“We want the world to become Christian the way the devil offered to make it Christian, if only Jesus would bow down and worship him. But God works a different calculus, and He had His only-begotten Son hanged on a gibbet instead. What was He doing? He was making the world Christian, but He was doing it His way and on His timetable. But He was making the world Christian (John. 12:31). Jesus, by and through His death, cast out the prince of this world. And, by the way, in the original Greek “cast out” does not mean “kept around.”
We Want It Hot and Now
“But one of our current problems is that we are a convenience store civilization, and we want the next iteration of our civilization to be obtainable the same way we get coffee at the convenience store. We want to plonk our two dollars on the counter and walk out of there with the coffee.”
A Tidy Profit
“When nothing grows up but troubles, we are called to become trouble farmers, and to sell our crop at a tidy profit.”
To Pray for the End is to Pray for the Means
“We cannot pray for the purification of the silver, and then despair when we begin to approach the furnace that removes the dross.”
The Other Direction
“We were taught to pray that the kingdom would come to earth, not that the kingdom would float off into the sky. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Not Thy will be done in Heaven when we get there.”
Mere Christendom, p, 240
God’s Resurrection Move
“The West is dead. Long live the West.”
Like Dead Flies
“Far too many of us have lamented with the Psalmist, ‘I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree’ (Ps. 37:35). And when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do (Ps. 11:3)? Their eyes are fat like grease, and their press secretaries lie like dead flies on a window will.”
Some Things Don’t Change
“Our problem is not globalization, for pity’s sake. Our problem is unbelief, and it is a very boring and ancient form of unbelief. We are about as unique as a pint of salt water a hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.”
No Excuse for the Surprise
“Cultural decadence is something that has happened routinely to civilizations for millennia, and it is a sign of our cultural narcissism that we are somehow surprised by it happening to us. The surprise is not sincere; it is not honestly come by. Somebody really ought to read a book.”
You Can Be Free on the Inside
“By religious liberty they mean your freedom to think whatever you want about God and man, just so long as it stays completely behind your eyes and mouth, and between your ears.”