David Sliker: The Lord gave us so many ways to reach for "more" of Him: prayer, fasting, giving, worship, obedience. We can build our lives around Him.

David Sliker: The way you live before God may seem foolish to many, but wisdom will be justified.

Bob Sorge: Never assume God’s silence means no. If God hasn’t answered your prayer yet, here’s what you should take that to mean: He hasn’t answered your prayer yet. His silence is an invitation to wait on Him until He answers. 2 Cor. 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen

Lou Engle: Our passion is so dim because we only put a little wood on the altar once in a while. We were born to burn!

David Sliker: God has given us everything we need to attain to godliness - every spiritual blessing has been made available; He desires our fullness.

There is more to be learned at the foot of the cross than anywhere else in the world. J. C. Ryle

Stephen Venable: "I meditate on all Your doings..." Ps 143:5 What a stunning statement! Few desire greater grace in intercession, fewer still in meditation.

David Pawson: Those whom others would dismiss as relatively unimportant, Jesus treats with greater care.

Shelley Hundley: When we understand that Jesus is the Judge, we understand an equally important truth-we are not! Rom.12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves

Ron Downing: Whatever you set your gaze upon will consume your inner life (Luke 11.34-36; 2 Cor 3.18)

Josh Hawkins: Pondering the childhood of Jesus never gets old. What must Mary have thought years later about her 5-year old upholding all things?

Stephen Venable: Do we possess wealth? Are we comforted? Are we well-fed? Today do we laugh? Do men speak well of us? If so, Jesus says woe to us. Luke 6:24-26

Bob Sorge: Things don’t change when I talk to God; things change when God talks to me. When I talk, nothing happens. When God talks, the universe comes into existence. That's why listening prayer is so important.

Christology sessions 5-8 begin this Sunday downstairs. Sign up is in the dining room. May Jesus be exalted forever. -david

Stephen Venable: I find I'm more stirred to pray by books about Jesus than by books on prayer. The latter can give vision, but the former is the substance.

John G Lake: Is it not time that we came out of our theological debates, & get hold of the Eternal God, & called the power of Christ down?

John Piper: We measure the worth of a treasure by what we will gladly give up to have it. (Philippians 3:7-8; Matthew 13:44)

"I want night and day prayer because that's what they do in heaven. And I want earth to be like heaven." -Lou Engle

Shelley Hundley: Jesus as Bridegroom is the best & worst news for humanity. It means we are cherished beyond measure, but also that Jesus will not share us.

"There is no place to hide but in the blood of the Lamb." AW Tozer

David Sliker: "Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising (thinking little of, not regarding) the shame..." (Heb.12:2) The joy set before Jesus as the reward for His suffering so filled His mind upon the cross that He paid no regard to the shame of it all. A victorious Bride, mature in love - consumed w/ the incomparable greatness of knowing Him in power & suffering is the reward He fought for.

Bob Sorge: Fast from your little indulgences and pleasures, which keep your heart close to your belly and crowd out Kingdom perspective.

"How many Christians really harbor within their own spirit the daily expectation of God's presence?" AW Tozer

Bob Sorge: Your appearance before Christ on the Day of Judgment is going to be a very personal encounter between you and Jesus. When your eyes lock with His, the only important thing in the universe at that moment will be the words that come out of His mouth.

Bob Sorge: Holiness is not merely the absence of sin; it’s the presence of fire.

David Sliker: There is a day soon coming when the pulpits of the earth will be consumed with preaching the incomparable beauty & worth of Jesus.

David Sliker: The 1st agenda of the Holy Spirit in this hour is to reveal Jesus to His church. 2nd agenda: bring the church into agreement with His plans.

Bob Sorge: About devout people who reject Jesus: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov. 28:9)

Stephen Venable: One's maturity as a Christian (Phil 3:15) will never go beyond the depth & clarity of one's knowledge of Christ (Phil 3:8).

“Only one life will soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last.” - J.Hudson Taylor

Stephen Venable: I think the weak words of one soul spoken in the prayer closet are more important to God than the rhetoric of politicians spoken to millions

Stephen Venable: The vista of the splendor of the divinity of Jesus (Jn 1:1-4) must be our vantage point if we are to behold His humanity rightly (Jn 1:14).

John Piper: In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forever (Ps.16:11). You can't improve Full and Forever.

Stephen Venable: The one needful thing is not generic zeal. It consists of gazing long upon the beauty of Jesus, hearing His word & meditating on His life.

For all those in central Illinois, I will be teaching on Mark 14 at herman's barn worship night, this Friday Sept 30th. -david.

The love that you have for Jesus
come and put inside of me.
Burn it on my heart like a seal,
that in the famine of your presence,
or in the floods of persecution,
or in the comfort of the culture,
it’s still real!
I just want a heart that is fully in love!
-Jon Thurlow

David Pawson: We shall be judged for 'every careless word', because it is the careless words, spoken when you are tired or busy, that reveal your heart.

Only God can move mountains, but prayer moves God - E.M. Bounds

Stephen Venable: "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - walk!" Peter in Acts 3:6 We differ from John & Peter on both levels. No longer can we say we lack silver & gold & no longer can we tell a lame man to walk.

Stephen Venable: The chief crises in the Church today are the authority of Scripture & the truth of the identity of Jesus. Other issues are just symptoms.

Stephen Venable: The greatest miracle of the Holy Spirit is taking a self-absorbed, sin-enslaved, rebel & turning them into a Christ-exalting bondservant.

John Piper: God's eagerness to work for us is astonishing. His eyes are running through the earth looking for occasions (2 Chron. 16:9).

David Sliker: Sin is an open confession of dissatisfaction with the life of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Jesus in our lives. Sin is also an open confession of our lack of faith in the superior pleasure found in love from Jesus & the riches that reward our love for Him.

Josh Hawkins: When the Sustainer of all is in the boat with us, we need not worry about the storm. He alone has power to both give and take our breath.

"Show me the condition of your Bible and I will accurately gauge the condition of your soul." AW Tozer

Stephen Venable: How would it feel to have Jesus, the Beautiful One, tell you about the glory of His return? (Mt. 24) Eschatology & intimacy are good friends

Public preaching is the fruit of private weeping - Leonard Ravenhill

Bill Johnson: When I live out of discipline, I'm admired. When I live out of passion, I'm contagious.

"The birthplace of fasting is homesickness for God." - John Piper

Stephen Venable: All we do is judged solely by the extent to which it's motivated by loving desire to exalt & honor Jesus. The rest will burn. 1 Cor 3:10-15