Just Jesus III

Just Jesus Even More of the Greatest Things Ever Said About the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived VOLUME III

Compiled & Edited by

Daniel Whyte III with Daniella Whyte

Just Jesus: Even More of the Greatest Things Ever Said About the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (Volume III) Cover Design by Atinad Designs. Š Copyright 2015 TORCH LEGACY PUBLICATIONS: DALLAS, TEXAS; ATLANTA, GEORGIA; BROOKLYN, NEW YORK The Bible quotations in this volume are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Disclaimer Simply because we included a particular quote, does not mean we condone the lifestyle or the philosophy of the person who said it. The position that we took was to include any quote that gave glory to Jesus Christ no matter who or where it came from. Therefore, it would be unnecessary to write us concerning the lifestyle or philosophy of one of the contributors. This book is not about them. It is about Him—Jesus Christ.

To my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to the gentlemen who introduced me to Him thirty-six years ago: Pastor Charles McKinney and Bro. Michael Lewis

Acknowledgments I thank the Lord for saving my soul, and for placing within my heart a desire to give Him praise and honour in this way.

I want to especially thank my oldest daughter, Daniella (Danni) Whyte, who did the research and most of the work in putting this book together.

I also want to thank my wife, Meriqua, and children – Daniel IV, Danita, Danae`, Daniqua, Danyel Ezekiel and Danyelle Elizabeth – for their hard work in the proofreading and designing of this third volume.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

“At the end of the day only one thing matters, and that’s Jesus, Just Jesus, and nothing else.”

Introduction to the Third Volume Thank you for picking up the third volume of Just Jesus: Even More of the Greatest Things Ever Said About the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived.

In this volume, we want to emphasize the impact that Jesus Christ has (and should have) on our daily lives.

Our relationship with Him should, as one person said, "touch and tincture" every part of our existence. To that end, we have included over 350 new quotes. Each of the quotes in this book will invite you to meditate on the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Consider how He is shaping your life today. Consider how you can become more like Him in your thinking. Consider how you can imitate Him in your actions.

Many of the quotes in the first and second volumes of Just Jesus focused on the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection. In this volume, you will find that we have sprinkled quotes about two other equally important events -- the birth of Christ and His Second Coming.

The first advent, commonly celebrated at Christmas, should bring joy to our hearts as it reminds us that God has not abandoned this world. He loves us and sacrificed His Only Son to save us. This is a message everyone still needs to hear.

The words which remind us of Jesus' Second Coming should stir our hearts in anticipation of this marvelous future event. Amidst the darkness of this present age, the hope of the Second Coming provides light on our

path. Get ready! Jesus came once, is with us now, and is coming again. It's the next big thing!

Finally, we made a special effort to include words about Jesus from some of today's diverse, young leaders in the faith community. The revolution which began with Jesus' birth is continuing. The future is full of blank pages, and there is no doubt that God will write beautiful, redemptive history -- His story -- on them.

Above all, remember: though this book includes quotes from Christians and non-Christians, believers and skeptics, conservatives and liberals, progressives and traditionalists -- sinners all -- it is not about them.

It's all about Him -- Just Jesus. —Daniel Whyte III Daniella Whyte Daniel Whyte IV Fort Worth, TX

Introduction to Volumes I & II “At the end of the day only one thing matters, and that’s Jesus, Just Jesus, and nothing else.”

It is for sure that the main thing that matters in life is whether or not one has a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. To borrow biblical terminology, what really matters is: “What think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?” This I know, anyone who has met this Man along the tragic road of life, and has received Him as their personal Savior has never been the same. Not only do I know this from observing the lives of others who have believed on Jesus Christ, but I know this from personal experience as well. On December 19, 1979, I had the privilege and joy of meeting the Man named Jesus Christ in my Air Force dorm room at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. My wretched life was immediately and dramatically changed overnight. At the risk of sounding trite, I have never been the same.

I have compiled this book for two reasons: (1) To show my appreciation for what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me and to give Him glory and honor through the printed page; (2) To challenge the gross commercialization that surrounds the “celebration” of His birthday during the Christmas season. My humble hope is that, at least, some Christians would be reminded that it is not about them, and it’s not even about others; it’s all about Him.

I also recognize that this book cannot be limited to a holiday. Indeed, it is a book for all times, because He is a Man for all times. This book is all about Jesus Christ.

It is a collection of some of the most eloquent and memorable statements about the One Who died for the sins of the world. These statements were made at different times over the past 2000 years, and by many different people at many different places—but they all give praise to Jesus Christ.

Now, let me briefly say a word about quotations or memorable statements. When God made each of us, He wired us differently. For example, there are some people who are moved more by music as opposed to just words. On the other hand, there are some people who are moved more by simply reading and hearing the words without music. Both are equally moved, motivated, or encouraged. I happen to be of the latter family, so to speak. I am not big on music. I can live without music, but I cannot live without words, particularly the Word of God. I am a word person.

Therefore, words move me just as much as music moves music people. By God’s grace, I can hear the rhythm, cadence, and intervals in a written paragraph as one would hear the same in a music piece. Outside of the Bible itself, probably nothing moves me like a “truth well said,” and that is a quotation or an eloquent statement. Please notice with me what the author Ray Bard said about the power of words: You study pivotal people and events in history, searching for a common denominator. You hope to identify the recurrent elements of greatness,

the keys to phenomenal success. You search for the secret of miracles. After several hundred hours of reading, you reach an utterly inescapable conclusion: words are the most powerful force there has ever been.

Monumental events explode with energetic words, and great leaders are remembered for the things they say. Although a grand idea may carry the seeds of change, it takes powerful words to launch the idea skyward, words strong enough to carry the full weight of vision.

You have seen Rodin’s famous sculpture, The Thinker, and were intrigued the moment you saw it. But how your interest increases when you hear Rodin speak of it! “What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with the brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils, and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back, and legs; with his clenched fist and gripping toes.” Seeing it now with our ears, we find Rodin’s Thinker far more interesting than when we saw it only with our eyes.

Words are electric; they should be chosen for the emotional voltage they carry. Weak and predictable words cause grand ideas to appear so dull that they fade into the darkness of oblivion. But powerful words in unusual combinations brightly illuminate the mind.

(Emphasis by the editor.)

Yes, words are electric. If a sentence does not shock a little, it carries no emotional voltage. When the hearer is not jolted, you can be sure he is not moved.

Remember the words of Napoleon: “Small plans do not inflame the hearts of men.”

Words start wars and end them, create love and choke it, bring us to laughter and joy and tears. Words cause men and women willingly to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Our world, as we know it, revolves on the power of words.

Use words that are majestic, words that have the power to inflame people’s hearts and illuminate their minds.

I cannot imagine anyone expounding upon the importance and power of words better than Ray Bard just did. Can you?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers,” said: “If you never quote others, you’ll never be quoted.”

When I first heard or read that famous quote by C.H. Spurgeon many years ago, I rejected it because it seemed to suggest that one could actually learn how to be quotable no matter how uninspired one might be.

However, now I can appreciate what Charles Spurgeon said. Here is, at least, one thing that Spurgeon might have meant by that statement: if you do not take the time to read quotes, understand quotes, and use quotes in your preaching, teaching, and speaking, etc., you will never learn how to put an inspired thought in

enough eloquent words that it would be memorable or quotable.

What makes a great statement? What makes a statement memorable or quotable? Here is my definition of a quotable statement: a memorable or quotable statement is simply a profound truth succinctly written or spoken in words that are easily remembered and that provoke people to think or to do.

This was how we chose the quotes in this book about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

As I said earlier, this book is compiled primarily to bring glory, honor, and praise to Jesus Christ.

However, we see how this book can benefit the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, such as pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Bible teachers, and other Christian speakers as well, when they are preparing a sermon, speech, or lesson. For nothing can prime the pump of a sermon or a Christian speech like a powerful quote from yesteryear.

Also, to my utter amazement, as I began to do the research on this book at the largest seminary in the world—Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas—the librarians and I could not find one book that had nothing but quotations about Jesus Christ. By the way, I frankly think it is disrespectful to include Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, in any book, as just another subject among a bunch of other subjects and regular people of history. But that is just me. I apologize, but I had to get that off my chest.

Hopefully, this book will fill that void in libraries across America, and around the globe.

As I close this introductory section of this book, let me say that if you have truly been born again, by the grace of God, through accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then your heart will almost burst with joy and praise as you read what some of the most important people of the past and present, most saved, some even lost, have said about the most important Person Who ever lived. I believe that your spirit will soar to higher heights in praise of the One Who died for us as you read these eloquent and powerful quotations.

The mighty words contained in this book are about the greatest figure Who ever graced the earth—yet our Saviour and Friend, Jesus Christ—Just Jesus!

—Daniel Whyte III Irving, Texas

Jesus was God's gift to the world, not just for Christmas, but for every single day -- your whole life through -- and even beyond, for all eternity.

--Selected We need the gospel. We need it more than books.

More than studies. More than groups. We need the life-giving, identity-establishing, purpose-defining gospel of Jesus Christ.

--Eric Mason Two thousand years ago, God heard the cries of those who were and those who were to be. At the intersection of our sin and hopelessness God split the heavens open to send our King in the form of a newborn babe... His grace dared to touch us. His holiness dared to reach us. His son dared to be with us. And on that one glorious night the cries of this Christ-child awakened hope again.

--Lysa TerKeurst Without Immanuel (Jesus Christ) we would have no chance of fully understanding God. 'No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known.' How does God make Himself known? Through Immanuel: God with

us. To understand and know Jesus is to understand and know God. --Tony Evans Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else.

--C.S. Lewis The hope of the Church is the Rapture. She awaits the Savior who is coming for His bride. The Church does not await the destruction of the world as unbelievers do, she awaits a Person. Peter explains that the present world is ‘reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.' While the Church is warned to prepare for suffering and persecution throughout the Church Age, she is not as the object of God's final wrath.

--Ed Hindson To me, the second coming is the perpetual light on the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head on the pillow without thinking that perhaps before the morning breaks, the final morning may have dawned. I never begin my work without thinking that He may interrupt my work and begin His own. This is now His word to all believing souls,

'Till I come.' We are not looking for death, we are looking for Him. --G. Campbell Morgan There are really only two ways to respond to Jesus: you can deny yourself and follow Him, or you can deny Him and follow yourself. Who do you think is the better leader?

--Trip Lee The world into which we shall enter at the Parousia of Jesus Christ is therefore not another world; it is this world, this heaven, this earth; both, however, passed away and renewed. It is these forests, these fields, these cities, these streets, these people, that will be the scene of redemption. At present they are battlefields, full of the strife and sorrow of the not yet accomplished consummation; then they will be fields of victory, fields of harvest, where out of the seed that was sown with tears the everlasting sheaves will be reaped and brought home.

--E.M. Bounds

The purpose of Christ's teaching is for believers to be watchful and live each day as though Christ's return is imminent. The message is simply, ‘Be Ready.'

--Selected Next to the subject of faith, the subject of the second coming is the most dominant subject in the New Testament. For every time in the Bible the first coming is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned eight times. For every time the atonement is mentioned once, the second coming is mentioned twice. The Lord refers to His return 21 times. And 50 times plus men are exhorted to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. Now that is an overwhelming indication that the Bible majors on the second coming of Jesus Christ.

--John MacArthur Rather than using his power to distance himself from us, Jesus uses it to approach us. He follows his own commandment to love your neighbor as yourself— often to his detriment, I might add—by pursuing us with great tenacity in spite of our differences. He jumps a lot of hurdles to reach us.

--Christena Cleveland

As followers of the risen Lord Jesus, we have the assurance of a wonderful hope…a reunion with our saved loved ones, and more importantly with our Savior. We call this ‘Our Blessed Hope!'

