“The next Christendom will come to be when Christian preachers speak it into existence through the folly of preaching” (Empires of Dirt, p. 259).
What Is a Quorum of Clowns Exactly?
“When you finally get that quorum of clowns, you are going to have a circus. What did you expect?” (Empires of Dirt, p. 259).
Which Should Be Obvious When You Think About It
“When societies fall apart, they do not do so in an orderly manner” (Empires of Dirt, p. 257).
Preaching Down Your Shirt Front
“And believe me, the lordship of Jesus over everything will always have opprobrium heaped on it. Who wants to be a nutter? Keep it respectable, champ. Keep your head down. Read those books, certainly. Enjoy them in your study, friend. No harm in that, but don’t go to extremes. Keep your head down. The only …
And Dale Did a Good Job
“Redemptive-historical preaching, as commended by many today . . . requires preachers to act as though the first three chapters of Ephesians had been written by the apostle Paul and the last three chapters contributed by Dale Carnegie” (Empires of Dirt, p. 255).
Getting Evangelicals Born Again
“The proclamation of grace without an actual movement of the Spirit’s grace is nothing but tiny works, cerebral works, the work of sitting on your butt listening to sermons about it . . . The experience of grace is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually saving people. Of course, we tell them about …
The True Law/Grace Divide
“For a legal heart, everything is law. For a gracious heart, everything is grace. When the Spirit is moving among a people, you do not stumble them by telling them how to love their wives, bring up their children, work hard at their jobs, and so on. No reason to snip out the last three …
There is a Narrative Arc Here
“The Church and the unbelieving culture are not two static realities that have to be balanced somehow, but are rather characters in a story. The Church and culture are not two pieces of furniture that have to be permanently arranged in accordance with the laws of feng shui (Empires of Dirt, p. 249).
Coming, Not Going
“God cannot be worshiped rightly in any culture without that worship challenging and dislocating all idolatries. To focus on the right worship of God is to declare war, it is to throw down the gauntlet. This is because when we worship God rightly, we have ascended into the heavenly places in order to glorify the …
Let Us Be Frank
“Anybody who thinks that the secularists don’t guard their prize institutions ferociously is being naïve. But I understand what they are doing—they have to guard them because a large number of Christians have them under siege” (Empires of Dirt, p. 246).