“Everyone in the world thinks he understands. That is what it means to think. In other to think, you have to think something. And whatever it is that you think, that is what you think.”
Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 81
A Deadly Snare
“There is truth in the belief that much of the best thinking and preaching of the land is done in obscure parishes and by unfamous preachers . . . To set one’s heart on being popular is fatal to the preacher’s best growth. To escape from that desire one needs to know that the men who are in no sense popular favorites do much of the very best work of the ministry.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, pp. 156-157
The Math Portion is Not Difficult
“Would you rather work hard for seven unblessed days, or work hard for six blessed days? Would you rather try to live on 100% of an unblessed income or on 90% of a blessed income? Would you rather have smaller barns blessed or larger barns unblessed (Lk. 12:20)?”
Ploductivity, p. 69
Birth and Growth
“If the point of the world is for humanity to grow up into the perfect man, then the point of every part of the world is to grow up into its portion of that perfect man . . . the task of the church here on the Palouse is therefore birth and growth.”
Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 79
Which Can Be Disconcerting
“Often the horse knows the rider better than the rider knows the horse.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 155
Under the Blessing
“Living and working in the presence of God is essential because what constitutes a truly productive person is the fact that they are laboring under the blessing of God. This is because you can have people who strive to do everything technically right, but it is somehow not blessed. There are others who look to the world like they are a walking slapdash, and yet everything lands right side up for them. They are blessed. And there are two other categories as well—there are folks who do everything wrong, and it looks like it, as we see with the sluggard in Proverbs, and then you have that irritating handful of people who do everything right, and they are blessed by God on top of everything else.”
Ploductivity, p. 68
Start There
“Just as every attempt at true godliness in our day-to-day lives should begin with confession, and just as every worship service begins with confession of sin, so also any project as large as building a city, or a temple, or a Christian sanctuary should begin with confession of sin.”
Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 75
If You Want Them to Trust You
“Trust the people to whom you preach more than most ministers do.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 154
And When the Fire is Hot, It All Burns Clean
“Now if my body is a living sacrifice, this means that everything it rests upon is an altar. The car I drive is an altar, the bed I sleep in is an altar, and the desk where I work is an altar. Everything is offered to God, everything ascends to Him as a sweet-smelling savor. Faith is the fire of the altar, and it consumes the whole burnt offering, the ascension offering . . . Those works include, but are not limited to, writing code, making birdhouses, repairing a carburetor, outlining a novel, or manufacturing microchips.”
Ploductivity, pp. 67-68
And It Was the Best Party of Them All
“When the prodigal son was buying drinks for the house, he was not imitating the character of God. But when his father had the stalled calf killed for the welcome home party, and hired a hot little jazz band for that party, he was providing us with an image of the character of God. But upon returning home, did the returning prodigal really need to go to another party? Well, apparently Jesus thought so.”
Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 74