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d039a03 Over time Christians learned that the faith grows best from the bottom up rather than being imposed from the top down. Philip Yancey
f8745a8 God does some of God's best work with people who are truly, seriously lost. Philip Yancey
682c663 As the priest in Harold Frederic's novel The Damnation of Theron Ware cynically concludes, There must always be a church. If one did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it. It is needed, first and foremost, as a police force. It is needed, secondly, so to speak, as a fire insurance. . . . . It furnishes the best obtainable social machinery for marrying off one's daughters, getting to know the right people, patching up quarrels, and s.. Philip Yancey
eca38f1 In a letter to his brother, C. S. Lewis mentioned that he prayed every night for the people he was most tempted to hate, with Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini heading the list. In another letter he wrote that as he prayed for them, he meditated on how his own cruelty might have blossomed into something like theirs. He remembered that Christ died for them as much as for him, and that he himself was not "so different from these ghastly creatures.. Philip Yancey
348af9f From such experiments Christians have learned that the gospel grows best from the bottom up rather than being imposed from the top down. Philip Yancey
780ec83 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Philip Yancey
8ae504a Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson performed a rather bizarre experiment on ants that may supplement Paul's illustration (Rom 6:1-14). After noticing that it took ants a few days to recognize one of their crumpled nestmates as having died, he determined that ants identified death by clues of smell, not visually. As the ant's body began to decompose, other ants would infallibly carry it out of the nest to a refuse pile. After many tries, Wil.. Philip Yancey
923072e Gary Haugen, founder of the International Justice Mission, say something similar: "God has a plan to fight injustice, and that plan is us -- his people. There is no Plan B." Philip Yancey
556a7a4 But those of us who follow his conducting through early movements will, with renewed strength, someday burst into song. Philip Yancey
2041b2b Christians behave like spies, living in one world while our deepest allegiance belongs to another. Philip Yancey
7f1e249 When I pray, coincidences happen," said Archbishop William Temple; "when I don't, they don't." Philip Yancey
f25bd47 We cannot make Him visible to us, but we can make ourselves visible to Him," said Abraham Joshua Heschel" Philip Yancey
412c092 Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart. Audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind--these are all a drive toward [loving the One] who rings our heart like a bell. --ABRAHAM HESCHEL Philip Yancey
2ff0e6a The presence of another caring person doubles the amount of pain a person can endure, Philip Yancey
0ade3b0 I am forced to reexamine. Thomas Merton's words about the Bible in general apply to the Old Testament in particular: There is, in a word, nothing comfortable about the Bible--until we manage to get so used to it that we make it comfortable for ourselves... Have we ceased to question the book and be questioned by it? Have we ceased to fight it? Then perhaps our reading is no longer serious. For most people, the understanding of the Bible is,.. Philip Yancey
3bc9c78 He who cannot forgive another breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself. GEORGE HERBERT Philip Yancey
c09da7f The reason we fear to go out after dark is not that we may be set upon by bands of evangelicals and forced to read the New Testament, but that we may be set upon by gangs of feral young people who have been taught that nothing is superior to their own needs or feelings. Philip Yancey
6327810 Rather, God has commissioned us as agents of intervention in the midst of a hostile and broken world. Philip Yancey
67c8447 For Jesus, the person was more important than any category or label. Philip Yancey
7f3c3e4 The law did not encourage obedience, rather it magnified disobedience. Law merely indicated the sickness; grace brought about the cure. Philip Yancey
12c5855 The gospel of grace begins and ends with forgiveness. And people write songs with titles like "Amazing Grace" for one reason: grace is the only force in the universe powerful enough to break the chains that enslave generations. Grace alone melts ungrace." Philip Yancey
32edbda At first glance legalism seems hard, but actually freedom in Christ is the harder way. It is relatively easy not to murder, hard to reach out in love; easy to avoid a neighbor's bed, hard to keep a marriage alive; easy to pay taxes, hard to serve the poor. When living in freedom, I must remain open to the Spirit for guidance. I am more aware of what I have neglected than what I have achieved. I cannot hide behind a mask of behavior, like th.. Philip Yancey