--George O. Wood It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.

--Hans Urs von Balthasar God’s given me talents to play basketball for a living, but I still have to work hard to improve every day. I know that in the grand scheme of things, this is just a game that can be taken from me at any moment. But I love that basketball gives me the opportunities to do good things for people and to point them towards the Man who died for our sins on the cross. I know I have a place in heaven waiting for me because of Him, and that’s something no earthly prize or trophy could ever top. There’s more to me than just this jersey I wear, and that’s Christ.

--Steph Curry

As Christ is the blossom of humanity, so the blossom of every man is the Christ perfected in him.

--George MacDonald Reason does not understand both sides of this faith, first that Christ is a man, but also the Savior and Lord or King. This needs to be revealed from heaven. One who really has the first faith also has the other.

--Martin Luther Christ's coming to Bethlehem's manger was in harmony with the primary fact of His secret presence in the world in preincarnate times as the Light that lighteth every man. The sum of the New Testament teaching about this is that Christ's claims are selfvalidating and will be rejected only by those who love evil. Whenever Christ is preached in the power of the Spirit, a judgment seat is erected and each hearer stands to be judged by his response to the message. His moral responsibility is not to a lesson in religious history but to the divine Person who now confronts him.

--A.W. Tozer

Jesus stands at the door knocking. In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you. That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent message. Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being among us.

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer Only the Word made flesh can give any sort of hope in a world as grim and ugly and hard and sordid as ours.

--Lynn Harold Hough At Christmas we are judged. We are not, however, judged by the presents we give, any more than we are judged by the presents we receive. At Christmas we are judged by the Christ-Child in our midst. The Christ-Child judges us according to our recognition of His presence and according to the welcome we extend to Him. --Handel H. Brown

The purpose and cause of the incarnation was that Jesus might illuminate the world by His wisdom and excite it to the love of Himself.

--Peter Abelard May God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is love; the radiance of Christmas, which is purity; the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; the all of Christmas, which is Christ.

--Wilda English The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of Christ's birth.

--Charles Spurgeon Christmas is love in action. When you love someone, you give to them, as God gives to us. The greatest gift He ever gave was the Person of His Son, sent to us in human form so that we might know what God the Father is really like! Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

--Dale Evans Rogers

The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.

--Ralph W. Stockman Until the will and the affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let alone accept, His Lordship. The Cross, as it enters the love life, will reveal the heart's truth.

--Elisabeth Elliot You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell him you have received his Christmas gift.

--John R. Rice We've lost the real Jesus—or at least exchanged him for a newer, safer, sanitized, ineffectual one. We've created a Christian subculture that comes with its own set of customs, rules, rituals, paradigms, and products that are nowhere near the rugged, revolutionary faith of biblical Christianity. In our subculture Jesus would have never been crucified— he's too nice.

--Jefferson Bethke

Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man.

--Selected Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts: the gift of God to man -- the unspeakable gift of his son Jesus; and the gift of man to God -- when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice and, like the Macedonians, first give ourselves to God. No one has kept or can keep Christmas until he has had a part in this two-way transaction.

--Billy Graham How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.

--Benjamin Franklin The spirit of Christmas needs to superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.

--Stuart Briscoe

Our job as Christians is to stick so close to Jesus that when people are around us, they sense him.

--Jefferson Bethke Ah! Dearest Jesus, Holy Child, Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled; Within my heart, that it may be, A quiet chamber kept for thee.

--Martin Luther Familiarity breeds contempt. This, perhaps more than anything else, prevents us from entering the mystery of Christmas, from seeing God's radiance shimmering under the surface of what's familiar to us.

--Ron Rolheiser Christmas changes everything. No other religion believes that God became a human being… we Christians believe that God became one of us…. we Christians believe that we encounter God, not in sacred places, but in other human beings… because of Christmas, we Christians worship God by loving God in each other.

--Peter McVerry

Blessed is the Christmas season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

--Hamilton Wright Mabie If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus' fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice.

Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him. --A.W. Tozer As I read the birth stories about Jesus I cannot help but conclude that though the world may be tilted toward the rich and powerful, God is tilted toward the underdog.

--Philip Yancey Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.

--Ruth Carter Stapleton

It is in the dark that God is passing by. The bridge and our lives shake not because God has abandoned, but the exact opposite: God is passing by. God is in the tremors. Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by. In the blackest, God is closest, at work, forging His perfect and right will. Though it is black and we can't see and our world seems to be freefalling and we feel utterly alone, Christ is most present to us...

--Ann Voskamp This Advent we look to the Wise Men to teach us where to focus our attention. We set our sights on things above, where God is. We draw closer to Jesus... When our Advent journey ends, and we reach the place where Jesus resides in Bethlehem, may we, like the Wise Men, fall on our knees and adore him as our true and only King.

--Mark Zimmermann The early Christians did not rejoice because of better things to come. They rejoiced because Christ had come. God's unspeakable gift was not provisional.

They rejoiced because it was final.

--Handel H. Brown

When we ask our children 'What do you want for Christmas?', we are asking a question that breeds selfishness. In order to develop selflessness we should be asking 'What are you going to give?'

Christmas is the celebration of God's great gift giving - 'For God so loved the world that he gave...'

--Robert Flatt For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is 'hurry'. And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close. It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries -nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the preChristmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal.

--Burton Hills The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts.

Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for

commemorating the birthday of our Savior, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected.

--Samuel Johnson He [Jesus] was born in a barn to show what God thinks of human pride, of human ambition, of human loftiness, of human hardness…of those who turn to religion only because of what they think it can do for them…of those who always insist on having a place at the high table and are miserable when others are put before them…of those personal jealousies and those family feuds that mar the fellowship with God. --Handel H. Brown Christmas is a gift of love wrapped in human flesh and tied securely with the strong promises of God. It is more than words can tell, for it is a matter for the heart to receive, believe and understand.

--Selected Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal man may live in eternity.

--John Huss

Our God is the God of the unexpected. A few things could be more unexpected than the King of heaven being born in a stable.

--Bill Crowder The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren't actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.

--Kyle Idleman The giving of gifts is not something man invented.

God started the giving spree when he gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son. --Robert Flatt Commercialization has obscured the meaning of Christmas. The commercial has become more important than the carol. What man has to sell is not more important than what God has given.

--Selected

Christmas celebrates the awesome and amazing fact that God is grander, wiser and more mysterious than we could have ever imagined.

--Dan Schaeffer What would it have mattered if Christ had been born in Bethlehem if He had not fulfilled the mission God had for him? He must go the way of the Cross that He might arise with a mighty resurrection.

--Percy F. Rockwood If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: 'God with us.' We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!

--John MacArthur The great challenge left to us is to cut through all the glitz and glam of the season that has grown increasingly secular and commercial, and be reminded of the beauty of the One who is Christmas.

--Bill Crowder

We can never hope to capture the Christmas spirit and make it our own unless we understand that God is so much greater than we ever thought He was. We thought we knew all about God. The incarnation proved us wrong.

--Dan Schaeffer Something of eternal significance transpired in Bethlehem. Not only was the calendar of the world changed, but heaven itself and eternity were affected.

--J. Vernon McGee I never begin my work in the morning without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own. I am not looking for death, I am looking for him.

--G. Campbell Morgan I hope that the day is near at hand when the advent of the great God will appear, for all things everywhere are boiling, burning, moving, falling, sinking, groaning.

--Martin Luther The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus ought to enlarge in our Christian thinking. The earliest

Christians made a great deal after they learned the truth of the suffering, the cross and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. And it seems to me that today we may be possibly erring a little by making a whole lot over the First Coming and sometimes deemphasizing the reigning, the crown, the literality of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus.

--S. Lewis Johnson Everywhere you look it's as if God has neon lights in the sky flashing on and off saying, 'Jesus is coming soon! Jesus is coming soon! Jesus is coming soon!'

--David Reagan The First Coming gave Jesus Christ to the world, but the Second Coming will give the world to Jesus Christ! Just as David was chosen to be the king of Israel many years before he actually received the kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ has been chosen to take over the kingdoms of this world and rule as God's 'KING OF KINGS.' --James L. Melton

Christ is coming to the earth, in such form at least as shall fulfil his purposes of mercy to his friends and justice to his foes.

--Thomas V. Moore Jesus said, ‘I will come again.' If He does not come, then we must agree that all Jesus said and did was false, and that His entire ministry and sacrifice on the cross were nothing. Here is an awful thing to contemplate, but if we are to be fair, we must face it.

If Jesus does not return, then we are trusting in a false Christ. We cannot even say that Jesus was a good man, for a good man would not lie and deceive others. Yes, Jesus is coming again. His Word is true, and we can will assurance look for Him. The Saviour has never disappointed anyone who has trusted in Him. We do not need to try to force ourselves to believe in His coming, but simply to receive His Word, for His Word is true.

--Lee Roberson Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy's hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enmity political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love.

In such love there is not inner discord between the private person and official capacity. In both we are disciples of Christ, or we are not Christians at all.

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer Those who meet Jesus always experience either joy or its opposites, either foretastes of Heaven or foretastes of Hell. Not everyone who meets Jesus is pleased, and not everyone is happy, but everyone is shocked.

--Peter Kreeft Satan hates this doctrine of Christ's coming because it is a purifying doctrine. The fact of Jesus Christ return leads us to live a life of watchfulness, loyalty, wisdom, activity, simplicity, self-restraint, prayer and abiding in Christ.

--Sandra Jean The Bible is full of wonderful promises, but perhaps the most wonderful of all is this: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him --Rodney Buchanan

If you have been born only once, you will have to die twice. But if you have been born twice, you will have to die only once (and you may even escape that one death if Jesus returns to the earth during your lifetime).

--David Jeremiah Let us be alert to the season in which we are living.

It is the season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the world and build ourselves on this One who will soon appear. He is our hope—a Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him. --A.W. Tozer The road that leads to heaven is risky, lonely, and costly in this world, and few are willing to pay the price. Following Jesus involves losing your life -and finding new life in him.

--David Platt The great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God's commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to

return in glory to our heavenly home. . . . "It will take unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life. It is by using that faith we can know the will of God. It is by acting on that faith we build the strength to do the will of God. And it is by exercising that faith in Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation and gain forgiveness through the Atonement.

--Henry B. Eyring If you want something that will cause the Bible to burst aflame in your heart and in your life -- then learn about Christ's second coming.

--Adrian Rogers I think what makes the Second Coming worse in judgment is that all of those things God did through mediation, that is through Creation, nature gone riot, Creation in upheaval. But in the Second Coming, the judgment will be done, not by water, not by flood, not by fire, not by storm, but by His own hand.

--Ronald B. Allen If you have the hope that you're going to go to be with Jesus Christ, and that it could happen at any moment, and you're going to be made like Him, and

you're going to see Him face to face, that kind of hope should have a direct effect on the purity of your own life.

--John MacArthur The center of Christianity is the coming of the Son of God into the world as a real man to destroy the works of the devil and create a new people for His own glory. The very heart of our faith is that He did this by obeying the law of God, dying for the sins of His people, rising victorious over death, ascending to God's right hand with all His enemies under his feet.

The second coming of Christ is the completion of His saving work. If you take it away, the whole fabric of His saving work unravels.

--John Piper Many are celebrating our Lord's first coming this day; let us turn our thoughts to the promise of His second coming. This is as sure as the first advent and derives a great measure of its certainty from it. He who came as a lowly man to serve will assuredly come to take the reward of His service. He who came to suffer will not be slow in coming to reign.

--Charles Spurgeon

The early believers were not looking for something to happen, they were looking for Someone to come.

Looking for the train to arrive is one thing, but looking for someone we love to come on that train is another matter...With regard to our Lord's return, we emphasize preparation without expectation. Of course, all too generally nothing is said of His return at all. Bringing in the Kingdom is preached, but not bringing back the King....I'm not looking for signs.

