“I ask that Christ would now live in our mouths,
Inhabiting our hearts, and dwell in our lives.
I ask You to break up our little dried walnut hearts
And sweep up the pieces to throw them away.”
21 Prayers, p. 98
Christian Guardrails
“In order for genuine liberty to be extend to non-Christians, it is essential that non-Christians not be allowed to define genuine liberty. The blind should not lead the blind, as someone once taught us . . . If Jesus is Lord, the liberty of those who don’t believe in Him are far more secure than the liberties of everybody in the hands of a Caesar who answers to no one above him.”
Why Not a Wise Christian?
“There are often occasions for many to trot out that apocryphal Luther quote about preferring to be governed by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian. Right, but what if you get a foolish Turk?”
Which Maketh No Sense
“Secularism is the idea that it is possible for a society to function as a coherent unit without reference to God. It is the idea that a culture can operate on the basis of a metaphysical and religious agnosticism. It is the idea that we can understand what human rights are without knowing what a human being actually is.”
Mere Christendom, p. 3
Straight Up Declared
“Great Father in Heaven, I ask You this morning,
For Your gospel declared, straight up declared,
And that Your people would hear and receive it
As the true gospel, straight into their hearts.”
21 Prayers, p. 97
The Revival of Ages
“Grant us right now the revival of ages—
Just nod Your head, and it will be done.
Just nod Your head, and it is done for Your now.
All it would take from You is a word.
I pray that Your Spirit would fall down upon us
From unlikely directions, from every direction.
Surprise us, I ask. Upend us, I pray.
Completely undo us, and remake us all over . . .
Build a great church here, a tower of grace,
With thousands upon thousands of stones that are living.”
21 Prayers, p. 93
Because Liberty Is Not License
“I argue here for a principled abandonment of the disastrous experiment of secularism, and for a corporate confession of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and all done in such a way as to preserve and protect our liberties.”
Mere Christendom, p. xi
A Broad Answer
“Culture and societies and generations need Christ also. The Lord Jesus Christ is not just the answer to our personal dilemma. He is the eternal Logos of God, and as such, He is the spoken Answer to every legitimate question that any given society might pose, or all of mankind for that matter. His Lordship applies to politics, culture, entertainment, media, and His answers to our rebellions and follies are just exactly what we need to hear.”
Mere Christendom, p. x
Truth & Triumph
“I ask for anointing, I ask for authority,
I ask for Your Spirit to make the appointment
Where You meet with Your people in truth and in triumph.”
21 Prayers, p. 92
Gone Really Wrong
“We think that our cultural disintegration has to be more in the grand style—kind of like a Super Bowl halftime gone wrong, as being watched by someone who had just dropped a couple of hits of contaminated acid.”
Mere Christendom, p. ix