Quotes from James Bryan Smith

He had let go of the need to earn God's love

One hidden act of kindness is worth more than all the burial mounds of rhetoric, all the mumbling and fumbling and tardiness of Christians so preoccupied with cultivating their prayer lives that they cannot hear the anguished cry of the child in the barrio.

But surely it was not God's will to give us a child with handicaps. God didn't do this, right?" "It's a mystery, Daddy. You won't be able to understand it all till you get here and see all of the rooms and one-inch pictures. But this you can trust: God is always good.

False Narrative: The Kingdom of God is Future No serious biblical scholar would deny that Jesus' proclaimed the kingdom of God. However, many scholars conclude that Jesus was not talking about our present world but rather an epoch in history that has not yet begun.

The line in this song that slayed me the first time I heard it, and slays me every time I hear it, is 'I cannot explain the way that You came to love me, except to say that nothing is beyond You.

Rather we must seek out9 the good things peculiar to the good, and give the widest berth to the evils peculiar to evil men.

What would it be like to be Christ? I mean, did He ever play ball? Did He ever knock a window out of somebody's house and did He ever have to explain to His dad that He had to borrow twelve dollars?

The Beatitudes, far from being a new set of virtues that further divide the religious haves and have nots, are words of hope and healing to those who have been marginalized.

Spiritual life is not a life of laws and precepts but a life of participation, affection and love, a life mingled and mixing with God.

To trust someone is to believe that he or she has your best interests in mind, that the person will protect you from harm and is reliable.

That is why one of Rich's most powerful songs, and one he enjoyed singing in concert more than any other, is "Greed.

God is more eager to forgive us than we are to be forgiven.