We've had plenty of them. I'm listening for a sound.

Every time you see a scoffer who says there are no signs of His coming, you've just seen another sign.

I'm listening for a shout.

--Vance Havner It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground

down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

--Pope John Paul II Not only is Jesus serious about crossing boundaries to pursue us, but he's also equally serious about our crossing boundaries to pursue others. He has shown us how to do it.

--Christena Cleveland God wrote the Christmas story, and yet we don't often stop to ask why he wrote it the way he did...

When God pondered how to write the story of the universe, there was nothing outside of himself to guide him. He made his choices according to how all things 'fit' into a design that would best reveal his fullness. He himself, and nothing else, established what is fitting — seemly, congruent, beautiful...

Christmas happened because it was fitting.

--John Piper Christmas is "the season to be jolly because, more than at any other time, we think of him. More than in any other season, his name is on our lips. For a few

precious hours, he is beheld. Christ the Lord. Those who pass the year without seeing him, suddenly see him. People who have been accustomed to using his name in vain, pause to use it in praise. Eyes, now free of the blinders of self, marvel at his majesty. All of a sudden he's everywhere."

--Max Lucado This Advent we look to the Wise Men to teach us where to focus our attention. We set our sights on things above, where God is. We draw closer to Jesus.

When our Advent journey ends, and we reach the place where Jesus resides in Bethlehem, may we, like the Wise Men, fall on our knees and adore him as our true and only King.

--Mark Zimmermann Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first.

The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years. Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

--George Matthew Adams

How could I not believe in Christmas? Because Christ was born as a baby in a manger, that's more than enough reason to celebrate Christmas for what it is—a joyful occasion. I've experienced forgiveness of my sins and have the assurance of eternity in Heaven!

--Zig Ziglar Peace is the deep, inner, eternal stability the believer possesses by virtue of relationship with Jesus, a sense of balance that's not subject to external circumstance. It's also the quality that enables us to live harmoniously with others.

--Priscilla Shirer Christ reaches out to us individually. He's saying "Come follow me; I am the way, the truth, and the life." These are beautiful things. I read Scripture every day, I study it every day, I'm mindful of it every day. I don't claim to have the right interpretation of every passage, but I wrestle with it, and that's what I think he wants us to do.

--Anne Rice

Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.

--G.K. Chesterton Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.

--C.S. Lewis It was later [in life], when I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that I found out who I am. I'm a child of God. God is my mommy, my daddy. That's the only thing that'll keep my head up. If I don't remember who I am in him, I'm done....When I became a Christian, it was something I had to do because my whole life as a young adult was so bad. Things were just so bad that when I decided to make a change in my life, I went to God about my life. And he led me to other Christians, like my husband, like my pastor. And I started studying the Word. Now I get it. I understand it more, through the Word. That's why I know God is love.

--Mary J. Blige We must remember the infancy of Jesus. We must cherish in our hearts that he took on flesh and blood

for us, that he bore our humanity in all of its fullness, even in the dependencies of a baby in a feeding box.

But we must never allow this baby to be defined as non-threatening. Indeed, the shadow of Bethlehem threatens the frenzied buying of our consumeristic Christmas season. We must remember that ultimately we will not coo over him in a cradle beneath us, but give an account to him as our sovereign Judge and give glory to him as our sovereign King. We must remember that our love for family and friends and Christmas includes our responsibility to plead with them to be found in Christ before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

--Russell Moore Why do we need Christ's second coming? Simply stated: for human survival. Jesus Christ has promised to come to prevent humanity from annihilation.

--Ralph Levy Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.

--Corrie ten Boom

Some businessmen are saying this could be the greatest Christmas ever. I always thought that the first one was.

--Art Fettig I asked participants who claimed to be "strong followers of Jesus" whether Jesus spent time with the poor. Nearly 80 percent said yes. Later in the survey, I sneaked in another question: I asked this same group of strong followers whether they spent time with the poor, and less than two percent said they did. I learned a powerful lesson: We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours.

--Shane Claiborne Jesus tells us to watch and pray. We must watch our own lives and be doing the things God wants us to do. And, even though we can't know the exact day and hour, we are to also watch world events that help us see the signs of the end times.

--Mike Bennett

The unveiling of glorified saints will be as when some wonderful statue has been completed and a veil thrown over it, people assemble for the ‘unveiling' of this work of art. It will be as when sky rockets are sent up on a festival night: rockets which, covered with brown paper, seem quite common and unattractive, but up they are sent into the air and then they are revealed in all colors of beauty, and the multitude waiting below shout in admiration. Now the saints are wrapped up in the common brown paper of flesh, looking outwardly like other folks.

But the whole creation is waiting for their unveiling at Christ's coming, for they are connected with Christ, one with Him, and are to be glorified with Him at His coming.

--William Newell Christ hath told us he will come, but not when, that we might never put off our clothes, or put out the candle.

--William Gurnall

In Judas and Pilate and Herod and Jewish crowds and Gentile soldiers and our sin and Jesus' lamblike submission, God delivered over His Son (for our salvation). Nothing greater has ever happened.

--John Piper With Jesus' last breath on the cross, He declared the debt of sin cancelled, completely satisfied. Nothing else required. Not good deeds. Not generous donations. Not penance or confession or baptism or...or...or...nothing. The penalty for sin is death, and we were all born hopelessly in debt. He paid our debt in full by giving His life so that we might live forever.

--Charles R. Swindoll Uncertainty about the date of the Lord's return is calculated to keep believers in an attitude of constant expectation and to preserve them from despondency.

--J.C. Ryle There is such a danger of our being so occupied with the things that are to come more than with him who is to come.

--Andrew Murray

I am waiting for the coming Of earth's long-expected Lord; For the signs are now fulfilling That He gave us in His Word.

I am watching, I am waiting, For that promised happy day; Yet I do not cease my working; I must work as well as pray.

--W.S. Cruz The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon him. Gas stocks and water stocks and stocks in banks and railroads are of very much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed Kingdom.

--D.L. Moody When we are at the worst times of our lives, when we are battling with something, when we are at our highest point as well, when things are going really well, we want somebody to comfort us and be there for us and to say, 'Well done.' That's Jesus!

--Russell Wilson

If you have put your faith in Christ and have spent significant time in the Word of God, the tough times can be like a magnet that draws you to the Lord Jesus. Nothing is going to happen - ever - that will catch Jesus Christ by surprise. He is able to help His children work through anything, and not a single thing is going to happen in the future that can change that fact.

--David Jeremiah Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us --David Platt The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace

the authority of *knowing* Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.

--Brennan Manning If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus' fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice.

Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him. --A.W. Tozer To get where you want to go, the first question you always have to answer is Where am I? ... We only find out where we are when we find out where He is.

We only find ourselves... when we find Him --Ann Voskamp

Jesus tends to his people individually. He personally sees to our needs. We all receive Jesus' touch. We experience his care.

--Max Lucado I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished and what He has experienced. Yet, movingly, He calls us His Friends.

--Neal A. Maxwell If your life is Christ, then your death will be only more of Christ, forever. If your life is only Christlessness, then your death will be only more Christlessness, forever. That's not fundamentalism, that's the law of non-contradiction.

--Peter Kreeft You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

--Rick Warren Wouldn't you live differently if you knew Jesus were coming back tonight? Wouldn't it make you ask the questions, Am I ready? or Am I living today in a way that I'd be happy to see him tonight? At my church

we would often end our services with the pastor saying, ‘Maranatha,' which means, ‘The Lord is coming.' And we would respond, ‘And it could be today.' I think we could use more of that attitude. It could be today, and this may be your last chance to repent, last chance to forgive, last chance to share the gospel.

--J.D. Greear The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don't worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry...He's risen!

--Charles R. Swindoll No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left--I am here for God to send me where He will.

--Oswald Chambers "The nativity mystery," conceived from the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary, means that God became human, truly human out of his own

grace. The miracle of the existence of Jesus [is] his 'climbing down [from] God'... Here is a human being, the Virgin Mary, and as he comes from God, Jesus comes also from this human being. Jesus Christ is not only truly God, he is human like every one of us. He is human without limitation. He is not only similar to us, he is like us.

--Karl Barth Jesus wanted to show mercy to every single person He met. He wanted to sweep them up and embrace them with His love. But because of His eternal plans for goodness, He can't always do that. I don't know why, but I believe He has a greater good than healing our temporary pain.

--Susan May Warren Fortunately Jesus didn't leave [the disciples]-or any of us-without hope or direction. Where we fail, Jesus succeeded. The only One who as able to recognize and follow His purpose from the beginning was Jesus. He alone was able to obey consistently and please God completely. And His divine mission was to make a way for each of us to do the same.

--Charles R. Swindoll

Our world is filled with fear, hate, lust, greed, war, and utter despair. Surely the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the only hope of replacing these depressing features with trust, love, universal peace, and prosperity.

--Billy Graham One only has to read a newspaper or listen to a newscast in order to see Bible prophecy being fulfilled. There have been more prophecies fulfilled in the twentieth century than in any other time in church history. We believe there is a great reason for this. We believe that the time is rapidly approaching for the Lord Jesus Christ to return to this earth and take the kingdoms of this world for Himself.

--James L. Melton Politicians compete for the highest offices. Business tycoons scramble for a bigger and bigger piece of the pie. Armies march and scientists study and philosophers philosophise and preachers preach and labourers sweat. But in that silent baby, lying in that humble manger, there pulses more potential power and wisdom and grace and aliveness than all the rest of us can imagine.

--Brian D. McLaren

You know, we can quote the written Word all day to our friends, but nothing will touch them like our own hunger and love for the Word himself. It is not dutiful love that attracts but love freely lavished from a heart familiar with the gardens of heaven.

--Amy Layne Litzelman The personal desolation Christ is experiencing on the cross is what you and I should be experiencing -- but instead, Jesus is bearing it, and bearing it all alone.

Why alone? He's alone so that we might never be alone.

--C.J. Mahaney Jesus has prepared the way and has made following our destiny possible, whereas we are helpless by ourselves. We can find and fulfill our purpose by responding to the clear, simple call of Jesus Christ: "Follow Me." He is the doorway to fulfilling our destiny, where our divine design and God-ordained purpose live in perfect harmony.

--Charles R. Swindoll His second coming will be a very public event.

Everybody will see Him. The rapture of the church may be an event that is quite unseen by the world.

Although the Bible never calls it a secret rapture because it is not a secret at least to Christians, it will take place very quickly. First Corinthians 15:52 speaks of the rapture as taking place “in the twinkling of an eye.� The world possibly will only be dimly aware that something has happened until it is all over.

--John Walvoord Let me always live as though my Lord were at the gate! Let me arrange my affairs on the assumption that the next to lift the latch will be the King. When I am out with my friend, walking and talking, let me assume that just round the corner I may meet the Lord. And so let me practise meeting Him!‌If He delay, I must not become careless. If He give me further liberty, I must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.

For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my side.

--J.H. Jowett

The second coming of Christ is the completion of His saving work. If you take it away, the whole fabric of His saving work unravels.

--John Piper When you suffer, you are being conformed to the image of Jesus. When you pray, you are being made holy in the image of Jesus. When you quietly serve a person in need, you are being shaped into the image of Jesus. When you generously give, your heart is being remade into the image of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

--Allen R. Hunt No tabloid will ever print the startling news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes.

Death is not a wall, but a door.

--Peter Marshall

Jesus didn't come to earth to establish a new religion.

He came to restore a broken relationship. He came to make the primary, primary again. The secondary activity of obedience to the law of God was always intended to serve the primary activity: to love God and enjoy Him forever. When that is primary, the secondary becomes a labor of love, a joyful, and "easy" burden to bear.

