Quotes from Frank Viola
In fact, I've met countless believers who have said, "The church is an organism, not an organization." Yet as they formed those very words, they continued to be devout members of churches that were organized along the lines of General Motors and Microsoft.
— Frank Viola
The triune God stands at the beginning and at the end of the Christian pilgrimage and, therefore, at the center of Christian faith.
— Frank Viola
History is God's love story. There is no event in space or time unrelated to the Jesus story, and there is no metaphor in existence unrelated to Jesus.
— Frank Viola
The term organic church does not refer to a particular model of church. (We believe that no perfect model exists.) Instead, we believe that the New Testament vision of church is organic. An organic church is a living, breathing, dynamic, mutually participatory, every-member-functioning, Christ-centered, communal expression of the body of Christ.
— Frank Viola
Winston Churchill wisely said, "First we shape our buildings. Thereafter, they shape us." Exegete the architecture of a typical church building and you'll quickly discover that it effectively teaches the church to be passive.
— Frank Viola
When Mark records the baptism of Jesus, he says that Jesus saw the heavens "splitting apart" (Mark 1:10 NLT). The Greek term for this word is the same used in Exodus 14:21 in the Greek Old Testament.* Exodus 14:21 is speaking about the "splitting apart" ("dividing") of the Red Sea at Israel's exodus.
— Frank Viola
It doesn't matter what you've done or how bad you've failed, Jesus Christ is bigger than all your foul-ups, and His mercy and grace loom larger than any sin you've ever committed.
— Frank Viola
Consider this thought: Adam's entire existence was based upon what he ate. His diet determined his destiny. It also determined the entire course of human history.
— Frank Viola
You will never understand Jesus by looking at the God of the Old Testament. You must first look at Jesus and then you will understand the God of the Old Testament.
— Frank Viola
Hence, the Reformers dramatically failed to put their finger on the nerve of the original problem: a clergy-led worship service attended by a passive laity. It is not surprising, then, that the Reformers viewed themselves as reformed Catholics.
— Frank Viola
God's idea of ministry training is a broken vessel. His idea of spiritual preparation is suffering, which includes rejection.
— Frank Viola
Christians get very angry at those who sin differently than they do.
— Frank Viola