I'm regularly struck by how seemingly more energy believers have about the condition of the nation than the Church's condition and her destiny. -Stuart Greaves

The main reason why we don't have revival is we are content to live without it. -Leonard Ravenhill

The New Testament seeks no new revelation of the kingdom of God, but rather preserves the simple expectation of a Jewish messianic kingdom. The New Testament is primarily concerned with the means of attaining the hope of the kingdom (cf. Acts 26:7; Rom. 9:30; Phil. 3:11; etc.). The new covenant is concerned with the sacrifice of the cross, in contrast to the sacrifices of the old covenant (cf. Rom. 3:25; Heb. 8–10; 1 Peter 3:18; etc.). The “promised eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15) of the kingdom is never in question (cf. 1 Cor. 15:50; 2 Tim. 4:1; 2 Peter 1:11; etc.). The New Testament presents a straightforward account of the suffering of the Messiah as an atonement for the forgiveness of sins before the coming of the Messiah in glory for the establishment of his Israelitic kingdom (cf. Luke 24:26; Heb. 9:28; 1 Peter 1:11). -John P Harrigan

A reliable measuring stick we can use to see if we're progressing in the faith is to ask those closest to us if we're growing in love. -Derek Kistner

The attempt to argue for a purely “spiritual” kingdom in this age, in contrast to a “visibly manifest” kingdom in the age to come, is Platonism at its finest. There is no immaterial world seeking to manifest itself in materiality. Rather, God sits enthroned over the heavens and earth, waiting in mercy to judge the living and the dead. This age remains this age (Gal. 1:4; Titus 2:12), essentially characterized by the cross (Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19–21); and the age to come remains the age to come (cf. Eph. 1:21; Heb. 2:5), essentially characterized by judgment (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). Where in the Scriptures does the messianic kingdom ever precede the day of judgment? Rather, divine judgment always initiates the kingdom (cf. Ps. 2; Isa. 24; Dan. 7; Amos 9; Hab. 2–3; Zeph. 2–3; Zech. 12–14; Mal. 3–4).  -John P Harrigan

The Bible doesn't promise legal liberties to Christians. It promises persecutions. -Joshua D Jones

John stood up to Caesar, the world’s most powerful man. But one look at Jesus (on Patmos, Revelation 1) leveled him like a dead man. -Bob Sorge

"Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home...there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams..." - Isaiah 33:20-21

“The Sermon on the Mount is the clearest prescription of what Christian community should look like and reflect.” —Stuart Greaves

We are more evil than we could have ever feared, but we are more loved than we ever could have imagined. -Erwin Lutzer

spring 2016

“The mouths of liars will be stopped.“ Psalm 63:11. Take heart, dear slandered friend. And do not join them. -John Piper

"We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It take deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.” —Francis Chan

“Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding.” —Corrie Ten Boom

"If Jesus only died, we would be forgiven but dead. If He only rose,we would be alive but separated. He ascended and poured out Holy Spirit to be in us" -Corey Russel

"I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." -Jesus of Nazareth Psalm 46:10

The most worshipful saints think much on the cross. It's their constant meditation and they never grow weary of meditating on it. -Mike Bickle

But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare. -Justin Martyr //Dialogue with Trypho

“Jesus didn’t protest Rome; he cleansed the temple. This should give Christians a good idea where God wants us starting a revolution.” -Matt Smethurst

Complaining expresses the accusations of the enemy. -Mike Bickle

There isn't a more kind message than this: "Repent, renounce sin, follow Jesus." The prophets of old, John the Baptist, Jesus, the early apostles—they all had the same message: "Repent." I can think of no greater peril than a lost world encountering a church unwilling to say it's lost or how to be found. -Derek Kistner

“The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.” Thomas Watson

My message on Jesus the Intercessor/Mediator from Isaiah 59 is available here.

Ultimately any message that doesn't call us to embrace the cross and die to ourselves is just another form of the prosperity (anti)-gospel. -Joel Richardson