--Charles R. Swindoll Those who denounce the doctrine of the second advent as speculative, fanciful and unpractical, would do well to reconsider the subject. The doctrine was not so regarded in the days of the apostles. In their eyes, patience, hope, diligence, moderation, personal holiness, were inseparably connected with an expectation of the Lord's return. Happy is the Christian who has learned to think with them! To be ever looking for the Lord's appearing is one of the best helps to a close walk with God. --J.C. Ryle Who knows but God how many people have come near to you and were forever changed simply by the fragrance of his love in you? Who knows but God if he will put you before kings and leaders to speak the

truth, redirecting the future of nations? Who knows when that small crack in the dam of our enemy's plans will give way and God's glory will truly cover the earth as the sea? Do not become distracted or discouraged by the death around you. Death must always give way when the life of Christ enters the picture.

--Amy Layne Litzelman To preach Christ is to feed the soul, to justify it, to set it free, and to save it, if it believes the preaching.

Martin Luther Knowledge of God without knowledge of man's wretchedness leads to pride. Knowledge of man's wretchedness without knowledge of God leads to despair. Knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle course, because by it we discover both God and our wretched state.

--Blaise Pascal These early Saints were indeed homeless, but they were not hopeless. Their hearts were broken, but their spirits were strong. They had learned a profound and important lesson. They had learned that hope, with its attendant blessings of peace and

joy, does not depend upon circumstance. They had discovered that the true source of hope is faith—faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His infinite Atonement, the one sure foundation upon which to build our lives.

--Wilford W. Andersen The imminent return of our Lord is the great Bible argument for a pure, unselfish, devoted, unworldly, active life of service.

--R.A. Torrey The second coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of believers that God is in control of all things, and is faithful to the promises and prophecies in His Word.

--Selected The Second Coming of Christ is preceded by a number of world-shaking events that must occur before Christ can return. This is in contrast to the rapture of the church, which is always presented in Scripture as an imminent event. The Second Coming, however, is a climax of what God is doing with the world to prepare it for Christ's millennial kingdom. Many detailed prophecies relate to this period, and understanding this helps one to analyze

current world affairs as shaping up in preparation for these events.

--John F. Walvoord What do we do when we meet Christ? We change.

The profound conversion experience found in Jesus Christ is, as a rule, synonymous with repentance.

Repentance is an admission that our way is wrong and God's way is right.

--Justin Steckbauer Though the Son of Man expressed His federation with humanity, He was very careful to note that He was like man in all things save sin. He challenged His hearers to convict Him of sin. But the consequences of sin were all His as the Son of Man. Hence the prayer to let the chalice pass; His endurance of hunger and thirst; His agony and bloody sweat; perhaps even His seeming older than He actually was; His condescension to wash the feet of His disciples; His absence of resentment as the swine-owning capitalists ordered Him from their shores; His endurance of false charges of being a winebibber, a glutton; His gentleness, which expressed itself in hiding when His enemies would have stoned Him; above all, His endurance of worry,

anxiety, fear, pain, mental anguish, fever, hunger, thirst, and agony during the hours of His Passion -all these things were to inspire men to imitate the Son of Man. --Fulton J. Sheen Our “ministry” should be an overflowing of our lives, an overflowing of our walk with Jesus Christ!

We aren't our ministry, it's a byproduct of our relationship with Jesus Christ!

--Joe Joe Dawson The NFL determines your worth as a player, but only God knows your true worth. Players work long and hard through pain and suffering, injuries, and pushing themselves further than they imagined going —then poof ! A dream is gone. That kind of treatment can really mess with one's self worth.

Getting cut can be deemed a failure, the loss of a lifetime goal. Thankfully, as Christians our worth is not determined by mistakes we've made, either accidentally or by stupid stuff we've purposely done.

Neither is it determined by what anyone else thinks.

Our worth is determined by what Jesus Christ has already done --Jake Byrne

People were not so offended with Buddha or Lao Tzu as people were offended with Jesus. With Buddha, he is so far away that you either do not understand him, or people could understand that he was the essence of the Upanishads. With Jesus, people were offended, because he was just like them.

They could not understand him. The said: "We know him! Isn't he the carpenter's son!"

--Swami Dhyan Giten There is much in our Lord's pantry that will satisfy his children, and much wine in his cellar that will quench all their thirst. Hunger for him until he fills you. He is pleased with the importunity of hungry souls. If he delays, do not go away, but fall a-swoon at his feet. Every day we may see some new thing in Christ. His love has neither brim nor bottom. How blessed are we to enjoy this invaluable treasure, the love of Christ; or rather allow ourselves to be mastered and subdued in his love, so that Christ is our all, and all other things are nothing.

--Samuel Rutherford The example of Jesus Christ is the only perfect example that ever existed in human nature. It is therefore, a rule by which to try all other examples;

and the dispositions, frames and practices of others, must be commended and followed no further than they were followers of Christ.

--Jonathan Edwards The ultimate winner in life is one who receives the grace given to us by Jesus Christ and lives life accordingly.

--DeWayne Owens Jesus' tomb wasn't His grave, but our door.

--Patricia Raybon Good intentions and earnest effort are not enough.

Only Jesus can make an otherwise futile life productive.

--Charles R. Swindoll Jesus gives one prerequisite for the end that was not fulfilled within His generation: When the good news of the kingdom has been proclaimed among all peoples, then the end will come. If we live in anticipation of Jesus' return, there's a part we can play.

--Greg S. Keneer

We represent the King. We are His chosen ambassadors, doing His business 'in season and out of season.' Then let's represent Him this season!

People are wide-open to the gospel these days.

Forget about trying to impress others by what you buy. Spend more time imparting what you already possess.

--Charles R. Swindoll I want you to be ready. I want you to experience the sense that time is fleeting and we can't afford to be lax or lazy. Maybe the skies will break open today and Jesus Christ will return. This is not a moment for wasting time. This is the moment to think soon!

--James MacDonald Christ's first coming was to a manger, surrounded by donkeys, sheep, cattle and goats. At the end of this brief life on Earth He chose a donkey to carry Him into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as He presented Himself as the Lamb of God to die for the sin of the world. But Christ's second coming will be on a horse, a pure white stallion thundering through the clouds of heaven with the armies of God following Him. On His head will be many crowns, for He will

come back to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

--John Barnett We are apt to make the mistake of looking for God to put things ostensibly right immediately. If we dwell much on the Second Coming without having a right spiritual relationship to God, it will make us ignore the need for spiritual tenacity.

--Oswald Chambers Christians have been beaten, whipped, starved, humiliated, mutilated, tortured, hung, burned at the stake, crucified, and fed to lions; yet two thousand years after a man called Jesus of Nazareth walked the streets of Jerusalem, 1,734 million people alive on this earth today call themselves by the everdividing, ever-uniting word: Christian. God is still scattering the seeds a few righteous renegades planted in a city called Antioch. Had they only known what they were starting.

--Beth Moore We shouldn't get caught up in the things that dominate the minds and hearts of nonbelievers, such as what we will eat, drink, and wear. Instead, we

should be consumed with our pursuit of the kingdom of God. We should seek, above all, the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in our lives.

--Greg Laurie The Father wants us excited and hopeful about Jesus' return because that event is the conclusion of His plan for the world. For centuries, Christians have worked to spread the Gospel. Those efforts are leading to the moment when all those who choose to serve God are gathered together on a new Earth. To keep our hope alive, He has told us what to expect.

We don't know the day or the hour of the Second Coming. But Jesus Christ's final biblical prophecy reminds us to live and evangelize with a sense of urgency. He said in Revelation 22:20, “Yes, I am coming quickly.�

--Charles Stanley Everything that I am is based on my faith in Jesus Christ. It has been a big part of me. At a young age, I called on God to help me, and He was there as a comfort for me. That is something that I have leaned on ever since.

--Lovie Smith

There's much material that God has provided in His Word to establish the absolute certainty of His Son's coming back to this earth. The sheer weight of evidence leads to the conclusion that if one believes the Bible, he must believe in the second coming of Christ. Not only was this a universal conviction and motivating factor in the life of the early church, but all nine authors of the New Testament mentioned it.

Since they accepted so literally our Lord's promise, "I will come again," can we do any less?

--Tim LaHaye Christ was born of a virgin, that we might be born of God. He took our flesh, that He might give us His Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven, that He might bring us to heaven. And what was all this but love? If our hearts be not rocks, this love of Christ should affect us. Behold, love that surpasses knowledge!

--Thomas Watson Reflect carefully on this, for it is so important that I can hardly lay too much stress on it. Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you.

--Teresa of ﾃ」ila

When your heart is heavy and your spirit in distress, Reach out your arms to Jesus, and sense his sweet caress.

He answers when we call him, our every prayer he hears, Reach out your arms to Jesus, for he is always near.

--Diane Goold By shattering my preconceptions and cultural stereotypes, what materialized was a massive personality who was astonishingly winsome yet gravely terrifying. A man whose breathtaking compassion would draw you in, but whose ferocious honesty could cut and slice like a razor. Someone who was the most controversial, confrontational, divisive, yet compellingly beautiful man who has ever lived. Which is precisely what we would expect if the Creator of the universe happened to invade our world.

--Timothy J. Stoner Jesus didn't die as a frustrated failed revolutionary.

His death was the revolution.

--William H. Willimon

Followers of Jesus do well to spend more time engaging him than explaining him.

--Ron Brackin Jesus' fathomless love changes how you and I will live in our moments, how we'll love in our neighborhoods, and what we'll be known for in eternity.

--Jennifer Dukes Lee To hear a truth, we must first suspect that our present truth might not be. Like Alice's White Queen, who often believed six impossible things before breakfast, I believed many things in my life, considering them to be true at any given time but suspecting that they might not be, until I met Jesus Christ. When we encounter The Truth, we know it and can only accept or reject it. Denial is not an option.

--Ron Brackin The poor of the earth know how much we really love Jesus --Adam LiVecchi

The way to conquer sin is not by working hard to change our deeds, but by trusting Jesus to change our desires --David Platt Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.

--Steve Maraboli The only way to wait for the Second Coming is to watch that you do what you should do, so that when he comes is a matter of indifference. It is the attitude of a child, certain that God knows what he is about.

When the Lord does come, it will be as natural as breathing. God never does anything hysterical, and he never produces hysterics.

--Oswald Chambers When I studied arithmetic, I remembered that the answers were in the back of the book. No matter how I floundered among my problems, the correct solution was on the last page. I have failed often in working out life's problems, and I dwell in the midst of a people who are hopelessly trying to untangle the

riddle of this present age. But I am cheered by one unfailing certainty -- there is a Book that solves the enigma and the answer is in the back of the Book, 'Behold I come quickly... Even so, come, Lord Jesus.'

--Vance Havner Robert Murray McCheyne, on occasion, was known to ask people, "Do you believe that Jesus is coming today?" If they replied in the negative, he would say, "Then you had better be ready, for He is coming at an hour when you think not!"

When the Bible brings up the second coming of Christ it is never brought up to get you to speculate about the end. The whole point of bringing up the second coming is always to get you passionate about living now, passionate about living here.

--Tim Keller Some of the saints are singing about the Second Coming, but it is one thing just to sing the national anthem during the war and quite another to go into battle. The best evidence that the Lord's return has really gotten hold of us is when we occupy till He

come, do business for God, buy up the opportunities, because the days are evil.

--Vance Havner The second coming is good news for people whose lives are filled with bad news.

--Cornelius Plantinga "What we do know for sure is this: Jesus will not return until everyone God wants to hear the Good New has heard it. Jesus said, 'The Good News about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.' If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus on fulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy.

--Rick Warren God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan, and it is this: He purposes in His sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Him. And here is the staggering thing -- that in all which will one day belong to Him we have been promised a share.

