Quotes about Community

City of God interprets all of the human story, from Creation to the Last Judgment, as the drama of divine providence and human free choice, especially the choice between the two most fundamental options of membership in one or the other of the two cities. The City of God is the invisible community of all who love God; the City of the World is all those who love the world and themselves as their God.

The cathedrals were not financed by taxes, on the poor or on the rich. They were financed by gifts, from rich and poor alike. They were not built at the expense of the poor; they were built by the poor, by the peasants who worked on them, and by their gifts. And the cathedrals were also built for the poor, who usually love them more than the rich do. (The rich build banks; the poor build cathedrals. We build what we love.)

Suffering together builds togetherness, and if togetherness is more important for us and for our joy than freedom from suffering is, then God is good to allow this suffering.

Play and mirth is also "necessary for the intercourse of human life" and "to cheer the heart of man". This is why God invented not just water but also wine (Ps 104:15).

When we become part of God's own family, what sets us apart is not any difference in the sin environment around us, but in how we deal with it.

When chimpanzees embark on a raid, their behavior resembles a monkey hunt. They're out for blood—but this time it's the blood of a member of their own species. Based on chimpanzees' alert, enthusiastic behavior, these raids are exciting events for them.… During these raids on other communities the attackers do as they do while hunting monkeys, except that the target "prey" is a member of their own species.

If you go out looking for friends, you're going to find they are very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere.

I do believe that this country is the greatest on this planet and that we can come together and get great answers together.

When you are part of a megachurch, you have no responsibility to anybody else.

The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.

Some Christians feel embarrassed to admit doubts because they've been told that if they just had enough faith, they'd harbor no doubts. They worry that people might find out about their doubts and, consequently, think less of them as Jesus's followers. If we meet someone who struggles in this way, let's be ready to remind them that since God knows our doubts already, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by admitting them and asking for help.

Friends are the family we can choose.