of God. The power of evil must be admitted and taken seriously, yet not too seriously. Perhaps that is why, though the Lord's Prayer honestly focuses upon trial, temptation, and evil, it never mentions Satan by name." - William H. Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas

"There is no resistance to Satan other than flight. . . . Flee--that can indeed only mean, flee to that place where you find protection and help, flee to the Crucified." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Temptation

"Vision is not vision unless it is shared." - Unknown

"There is something better to be experienced. This is where the believability of the vision-caster comes into play. We all have a credibility tank, and with each success the tank rises, making it possible to cast an even larger vision next time. Most of our people are under-challenged. They want to be part of something that is bigger than them." - Steve Hale

Vision

"Faith makes the uplook good, the outlook bright, the inlook favorable, and the future glorious." - V. Raymond Edman

"We cannot remind ourselves too often that it is not our believing in things that makes them true. We believe them because they are true." - Handel H. Brown

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." - Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

"God raises the level of the impossible." - Corrie Ten Boom

"He that knows nothing will believe anything." - Thomas Fuller

“Sight is not faith, and hearing is not faith, neither is feeling faith; but believing when we neither see, hear, nor feel is faith; and everywhere the Bible tells us our salvation is to be by faith. Therefore we must believe before we feel, and often against our feelings, if we would honor faith.” - Hannah Whitall Smith

"It is not faith and works; it is not faith or works; it is faith that works." - Anonymous

"Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but taking God at His word." - Evans

Faith

"You can't change a church without changing your schedule."

"To prevent the good from becoming the enemy of the best, activity must not stifle productivity."

"The overwhelming need to keep everyone happy places the church at the mercy of a vocal minority and only helps to retain the status quo."

"Churches that inted to be intentional in reaching the lost have good intentions, but they tend to give attention to lesser priorities and procrastinate in giving attention to their intentions."

"Some churches do everything by the book; it's just not the right book, the Bible."

"We cannot move from where we are until we acknowledge where we are."

"The pain of the present must exceed the pain of change in order to move the church where it needs to be."

"Often, the problem is that we don't properly identify the problem and the 'solution' just becomes another problem."

"Most churches love their traditions more than they love the lost."

"Before a church can experience New Testament growth, it must first realize that the reason for its existence is not itself, but for the benfit of non-members."

Church

"Love is not an affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." - C. S. Lewis

"Love is service rather than sentiment." - John R. W. Stott

"Whatever is devoid of love is of no account in the sight of God." - John Calvin

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." - Amy Carmichael

"Not tongues nor faith nor prophecy nor knowledge nor martyrdom nor philanthropy, but love is the Christian's mark of distinction." - Vance Havner

"Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct." - J. C. Ryle

"You never so touch the ocean of God's love as when you forgive and love your enemies." - Corrie Ten Boom

"Christian love is not the victim of our emotions but the servant of our will." - John R. W. Stott

Love

The following is from Rev. Walter Erdman, William Borden's traveling companion for his trip around the world at 16 yrs of age. These were his words after hearing of the passing of William.

"I have been thinking more and more, since the news came, that the length of time God permits us to stay here is not related to a certain amount of work He wants us to do, so much as to a certain closeness of relationship to Himself He wants us to attain. Some of us who are less useful, perhaps, are allowed to live on longer that we may learn more and be perfected in understanding."

The next quote is on stewardship from Rev. Samuel Zwemer, whom Borden first heard at a missionary convention when he was 18.

"Who is there to-night who can always see the shadow of the Cross falling upon his banking account?Who is there who has the mark of the nails and the print of his spear in the plans and life, his love and devotion and daily program of intercession? Who is there who has heard the word of Jesus and is quietly, obediently, every day, as He told you and me, taking up his cross to follow Him?"

William Borden

"Mankind has succeeded quite well in reducing God to a pitiful nothing! The God of the modern context is no God at all. He is simply a glorified chairman of the board, a kind of big businessman dealing in souls. The God portrayed in much of our church life today commands very little respect." - A. W. Tozer

God