--J.B. Phillips

The point of Bible prophecy is not to alarm us but to alert us to the circumstances leading up to the Lord's return. This alertness is to spur us on to be ready; and the Bible says a lot about how we can be ready for His return.

--A.W. Tozer There are many things we know and many things we don't know about the future. This much is certain: Jesus is coming again. And his return may be sooner than we think.

--Ray Pritchard If you have the hope that you're going to go to be with Jesus Christ, and that it could happen at any moment, and you're going to be made like Him, and you're going to see Him face to face, that kind of hope should have a direct effect on the purity of your own life.

--John MacArthur Quite obviously, Jesus' return has not been considered an insignificant issue through the centuries. But the strange thing is that many Christians in this generation either ignore it or are

somehow confused by it. Too bad. It is a marvelous truth.

--Charles R. Swindoll Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all.

--Frederick Buechner I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery.

--Brennan Manning Hungry for love, He looks at you. Thirsty for kindness, He begs of you. Naked for loyalty, He

hopes in you. Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks of you. Will you be that one to Him? --Mother Teresa I am fallen, flawed and imperfect. Yet drenched in the grace and mercy that is found in Jesus Christ, there is strength.

--Adam Young Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!

--Neal A. Maxwell We sinned for no reason but an incomprehensible lack of love, and He saved us for no reason but an incomprehensible excess of love.

--Peter Kreeft So if the world hates us, we take courage that it hated Jesus first. If you're wondering whether you'll be safe, just look at what they did to Jesus and those who followed him. There are safer ways to live than by being a Christian.

--Shane Claiborne

Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you.

Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.

--Rich Mullins Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.

That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.

--N.T. Wright Power, no matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it.

In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced the one for the sake of the other.

--Philip Yancey Amid the thousands of shrill voices screaming for our attention, there is but one Voice we need to hear.

The voice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

--David Jeremiah

You have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin. When you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have opportunity to wonder, “Am I doing this right?” or “Did I serve enough this week?” When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry or fear. As long as you are running, you're safe.

--Francis Chan Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christshaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion...The gospel of Jesus points us and indeed urges us to be at the leading edge of the whole culture, articulating in story and music and art and philosophy and education and poetry and politics and theology and even--heaven help us--Biblical studies, a worldview that will mount the historically-rooted Christian challenge to both modernity and postmodernity, leading the way...with joy and humor and gentleness and good judgment and true wisdom. I believe if we

face the question, "if not now, then when?" if we are grasped by this vision we may also hear the question, "if not us, then who?" And if the gospel of Jesus is not the key to this task, then what is?

--N.T. Wright The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.

--Eugene H. Peterson If the cross was the end of the story, we would have no hope. But the cross isn't the end. Jesus didn't escape from death; he conquered it and opened the way to heaven for all who will dare to believe. The truth of this moment, if we let it sweep over us, is stunning. It means Jesus really is who he claimed to be, we are really as lost as he said we are, and he really is the only way for us to intimately and spiritually connect with God again.

--Steven James

If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not "a little bit of love," but major surgery. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. --Oswald Chambers I have been seized by the power of a great affection.

--Brennan Manning Jesus is the starving, the parched, the prisoner, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the dying. Jesus is the oppressed, the poor. To live with Jesus is to live with the poor. To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.

--Jean Vanier Jesus Christ came not to condemn you but to save you, knowing your name, knowing all about you, knowing your weight right now, knowing your age, knowing what you do, knowing where you live, knowing what you ate for supper and what you will

eat for breakfast, where you will sleep tonight, how much your clothing cost, who your parents were. He knows you individually as though there were not another person in the entire world. He died for you as certainly as if you had been the only lost one. He knows the worst about you and is the One who loves you the most.

--A.W. Tozer There's only one guy ever in the world that everything will be all right when He comes back and that's Jesus Christ. Other than that, you can't bank on nobody being OK. --LeBron James The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food: In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood-Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.

--T.S. Eliot

...The prime reason the Savior personally acts as the gatekeeper of the celestial kingdom is not to exclude people, but to personally welcome and embrace those who have made it back home.

--Tad R. Callister The second coming of Jesus isn't an incidental truth in Scripture, it is fundamental. Over and over the Bible teaches this. If you want something that will cause the Bible to burst aflame in your heart and in your life -- then learn about His second coming.

--Adrian Rogers The second coming of Christ shall be utterly unlike the first. He came the first time in weakness, a tender infant, born of a poor woman in the manger at Bethlehem, unnoticed, unhonored, and scarcely known. He shall come the second time in royal dignity, with the armies of heaven around Him, to be known, recognized and feared, by all the tribes of the earth.

--J.C. Ryle I couldn't get Him out of my head. Still can't. I spent three solid days thinking about Him. The more He bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the

more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave Him. --Yann Martel The Bible is the story of two gardens: Eden and Gethsemane. In the first, Adam took a fall. In the second, Jesus took a stand. In the first, God sought Adam. In the second, Jesus sought God. In Eden, Adam hid from God. In Gethsemane, Jesus emerged from the tomb. In Eden, Satan led Adam to a tree that led to his death. From Gethsemane, Jesus went to a tree that led to our life.

--Max Lucado Immanuel, God with us -- that He would leave the spiritual realm and be present in the flesh and blood in such an act of humility is a staggering notion. As it is, He willingly gave His blood, in the flesh, so that others might find life, for it is written: "He did not come by water only, but by blood," and "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Now blood is required to give new life to the dead. I tell you, He did not give only a small amount to satisfy this requirement. He was beaten and crushed and pierced until that blood flowed like a river for the sake of love. It was for love, not religion, that He

died. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins. And those plunged beneath that watery grave will never be the same.

--Ted Dekker The most important thing Christ demands of all of us is to love our enemies as much as our neighbors.

That is the radical core of his teaching. If we do that, we can transform our lives.

--Anne Rice The point is not that Jesus was a good guy who accepted everybody, and thus we should do the same (though that would be good). Rather, his teachings and behavior reflect an alternative social vision.

Jesus was not talking about how to be good and how to behave within the framework of a domination system. He was a critic of the domination system itself.

--Marcus J. Borg God is here. This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.

--JosemarĂ­a EscrivĂĄ

The human life cycle no less than evolves around the box; from the open-topped box called a bassinet, to the pine box we call a coffin, the box is our past and, just as assuredly, our future. It should not surprise us then that the lowly box plays such a significant role in the first Christmas story. For Christmas began in a humble, hay-filled box of splintered wood. The Magi, wise men who had traveled far to see the infant king, laid treasure-filled boxes at the feet of that holy child. And in the end, when He had ransomed our sins with His blood, the Lord of Christmas was laid down in a box of stone. How fitting that each Christmas season brightly wrapped boxes skirt the pine boughs of Christmas trees around the world.

--Richard Paul Evans I will not glory, even in my orthodoxy, for even that can be a snare if I make a god of it... Let us rejoice in Him in all His fulness and in Him alone.

--D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones For the Lord touched all parts of creation, and freed and undeceived them all from every deceit.

--Athanasius of Alexandria

The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, when they stumble and fall, when they screw up, they run to God and not from him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death.

--Matt Chandler In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross.

--Thomas Ă Kempis What we believe about God is the most important truth we believe, and it's the one truth that does the most to shape us. God is the Sun too bright for us to see. Jesus is the Prism who makes the colors beautiful and comprehensible.

--Michael Spencer

I believe that Jesus would have given His life for just one person. Jesus emptied Himself, He humbled Himself and He so yielded Himself to His Father's love that He had no ambition of His own. He was not looking to build an empire, He did not want praise or adulation or to impress people with who or how many followed Him. He stopped over and over again for just one person, for just one life.

--Heidi Baker The most important lesson that we're supposed to be learning right now is how completely lost we are without God. If we don't learn this lesson, then our lives are going to have zero meaning.

--Brian "Head" Welch Whatever the response to loss and tragedy, the experience seems to boil down to one journey -searching for Jesus.

--W. Scott Lineberry What a spectacle is that fast-approaching advent of our Lord, now owned by all, now highly exalted, now a triumphant One! --Tertullian

Christ literally walked in our shoes and entered into our affliction. Those who will not help others until they are destitute reveal that Christ's love has not yet turned them into the sympathetic persons the gospel should make them.

--Timothy Keller I had a dream that my dad passed away and that Jesus came into the room and he was basically knocking on my door, saying, 'Hey, you need to find out more about me.' So that Sunday morning I ended up going to church, and that's when I got saved.

--Russell Wilson Think about this: You don't know when these people are going to die. They could get into a car today and be killed on the way home. Did they ever hear about Jesus? God has put you in their lives to be His ambassador. You're His megaphone, through which He wants to call out to them to come to Him and be saved.

--Ryan Dobson The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for His own people – that is the glorious truth

proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas, may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce His return, when we shall always be with Him. --Alan Redpath It is imperative that every unbeliever recognize the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ will hold him accountable in proportion to the degree of opportunity he has had. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in almost every city and is available by radio, television, computer, or printed page to almost everyone in the Western world. The "recording angels" know and record all the times that the gospel has been heard by people.

--Tim Lahaye Like Zacchaeus, just spend time with Jesus. Don't hide from him in shame or reject him in selfrighteousness. Don't allow the opinions of other people to shape your concept of him. Get to know him for yourself, and let the goodness of God change you from the inside out.

--Judah Smith

Jesus will come bathed in radiant splendor, enveloped within an atmosphere of indescribable brilliance, surrounded by the ear-piercing praise of angels and saints. Scintillating light shining from His eyes. Irresistible power pouring from His hands.

None will deny His beauty or escape its transforming energy."

--Sam Storms A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.

--Andrew Murray What do we find God 'doing about' this business of sin and evil?...God did not abolish the fact of evil; He transformed it. He did not stop the Crucifixion; He rose from the dead.

--Dorothy L. Sayers Jesus, do you always show up like this, at the craziest of times and in the oddest of places? I sure hope so.

--Lisa Samson

The primitive church thought a great deal more about the coming of Christ than about death, and thought a great deal more about his coming than about heaven.

--Alexander Maclaren He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near. It is he who, whether it be far or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope and fervent love.

--Saint Augustine Before Christ comes it is useless to expect to see a perfect church.

--J.C. Ryle What I love about the ministry of Jesus is that he identified the poor as blessed and the rich as needy...and then he went and ministered to them both. This, I think, is the difference between charity and justice. Justice means moving beyond the dichotomy between those who need and those who supply and confronting the frightening and beautiful reality that we desperately need one another.

--Rachel Held Evans

I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.

--Charles W. Colson Those who aren't following Jesus aren't his followers. It's that simple. Followers follow, and those who don't follow aren't followers. To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.

--Scot McKnight I was born among cannibals in the jungles of Indonesia. It's beautiful to remember how the light of Christ came into the darkness, even that darkness so far away, and transformed an entire culture because my parents answered a call to share that light in the

most difficult of circumstances. During this season join with me in celebrating the coming of the light into darkness and our own transformation. Because of that day we, too, are the light of the world.

--Ted Dekker If the church is to survive as a place where head and heart are equal partners in faith, then we will need to commit ourselves once again not to the worship of Christ, but to the imitation of Jesus. His invitation was not to believe, but to follow.

--Robin R. Meyers There was only one guy in the whole Bible Jesus ever personally promised a place with him in Paradise. Not Peter, not Paul, not any of those guys.

He was a convicted thief, being executed.

--Neil Gaiman In me is working a power stronger than every other power. The life that is in me is a thousand times bigger than I am outside.

--Smith Wigglesworth

There are no super-Christians, only regular Christians denying themselves and embracing their Lord.

--Trip Lee When I was trying to earn Jesus by being good, I missed the real Jesus who wants us to love him and serve him not for what he gives but for who he is— dangerous, unpredictable, radical, and amazing.