2880a0d You cannot earn God's acceptance by climbing; you must receive it as a gift. Philip Yancey
01b3d0d How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees? Philip Yancey
4bb627b Everywhere a greater joy is preceded by a greater suffering, Philip Yancey
65e97dc Ariel Durant, "There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion." The Durants add a foreboding remark, "The greatest question of our time is . . . whether men can live without God." Amid such confusion, Christians should be positioned to provide the guidance our society needs. With regret I must say frankly that I doubt that will happen. Because of our .. Philip Yancey
4badba8 Lest I sound like a cranky moralist, I should say that to me the real question is not why modern secularists oppose traditional morality; it is on what basis they defend any morality. Philip Yancey
bfa8b5c When we ignore the world outside the walls we suffer--as does it. Philip Yancey
682c524 I get mailings from Amnesty International, and as I look at their photos of men and women who have been beaten and cattle-prodded and jabbed and spit on and electrocuted, I ask myself, 'What kind of human being could do that to another human being?' Then, I read the book of Acts and meet the kind of person who could do such a thing, now an apostle of grace, a servant of Jesus Christ, the greatest missionary history has ever known. If God ca.. Philip Yancey
8f87480 Those who mourn sense the rupture of a world severed from God and thus edge closer to the Father who promises to make all things new. Philip Yancey
4b16fc7 As Paul Tournier said, "Where there is no longer any opportunity for doubt, there is no longer any opportunity for faith either." Philip Yancey
b609b9d The redemptive way goes through pain, not around it. Philip Yancey
009979f Doubt always coexists with faith, for in the presence of certainty who would need faith at all? Philip Yancey
c67e8c8 All suffering is suffering. As C. S. Lewis said, there is no such thing as "the sum of the world's suffering," an abstraction of the philosophers. There are simply individual people who hurt. And who wonder why God permits it." Philip Yancey
697275a According to Barna surveys, 61 percent of today's youth had been churched at one point during their teen years but are now spiritually disengaged. Philip Yancey
25604c3 Hay siempre fe cuando se produce un gran numero de milagros? Philip Yancey
1ec1c2e The suffering person faces choices. She can recoil in anger and despair against God. Or she can accept the trial as an opportunity for joy. I do not mean to imply that God loves one type of sufferer and rejects the other, or even that one is more "spiritual" than the other. I believe God understands those people who kick and struggle and scream as well as those who learn that suffering can be a means of grace, of transformation. (Remember, .. Philip Yancey
a88c068 Always, no matter the circumstances, we have the assurance of "Immanuel," which simply means "God with us." Philip Yancey
801baef Popular author Philip Yancey states that the seven deadly sins might today be renamed the seven seductive virtues. The truth of his statement is evident when we stop to recognize how greed and envy drive our economy, how anger fuels terrorism, how lust is openly celebrated on television, how athletes and other entertainers go far beyond pride, arrogantly flaunting their prowess with various forms of exhibitionism. One has to have his head b.. Michael Tymn
65f04b1 senseless. I prefer the word "buzzed," following the brain/amplifier analogy." Philip Yancey
22c0a9d Sadly, Jesus' followers tend to take the reverse approach. Some churches gradually lower the ideals, accommodating moral standards to a changing culture. Others raise the bar of grace so that needy people feel unwelcome: "We don't want that kind of person in our church." Either way we fail to communicate the spectacular good news that everyone fails and yet a gracious God offers forgiveness to all." Philip Yancey
765bde0 The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive. Betty Friedan
1f7061e Rejoicing in suffering" does not mean Christians should act happy about tragedy and pain when they feel like crying. Rather, the Bible aims the spotlight on the end result, the productive use God can make of suffering in our lives. To achieve that result, however, he first needs our commitment of trust, and the process of giving him that commitment can be described as rejoicing." Philip Yancey
f59d56f Pain allows us, the fortunate ones at least, to lead free and active lives. If you ever doubt that, visit a leprosarium and observe for yourself a world without pain. Philip Yancey