Quotes about Church
Let God Himself be the main attraction at church again, and let us be tireless in our insistence that church is for God, about God, through God, and to the glory of His great Son.
— James MacDonald
Church leaders raised on rationalism lead ministries where the supernatural, the Vertical, is suppressed and where God Himself is at best an observer and certainly seldom, if ever, and obvious participant in church.
— James MacDonald
When we ask people what they want in church instead of giving them what they were created to long for, we play in the very idolatry that church was created to dismantle.
— James MacDonald
In a society where rationality has ruled so long, the church frequently fails to see that in forsaking the weekly pursuit of the transcendent, we have given up the only ground that was uniquely ours in this world. In attempting to make the church something that can attract and add value to secular mind-sets, we have turned our backs on our one true proposition - transcendence.
— James MacDonald
The body of Christ is about doing life together, and by doing life together sin is revealed.
— James MacDonald
If all you are doing is spending time with the struggling members of your church and you are not building proactively into your church's culture, and you are being shortsighted and limiting the effectiveness of your ministry.
— James MacDonald
God forgive the church of Jesus Christ for trading its birthright access to the transcendent for the pot of stew that is horizontal helpfulness. How shortsighted and human centered. The outcome of this disaster is that we have created a Creator in our own image who weeps, cares, and longs to help, but in the end we doubt He can because we have made Him so much like ourselves. In making God our buddy, we find Him nice for cuddling but not much help when the hurricane comes.
— James MacDonald
Prayer is the easiest thing to assume in church and the hardest thing to maintain. Prayer is the first thing our flesh stops when times get easy, and true prayer is the last thing we resort to when times get tough.
— James MacDonald
When we want decisions more than we want disciples, we get tares instead of true converts and Ichabod, departed glory for the church.
— James MacDonald
Our view of human problems determines who is qualified to speak to them. If sin is the primary human problem, then those with the theological and practical expertise in dealing with sin — in its varied and complex forms — should lead the way in the field of people-helping. Unless we have an accurate and robust conception of sin, the church will concede much of its work to outside professional and will be ill-equipped to cooperate with them when needed.
— James MacDonald
In healthy churches, the pastors life, not just his words, sets the tone for the church.
— James MacDonald
Church was never intended to be a place where we serve God to the exclusion of meeting with Him.
— James MacDonald