--Jefferson Bethke In transforming the soul of sinful man, Jesus will set in motion an eternal chain reaction that will change all things forever.

--Eric Mason People can meet God within their cultural context but in order to follow God, they must cross into other cultures because that's what Jesus did in the incarnation and on the cross.

--Christena Cleveland For too long, the secular media have successfully painted Bible-believing followers of Christ as naysayers. According to them, all we do is oppose, oppress, and object. We know this is not true, but we

need to convince the world that it is not. Our narrative should be full of optimism, rich with compassion, brimming over with hope. Let us reintroduce Jesus as the way to glory. Let us distinguish him from the clutter.

--Samuel Rodriguez I take leave to contradict those who say that salvation is an evolution! All that ever can be evolved out of the sinful heart of man is sin-and nothing else! Salvation is the free gift of God, by Jesus Christ, and the work of it is supernatural. It is done by the Lord Himself, and He has power to do it, however weak, no, however dead in sin, the sinner may be!

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon God does not patch up the old life, or make certain repairs on the old life; He gives a new life, through the new birth.

--Kathryn Kuhlman Before one can walk as Christ walked, and talk as He talked, he must first begin to think as Christ thought.

--A.A. Allen

I have to ask myself how I can possibly expect to know Jesus as he would want to be known if my life remains unscathed by trouble and grief. How can I hope to grasp anything of God's heart for this broken planet if I never weep because its brokenness touches me and breaks my heart? How can I reflect his image if I never share in his sufferings? And how will any of us ever learn to treasure his hesed and grace if we never experience phases where these blessings seem absent?

--Carolyn Custis James On the concept of unity: That's right -- Jesus' most pressing concern before leaving the earth was our unity. He was looking ahead, to every generation of believer. And as he prayed, he made it clear that our witness as his body in this fractured, messed-up, chaotic world would depend on our love for another.

--Ed Galisewski We ought to be living as if Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.

--Adrian Rogers Here is the paradox of the thing we call freedom: the farther we wander from God and the more we try to

break free from him, the more enchained we become. Every step we take away from Him leads us farther from the freedom of Jesus and closer to the cruelty of Cain.

--Steven James God is always working in every detail of our lives to help us turn our heart toward him. The life we've always wanted is found in Jesus.

--Gary & Lisa Heim In His coming the “last day� to which the Old Testament looked forward arrived, but they have not yet run their course; the Christian church is still living in this eschaton. Jesus' first coming inaugurated it; His second coming will consummate it. The coming of Jesus was, therefore, the beginning of the end.

--R.T. France Be prepared to expect Him every day, or rather every moment.

--John Calvin Contrast toxic religion with the pure gospel. Religion is all about what I do. The gospel is all about what

Jesus has done. Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus. Religion highlights my efforts to do what is right. The gospel highlights what Christ has already done. Religion lures me to believe that if I obey God, he will love me. But the gospel shows me that because God loves me, I get to obey him.

Religion puts the burden on us. We have to do what is right. A relationship with Christ puts the burden on him. And because of what he did for us, we get to do what is right. Instead of an obligation, our right living is a response to his gift. Giving Christ our whole lives is the only reasonable response to such love. There nothing more we need to do. Nothing.

--Craig Groeschel Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.

--Elisabeth Elliot This is what Jesus had in mind: folks coming together, forming close-knit communities and

meeting each other's needs-- no kings, no major welfare systems, no presidents necessary. His is a theology and practice for the people of God, not a set of suggestions for empire.

--Shane Claiborne He is no fool who believes the man who knows everything --Jared C. Wilson If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend.

--Teresa Of Avila How stupid would it look if when someone broke a hand, the foot started criticizing the hand? That's what we look like when Christians begin to criticize the church. One part of the body should lend itself to the healing process of another hurting member.

That's love. That's the gospel. And that is Jesus.

--Jefferson Bethke The flavor is not the important element. What really matters is the water. If the pitcher (Christian) is filled

with water (Jesus), the flavor (personality) of the tea doesn't really matter. Some people will be drawn to Christ because of the appeal of one flavor, while other unsaved people will be more receptive to another. As long as they receive the Water of Life, what difference does the flavor make?"

--Steve McVey If we are to believe he is really alive with all that that implies, then we have to believe without proof. And of course that is the only way it could be. If it could be somehow proved, then we would have no choice but to believe. We would lose our freedom not to believe. And in the very moment that we lost that freedom, we would cease to be human beings. Our love of God would have been forced upon us, and love that is forced is of course not love at all. Love must be freely given. Love must live in the freedom not to love; it must take risks. Love must be prepared to suffer even as Jesus on the Cross suffered, and part of that suffering is doubt.

--Frederick Buechner There's a place for doctrine and dogma, and science and history and apologetics, but, these things are not Jesus -- they are humanly manufactured attempts to

make people think that having the right ideas is the same thing as loving and following Jesus.

--Carl Medearis The gospel isn't the dessert at the end of the meal.

It's the salt that give distinctive flavor to the meat and potatoes. The gospel is what makes our teaching distinctively Christian. And Jesus is at the heat of the gospel. If we don't get back to Him, we miss out on the power of the Christian life.

--Trevin Wax As a ten-year-old boy, I never would have believed that within the next ten years, God would send me to travel the world to speak to millions of people, inspiring them and leading them to Jesus Christ. Nor could I ever have known that the love of my family would one day be matched and even surpassed by the love of the intelligent, spiritual, fearless, and beautiful young woman who recently became my wife. That boy who despaired at the thought of his future is at peace today as a man. I know who I am, and I take one step at a time, knowing God is on my side. My life is overflowing with purpose and love.

Are my days free of worry? Is every day blessed with sunshine and flowers? No, we all know life

doesn't work that way. But I thank God for each and every moment that He allows me to walk the path He has set out for me. You and I are here for a purpose.

I've found mine, and you should take my story as an assurance that your path awaits you too.

--Nick Vujicic The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began.

--Geerhardus Vos He was without any comforts of God — no feeling that God loved him — no feeling that God pitied him — no feeling that God supported him. God was his sun before — now that sun became all darkness…

He was without God — he was as if he had no God. All that God had been to him before was taken from him now. He was Godless — deprived of his God. He had the feeling of the condemned, when the Judge says: “Depart from me, ye cursed,” “who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.” He felt that God said the same to him. Ah! This is the hell which Christ suffered. The ocean of Christ's sufferings is unfathomable… He was forsaken in the [place] of sinners. If you close with

him as your surety, you will never be forsaken…

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

[The answer?] For me — for me.

--Robert Murray McCheyne The longer you look at Jesus, the more you will want to serve him in his world. That is, of course, if it's the real Jesus you're looking at. Plenty of people in the church and outside it have made up a ‘Jesus' for themselves, and have found that this invented character makes few real demands on them. He makes them feel happy from time to time, but doesn't challenge them, doesn't suggest they get up and do something about the plight of the world.

Which is, of course, what the real Jesus had an uncomfortable habit of doing.

--N.T. Wright Jesus never expected us simply to turn the other cheek, go the second mile, bless those who persecute us, give unto them that ask, and so forth. These responses, generally and rightly understood to be characteristic of Christlikeness, were put forth by him as illustrative of what might be expected of a new kind of person – one who intelligently and steadfastly seeks, above all else, to live within the

rule of God and be possessed by the kind of righteousness that God himself has, as Matthew 6:33 portrays. Instead, Jesus did invite people to follow him into that sort of life from which behavior such as loving one's enemies will seem like the only sensible and happy thing to do. For a person living that life, the hard thing to do would be to hate the enemy, to turn the supplicant away, or to curse the curser‌ True Christlikeness, true companionship with Christ, comes at the point where it is hard not to respond as he would.

--Dallas Willard There is no such thing as 'my truth,' 'your truth,' or 'our truth'; there is only the Truth. And Truth is a Person: His name is Jesus. And it is only He that can set us free.

--Desiree M. Mondesir He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness.

--Mother Teresa Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within

it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can't stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they'll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them.

And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That's love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.

--Martin Luther King Jr. If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

--Stephen Colbert You will never find Jesus so precious, as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation,

or a rock rising above the storm! Do not set your hearts on any of the flowers of this world. They shall all fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. Jesus never changes! Live nearer to Christ than to any person on this earth; so that when they are taken away, you may have Him to love and lean upon.

--Robert Murray McCheyne Many people are willing to have Jesus as part of their lives -- as long as it doesn't cost them anything.

They may even profess faith in Jesus and join a church. But Jesus to them is almost like an insurance policy -- something they obtain and then forget about until they die. What keeps you from being His disciple?

--Billy Graham Christ ought to be preached with this goal in mind -that we might be moved to faith in him so that he is not just a distant historical figure but actually Christ for you and me.

--Martin Luther Nowhere is salvation conceived of as a flight from history as in Greek thought; it is always the coming

of God to man in history. Man does not ascend to God; God descends to man.

--George Eldon Ladd As Christians, we should not be exitists, looking for our going, but adventists, looking for Christ's coming.

--William Freel The certainty of the Second Coming of Christ should touch and tincture every part of our daily behavior.

--John Blanchard The Christian hope is not a matter for tickling our minds, but for changing our minds and influencing society.

--Stephen Travis The only remedy for all this mass of misery is the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we not plead for it every time we hear the clock strike?

--Anthony Ashley Cooper The doctrine of the second coming has failed, so far as we are concerned, if it does not make us realize that at every moment of every year in our lives

Donne's question, ‘What if this present were the world's last night?' is equally relevant.

--C.S. Lewis Love people when they least expect it and least deserve it. That is the kind of love Jesus shows to us.

--Mark Batterson If you can truly surrender to Him, you will do more, be more, experience more. Life will just be more.

--Mark Batterson Jesus says, "Here's the deal! I'll leave My place. I'll come to your place. I'll take your place. And then we'll go to My place.

--Richard Foth If you're walking with Jesus and you invite someone to walk with you, there is a good chance they'll get to know Jesus somewhere along the way.

--Mark Batterson This is pinned as a badge to the sleeve of every true believer—that he looks for and longs for Christ's coming to judgement.

--John Trapp

Apart from the second advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise into a millennium.

--C.H. Spurgeon The brightness of Christ's advent will reveal the true character of those things which were previously hidden by darkness.

--Geoffrey B. Wilson The apostolic church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death and heaven.

The early Christians were looking, not for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory.

--Alexander MacLaren Sometimes we can't see the relevance of Jesus Christ until we become dissatisfied with the world and realise that there must be more to life than working 9 to 5, buying and accumulating expensive 'things' and being attractive to members of the opposite sex.

--Tim Crawshaw

The problem is not in being sinners, the problem is when we don't let ourselves be transformed in love by the encounter with Christ.

--Pope Francis In a world of a billion Christians, there should never be a moment on the planet when hurting people feel orphaned by God. --Johnnie Moore All the Christmas presents in the world are worth nothing without the presence of Christ.

--David Jeremiah If Jesus gives us a task or assigns us to a difficult season, every ounce of our experience is meant for our instruction and completion if only we'll let Him finish the work. I fear, however, that we are so attention-deficit that we settle for bearable when beauty is just around the corner.

--Beth Moore ...if God teaches us victory in Christ Jesus day by day, we live in the constant awareness of His greatness and His sufficiency. Hard lessons are often long-lasting lessons. Never forget that God is far

more interested in our getting to know the Deliverer than simply being delivered.

--Beth Moore Jesus said we must be last of all and servant of all.

That doesn't sound like all the church members we may know. Many church members demand their preferences, their desires, and the way they've always done it. But Jesus said we are to serve. Paul said it as well. After he became a Christian, the apostle declared, “I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of His power� (Eph. 3:7). We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That's what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else.

