quotes of the week #2

I'm stoked about this the 2nd ever installment of "Quotes of the Week" here at renown.

To read the 1st installment, full explanation of, and disclaimer for "quotes of the week" click here. Interact with these quotes in the comments section - which ones do you hate? which ones do you love? and why? [Remember, my thoughts are in these bracket things.] Here we go...

[#1 quote of the week] = “It’s the Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to LOVE.” – Billy Graham [That's beautiful Billy! I'm proud to be born in the same city as you!]


“My mom and dad died because they had AIDS and died, but Jesus died to save me.” – young orphan boy in Ethiopia [heard Matthew Emerzian quote this boy he talked to on his recent trip to Ethiopia. Was listening to him on the brilliant Fermi podcast while I was mowing the yard. I almost had to stop and cry. WOW, so blunt and heartbreaking. But this kid gets it!!! Praise God for that! this should probably be the #1 quote of the week!]

“The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” — Albert Schweitzer [a pimp who loved Africa]

“I’m a kite & Jesus is a hurricane so it’s stupid for me to boast about my ability to fly.” – Mark Driscoll [you gotta listen to this guy... he's the funniest preacher alive. He's like a cross between Chris Rock and John Piper!]

“Where the local church is doing what it’s called to do… inevitably the surrounding culture will be affected.” – John Calvin [hmmmm. so if your surrounding culture is not being affected then we could assume...]

“find someone who loves what they do & make them an offer.” – Bill Hybels

“I work like an Arminian but sleep like a Calvinist.” – Driscoll [wouldn't we all love to do that!]
"You can't just sit around loving your neighbor abstractly; you have to get out and do something for him.” – Julia Maulden of Julia's coffee shop who helped start the Habitat for Humanity here in Charlotte, NC [sounds like she was a pretty cool lady]

“‘I am not satisfied.’ This is the mantra of the leader. As a leader you are never satisfied with the present, because in your head you can see a better future, and the friction between the ‘what is’ and the ‘what could be’ burns you, stirs you up, propels you forward. This is leadership… as a leader you must believe, deeply, instinctively, that things can get better.” – Marcus Buckingham [a straight up PIMP! as you can see from this quote alone of course. That quote resonates DEEP within my soul. It makes me stand up and shout YES! Our lead pastor gave us this quote in staff meeting. It's all I could think about all day long. Please read his book I told you about in yesterday's post! He is a genius. BRILLIANT I tell you! + he's got a really cool british accent.]

"When minor things (such as the ones I listed) become major things, then the mission itself becomes minor. When that happens, many Gospel-loving people look to better organizations to facilitate their cooperation in mission. We need to renew our commitment to the [major doctrines] as the substance of our unity." – jd Greear [my boy Ethan's pastor talking about stuff in his denomination. btw - if there's anybody reading who influences that kind of stuff... JD is RIGHT ON! I think many of these denominations/orgs will lose my whole generation very soon if they don't fix stuff fast. I'm surprised jd hasn't bailed yet. I would guess he's at least thought about it.]

"rich american white boys saying that people need the gospel more than they need drinking water is absurd unless we are willing to take our wealth and share it with our fellow humans" – kris hassanpour [one of my boys' comment on a blog I wrote last week about us needing to help people in poverty. You're right on bro! I think we all need to swallow hard and take that to heart. This should be published in a book somewhere for all to see... or at least on some unknown blog...]

“when your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” [can’t remember where I heard it but thought it was good advice]

“Postmoderns will need to have 2 conversions. 1 to community and then a conversion to Christ.” – Nancy Ortberg [you can read her bio yourself. you've probably heard of her or her husband. She's definitely qualified to speak on the subject. If most churches continue to ignore authentic community I think they'll have a lot of trouble reaching postmoderns... but then again maybe that's not who most churches want to reach?]

"Christian artists don't seem to be focused anymore on making great art." - Derek Webb, singer/songwriter

“Dark and difficult times lay ahead. Soon we must all choose between what is right and what is easy.” - Professor Dumbledoor in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [ok, ok, I'll admit it... my wife has read all the Harry Potter books and she got me hooked on the movies. I've seen 4 of them now. They're unbelievably written books! I wish more people were gifted with Rowling's talent. I was watching the movie, simply being entertained and then heard that quote and I was like "whoa." pretty cool for a "children's story."]

“I want churches that disagree on this [you can have your own fun guessing what "this" is] to have a biblical, theological conversation and to live with their differences and not spend 90% of their denominational time arguing about this issue when 30,000 children are dying every single day because of poverty and disease.” – Jim Wallis [never read much of this guy but I think I would like him!]

“Heaven has secure borders, too.” – Mark Powell, a Disciples of Christ minister warning Indiana lawmakers that supporting a bill that would punish businesses for hiring illegal immigrants would endanger their salvation. [haha, no matter where you stand politically, you have to laugh at this very witty comment! I think it's hilarious]


"Stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing—because it's already blessed." – Bono quoting someone [quoted in my blog post of Bono's unbelievable sermon that you can read here]



**So what do you all think?