--Thom Rainer God didn't just condescend to come to earth as a human. He came as a helpless infant. The King of Kings was born amid barnyard animals and piles of hay after His lowly parents were turned away from better lodgings. When the Magi came to see the

Lord, there was no security on hand to judge whether they were worthy. The Messiah was approachable.

--Kirsten Powers In the radiance of His light the world is not commonplace. The very floor we stand on is a miracle of atoms whizzing about in space. The darkness of sin is clarified, and its burden shouldered. Death is robbed of its finality, trampled down by Christ's death. In a world where everything that seems to be present is immediately past, everything in Christ is able to participate in the eternal present of God. --Alexander Schmemann You know, I've always thought scars were beautiful.

Really. They remind me of my Saviour. You know, without scars, Jesus would look like any other man.

His scars proved his love for you and me. He became marred and disfigured by choice, because of his love.

--J.E.B. Spredemann Has Christ provided such a blessed banquet for us?

He does not nurse us abroad—but feeds us with His own breast—nay, with His own blood! Let us, then,

study to respond to this great love of Christ. It is true, we can never parallel His love. Yet let us show ourselves thankful. We can do nothing satisfactory— but we may do something out of gratitude. Christ gave Himself as a sin-offering for us. Let us give ourselves as a thank-offering for Him. If a man redeems another out of debt—will he not be grateful? How deeply do we stand obliged to Christ —who has redeemed us from hell!

--Thomas Watson Our conduct is an advertisement for or against Jesus Christ.

--Elizabeth George The Christ event did not in that sense CHANGE the will of God, but rather it more clearly expressed God's eternal will toward the whole of history.

--Thomas C. Oden Jesus is now the Lord; He is enthroned at the right hand of God; He is reigning in His kingdom. But this is a Lordship and a kingly reign which is known only to believers. It must be confessed by faith. His Second Coming will mean nothing less than the Lordship which is His now will be visible to all the

world. When we pray, 'Thy kingdom come,' this is what we are praying for: the effectual and universal rule of Christ in all the world, not only over believers.

--George Eldon Ladd Believers should not worry about when Christ is coming, but should encourage one another because they are certain He is coming.

--Selected I am wholly deserving of all the consequences that I will in fact never receive simply because God unashamedly stepped in front of me on the cross, unflinchingly spread His arms so as to completely shield me from the retribution that was mine to bear, and repeatedly took the blows. And I stand entirely unwounded, utterly lost in the fact that the while His body was pummeled and bloodied to death by that which was meant for me and me alone, I have not a scratch.

--Craig D. Lounsbrough Without God, all we do in life, no matter how great or significant, will pass and is useless. Only the things with Jesus at the center will bring true peace

and happiness to both mankind and the world at large.

--Leon Lutje Because Jesus was forsaken, we are forgiven.

Because He was beaten, we are healed. Because He was thirsty, we're awash in the water of life. Because He died, we have an eternal home. No matter how deep our regrets, how searing our conscience, how messy our past, we start each day with a clean slate.

All our failures are washed away in His blood.

--Robert J. Morgan In the first advent God veiled his divinity to prove the faithful; in the second advent he will manifest his glory to reward their faith.

--John Chrysostom What is the point of saying that you love Jesus when you do not even follow his teachings?

--Daniel Melgaรงo Why does Jesus love us? Do you ever think about that? Why does Jesus, content and whole and complete and satisfied, love us? I don't see how this would benefit Jesus. He has nothing to gain from us;

we have nothing to offer Him. There's nothing in this for Jesus. His love for us must not be driven by what He can get - but what He can give. Jesus is aware that by loving us we might become like Him content and whole and complete and satisfied. We must not miss this: Jesus does not love us in order to get something from us in return. Jesus loves us simply to give us all that He has to offer -- Himself.

--Cole Ryan Following Jesus isn't something you can do at night where no one notices. It's a twenty-four-hour-a-day commitment that will interfere with your life. That's not the small print—that's a guarantee.

--Kyle Idleman confronted by all these facts and arguments – philosophical, scientific, and historical – I surrendered my sword of unbelief to God, and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my life during the hot, dry summer of 1976. In the years that have followed, I have never regretted that decision, despite many ups and downs and trials of my faith.

--Philip Vander Elst

I was again confronted with the science/faith dichotomy when recently given the gift of Jesus.

This time, the Holy Spirit would not let me reject my salvation, but what awful anguish I experienced as I assumed I had to reject my beloved science instead. I was thrilled to learn that I could believe in both! As I investigate my newfound faith alongside my scientific knowledge, the Lord continues to reveal to me that scientific findings and the use of the scientific method are very good, just as his Word is also good.

--Dana Oleskiewicz About a year into [my] unlikely journey I came to the conclusion that the weight of evidence was on the side of Christianity being true. But this was a head decision, not one of the heart. Shortly after arriving at that conclusion, I went on a business trip to Taiwan. During the travel I prayed fervently that God would reveal Himself to me, though I didn't really understand what I was asking for. And then one morning I awoke from a dream in which Jesus had come to me and said, “Here I am.� I was overwhelmed and frightened because the experience was so real.

--Kirsten Powers

Can you imagine an ambassador for your country neglecting to prepare himself for the common questions foreigners ask about his homeland? That would be irresponsible. He'd be without a job very quickly. The Bible tells us that followers of Jesus are His ambassadors to the world (2 Cor. 5:20). That being the case, it's important that every Christian consider the following question: Are you ready to answer the common questions people ask about God? Are you ready to explain to someone why you have the hope that you have, why you believe the Bible is trustworthy? 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we are to be ready to give a defense of our faith. Are you ready?

--Charlie H. Campbell At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples.

Pilate condemned Him to be crucified to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that He was alive.

--Flavius Josephus

My father's life was changed right before my eyes [when he trusted Christ]. It was like someone reached down and switched on a light inside him. He touched alcohol only once after that. He got the drink only as far as his lips and that was it—after forty years of drinking! He didn't need it any more.

Fourteen months later, he died from complications of his alcoholism. But in that fourteen-month period over a hundred people in the area around my tiny hometown committed their lives to Jesus Christ because of the change they saw in the town drunk, my dad.

--Josh McDowell We have got to start talking differently about "faith."

Unfortunately, we have let the secular world and antagonists like Bill Maher define the term for us.

What they mean by "faith" is blind leaping. That is what they think our commitment to Christ and the Christian view of the world is all about. They think we have simply disengaged our minds and leapt blindly into the religious abyss. The biblical view of saving Christian faith has never had anything to do with blind leaping. Jesus himself was fixed on the idea that we can know the truth-and not just in some spiritual or mystical way. Rather, he taught that we

can know the truth about God, humans, and salvation objectively. That is, the very best forms of investigation, evidence, and careful reasoning will inevitably point to God and His great plans for us.

--Craig Hazen Oh, that Christ would make long strides! Oh, that he would fold up the heavens as a cloak, and shovel time and days out of the way!

--Samuel Rutherford At first sight, joy seems to be connected with being different. When you receive a compliment or win an award, you experience the joy of not being the same as others. You are faster, smarter, more beautiful, and it is that difference that brings you joy. But such joy is very temporary. True joy is hidden where we are the same as other people: fragile and mortal. It is the joy of belonging to the human race. It is the joy of being with others as a friend, a companion, a fellow traveler. This is the joy of Jesus, who is Emmanuel: God-with-us.

--Henri J.M. Nouwen Heaven is not heaven without Christ. It is better to be in any place with Christ than to be in heaven itself

without him. All delicacies without Christ are but as a funeral banquet. Where the master of the feast is away, there is nothing but solemnness. What is all without Christ? I say the joys of heaven are not the joys of heaven without Christ; he is the very heaven of heaven.

--Richard Sibbes No matter what's going on in your life, remember that salvation isn't only something Jesus did for you; it's Jesus living in you.

--Stormie Omartian What makes Jesus remarkable is that He didn't come to earth to lead, He came to serve.

--Jim George A Christian is not a person who believes in his head the teachings of the Bible. Satan believes in his head the teachings of the Bible! A Christian is a person who has died with Christ, whose stiff neck has been broken, whose brazen forehead has been shattered, whose stony heart has been crushed, whose pride has been slain, and whose life is now mastered by Jesus Christ.

--John Piper

So I cast my lot with Him—not the one who claimed wisdom, Confucius; or the one who claimed enlightenment, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Muhammad, but with the one who claimed to be God in human flesh. The one who declared, 'Before Abraham was born, I am'—and proved it.

--Norman Geisler When I looked at religion, I said, I have two questions. One, has anybody ever conquered death, and two, if they have, did they make a way for me to conquer death? I checked the tomb of Buddha, and it was occupied, and I checked the tomb of Confucius and it was occupied, and I checked the tomb of Mohammed and it was occupied, and I came to the tomb of Jesus and it was empty. And I said, There is one who conquered death. And I asked the second question, Did He make a way for me to do it? And I opened the Bible and discovered that He said, 'Because I live ye shall live also.'

--G.B. Hardy Contrary to what some critics of the Bible say, Jesus had a high view of women. He invites Mary to join a theological discussion when her sister wants her in

the kitchen to help make dinner. He banters respectfully with the Samaritan women at the well, whom most Jews would have shunned. He heals sick women. He rescues, from stoning, a girl accused of adultery. When a female "sinner" crashes a dinner party, He treats here with more respect than His host.

--David Marshall Jesus did not only communicate ideas and concepts and rules and principles for living. He lived. And by living with his disciples, he showed them what life was supposed to look like, what God had intended it to look like. It was not merely intellectual or merely spiritual. It was all these things together; it was something more.

--Eric Metaxas While I thought I was a good person compared to other people, I saw that I was a horribly bad person

by God's standard. It was then that I truly recognized and understood my sin and what Jesus did for me. I broke the Law, and Jesus paid my fine. God has changed me in ways that words can't describe. He has transformed the way I think and live my life.

Things that were once important to me are no longer.

--Candace Cameron Bure

The deformity of Christ forms you. If he had not willed to be deformed, you would not have recovered the form which you had lost. Therefore he was deformed when he hung on the cross. But his deformity is our comeliness. In this life, therefore, let us hold fast to the deformed Christ.

--Augustine of Hippo What single-minded, purposeful, compassionate obedience did it take for Jesus to walk through this world completely unrecognized for who he truly was? Even those dearest and closest to him did not grasp it while he lived.

--Marcia Lebhar To strategize a rescue mission irrefutably capable of saving every human being is leagues beyond our ability to comprehend, and enormous beyond any resource we possess to execute. And to embark upon just such a mission fully knowing that without our death the mission will fall to failure is bravery of the greatest sort imaginable. Yet, that is exactly what Christmas is.

--Craig D. Lounsbrough

We all need role models in different seasons, people we look to who bring encouragement for the journey.

Every role model but One will fail. If we get upclose we will see that each one is imperfect, except the One perfect lamb who was crucified for our sins.

He was the scapegoat. He was the rejected One. --Sue Detweiler A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ.

--Ann Voskamp Jesus says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." He says, "The first shall be last and the last shall be first," and infuriating things like "if you seek to find your life you will lose it but those who lose their life will find it." And every single time I die to something—my notions of my own specialness, my plans and desires for something to be a very particular way—every single time I fight it and yet every single time I discover more life and more freedom than if I had gotten what I wanted.

--Nadia Bolz-Weber

When you're rearranging the furniture to make way for the decorations and the tree, make sure you rearrange your heart to make room for the Savior of Mankind.

--Toni Sorenson In a world where everyone wants to claim permanent victimhood to a plethora of disorders and maladies, Jesus Christ and the scriptures stand out in stark contrast, in a firm duet of perfect justice and perfect mercy. And so we live in grace given by our wonderful Lord.

--Justin Steckbauer One of the gifts we receive from Jesus is an entirely new foundation upon which to build our lives. Once you receive Him, He becomes your new foundation and every day you walk with Him, you build on it.

--Stormie Omartian The world teaches us to be self-sufficient, selfreliant, self-motivating. But anytime we put self before Savior, we're in trouble.

--Toni Sorenson

People can change their external lives with religion, but a lasting internal change only happens through a daily relationship with Jesus.

--Alisa Hope Wagner The Bible says Judas delivered Jesus over, and Pilate delivered Him over, and Herod and the Jewish people and the Gentiles delivered Him over, and we delivered Him over. It even says Jesus delivered Himself over. But Paul said the ultimate thing (in Romans 8:32a). In and behind and beneath and through all these human deliverings, God was delivering His Son to death. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.� In Judas and Pilate and Herod and Jewish crowds and Gentile soldiers and our sin and Jesus' lamblike submission, God delivered over His Son (for our salvation). Nothing greater has ever happened.

--John Piper It is refreshing, and salutary, to study the poise and quietness of Christ. His task and responsibility might well have driven a man out of his mind. But He was never in a hurry, never impressed by numbers, never a slave of the clock.

--J.B. Phillips

Here's a side to the Christmas story that isn't often told: Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant's head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die.

--John MacArthur The word of the Father by whom all time was created was made flesh and born in time for us. Jesus without whose divine permission no day completes its course, wished to have one of those days for His human birth. In the bosom of His Father He existed before all the cycles of the ages. Born of an earthly mother, He entered on the course of the years on that very day. The maker of man became man that He ruler of the stars might be nourished at the breast, that He the bread might be hungry, that He the fountain might thirst, that He the light might sleep, that He the way might be wearied in the journey, that He the truth might be accused by false witnesses,

that He the judge of the living and the dead might be brought to trial by a mortal judge, that He justice itself might be condemned by the unjust, that He discipline personified might be scourged with a whip, that He the foundation might be suspended on a cross, that He courage incarnate might be weak, and He security itself might be wounded, and He life itself might die.

--Augustine The simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind, than all the (investigations) disquisitions of philosophers and than all the exhortations of moralists.

--William Edward Hartpole Lecky Music is something that I can't imagine living without, and though it means more to me than the world itself, there is something that weighs significantly heavier on the scale of all things valuable and important in my life, that being my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am left breathless, completely and utterly bereft of speech at how the Lord has chosen to use music in my life and what I do as Owl City to plant seeds, spread light like fire in

an age where darkness feels more oppressive than ever, and ultimately, to glorify Him. I am endlessly honored and humbled that He should use me — a completely average, ordinary shy boy from the middle of nowhere, to do great things in order to further His kingdom.

--Adam Young Jesus sheds tears for those that shed His blood.

--Thomas Watson If the death of Christ on the cross is the true meaning of the Incarnation, then there is no gospel without the cross. Christmas by itself is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. Even the resurrection, important as it is in the total scheme of things, is no gospel by itself. For the good news is not just that God became man, nor that God has spoken to reveal a proper way of life for us, or even that death, the great enemy, is conquered. Rather, the good news is that sin has been dealt with (of which the resurrection is a proof); that Jesus has suffered its penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it; and that therefore all who believe in Him can look forward to heaven.

--James Montgomery Boice

God is not content to leave all people under His wrath. Nor can he simply sweep sin under the rug of the universe. Therefore His love and His justice conspire to make a way for sinners to be saved and God's justice to be vindicated. The answer is the death of Jesus Christ.

--John Piper Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best, stripped that I might be clothed, wounded that I might be healed, athirst that I might drink, tormented that I might be comforted, made a shame that I might inherit glory, entered darkness that I might have eternal light. My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes, groaned that I might have endless song, endured all pain that I might have unfading health, bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem, bowed his head that I might uplift mine, experienced reproach that I might receive welcome, closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness, expired that I might for ever live.

--Selected

I gave Jesus a crown of thorns, He gave me a crown of righteousness. I gave Him a cross to carry, He gave me His yoke which is easy, His burden which is light. I gave Him nails through His hands, He gave me safely into His Father's hands from which no power can pluck me. I gave Him a mock title, ‘This is the King of the Jews.' He gave me a new name and made me a king and a priest to God. I gave Him no covering, stripping His clothes from Him, He gave me a garment of salvation. I gave Him mockery, casting the same in His teeth, He gave me Paradise. I gave Him vinegar to drink, He gave me Living Water. I crucified and slew Him on a tree, He gave me eternal life. It was my sinfulness that put Him there. It is His sinlessness that puts me here.

--Derick Bingham Our hope doesn't rest on our finally getting it together. Our hope rests in Jesus. Jesus in us. It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. We won't be perfect on this side of heaven. But Jesus is perfect. Always.

We are becoming more holy and true. Jesus already is. His name isn't “Becoming.” It is “I Am.” Perfection isn't the goal. Jesus is.

--Stasi Eldredge

Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been!

He always thinks about what we are going to be.

--A.W. Tozer The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

--Timothy Keller Narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ.

--Oswald Chambers In Jesus Christ, there is no distance or separation between the medium and the message: it is the one case where we can say that the medium and the message are fully one and the same.

--Marshall McLuhan The real evidence for Jesus and Christianity is in how Jesus and the Christianity based on him manifest themselves in the lives of practicing Christians.

--Lionel Blue

And through a dark night of the soul, I came to realize that salvation happens through a mysterious, indefinable, relational interaction with Jesus in which we become one with Him. I realized Christian conversion worked more like falling in love than understanding a series of concepts of ideas. This is not to say there are no true ideas, it is only to say there is something else, something beyond.

--Donald Miller Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith, is the wildest, most radical guy you'd ever come across.

--Bear Grylls Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendor.

--Charles Spurgeon The great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God's commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to return in glory to our heavenly home. . . . "It will

take unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life. It is by using that faith we can know the will of God. It is by acting on that faith we build the strength to do the will of God. And it is by exercising that faith in Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation and gain forgiveness through the Atonement.

--Henry B. Eyring If only Jesus' followers shared his personality. That one shift alone would correct so many of the ridiculous and horrifying things that pass for popular Christianity.

--John Eldredge The primary qualification for a missionary is not love for souls, as we so often hear, but love for Christ.

--Vance Havner To be a Christian means that God has become our point of reference and framework. 'In him we live and move and have our being.' As Christians we need to become more and more self-consciously aware of this truth.

--Eric Mason

Our Lord told His disciples that love and obedience were organically united. The final test of love is obedience.

--A.W. Tozer It is inconceivable that a person could fall in love with the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, in the biblical sense and not long to be conformed to the object of that affection.

--John Hannah Love to Jesus is the basis of all true piety, and the intensity of this love will ever be the measure of our zeal for His glory. Let us love Him with all our hearts, and then diligent labor, and consistent living will be sure to follow.

--Charles Spurgeon When I put my faith in Jesus Christ as my savior, and I asked him to forgive and to come into my life, and He does - from that moment forward I have established a personal relationship with God that I have to develop through Bible reading and prayer, and living my life for him.

--Anne Graham Lotz

[O]nly if the form of Christ can be lived out in the community of the church is the confession of the church true; only if Christ can be practiced is Jesus Lord. No matter how often the subsequent history of the church belied this confession, it is this presence within time of an eschatological and divine peace, really incarnate in the person of Jesus and forever imparted to the body of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, that remains the very essence of the church's evangelical appeal to the world at large, and of the salvation it proclaims.

--David Bentley Hart Let people know that you will always believe in the happy ending to the story--because the story doesn't end here. Some happy endings will never be read in this life. But the atonement of Jesus Christ promises us that our stories will all have successful conclusions one day, if we put our trust in him.

--Emily Watts From the heights of heaven Jesus Christ mercifully looks down upon you and graciously invites you there.

--Francis De Sales

We need a more peaceful world, growing out of more peaceful families and neighborhoods and communities. To secure and cultivate such peace, "we must love others, even our enemies as well as our friends." The world needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who are filled with the love of Christ do not seek to force others to do better; they inspire others to do better, indeed inspire them to the pursuit of God. We need to extend the hand of friendship.

We need to be kinder, more gentle, more forgiving, and slower to anger. We need to love one another with the pure love of Christ. May this be our course and our desire.

--Howard W. Hunter Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end.

Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come.

--Jeffrey R. Holland Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after

switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.

--John Piper

Jesus, in His Own Words We have read much of what men have said about Christ. But what did Christ say about Himself?

I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me. I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.

I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.

Believest thou this?

I am the true Vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.

I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I shall give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. This is the Bread which came down from heaven.

I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Fear not; I am the First and the Last: Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

Jesus Christ: The Way...

Jesus Christ said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” In the early days after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven, the people we now call followers of Christ simply called their new faith “The Way.” The Way? Yes, the Way to joy, peace, eternal life, union with God, and a relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. Do you want to know The Way to all these things? Keep reading.

Dear Friend, you have just finished reading a book that represents compelling evidence that Jesus Christ... ...was born and lived upon planet Earth and set the greatest example for mankind... ...that He died for our sins... ...that He rose again for our justification... ...and that He had the greatest impact upon men and women, boys and girls throughout all ages and around the world...

My simple question is, do you know Him as your personal Saviour? If for some reason you do not, here is how you can know Him today: First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin.

The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The Bible also says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Fourth, accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Fifth, accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jesus Christ, John 3:16).

Sixth, with these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask

Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment.

The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Seventh, if you are willing to trust Christ as your Savior, please pray with me the following prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner. For Jesus Christ’s sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life. Amen.

What to do After You Enter Through the Door Jesus Christ said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” If you entered the “door” by giving your heart and life to Jesus Christ by praying the prayer on the previous page, congratulations! Now, here are some things you need to do to jump-start your walk with Jesus Christ—the same Jesus that so many others have walked with before.

Jesus Christ said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).

I am convinced that there are many people who have entered through the “Door,” that is, they have been truly saved, but, sadly, no one ever sat down with them and told them correctly what they should do after they have entered through the “Door.”

Getting saved is most important, but what you do after you are saved is very important as well. Following are seven things that you definitely need to do after you are saved: 1. Get Baptized. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” It is very important that you obey the Lord and follow Him in Believers’ Baptism. Even if you were baptized at another time in your life, if you are just

now truly getting saved, you still need to be baptized again because you were not saved the first time you were baptized. You see, we don’t get baptized to be saved; rather, we get baptized because we are saved.

2. Join a good church. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Let’s face it: everything that says church on it is not necessarily a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. For there are many false churches and teachers in the world.

Below are some marks of a good church: A. The pastor preaches from the Word of God— the Bible—and he strives to practice what he preaches.

B. The church stands on the basics of the Christian faith. The basics of the Christian faith are: • • • • •

The Bible is inspired by God The Deity of Jesus Christ The Blood Atonement for Sin by Jesus Christ Salvation by Faith in Jesus Christ The Imminent Return of Jesus Christ

C. An emphasis is placed on reaching out to others with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

D. The love of Jesus Christ is shown.

These are just a few marks of a good church. Pray and follow the Lord’s leading.

3. Allow yourself to be trained. Matthew 28:20 says, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” This will mean that you will have to humble yourself and listen to your pastor and those he appoints to help you. You see, becoming a Christian is something totally new to you and there are many important things that you will have to learn from others who are trained and have the experience.

4. Pray daily. Luke 18:1 says, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint.” You will find that regular prayer unto God will be one of your greatest sources of strength, power and blessing.

5. Read your Bible daily. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” As they say, “When you pray, you talk to God. When you read your Bible, God talks to you.” Do you want to live a vibrant, strong, useful and successful Christian life? Then you will want to read and meditate on your Bible daily.

6. Witness for Christ daily. Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Jesus Christ commands us to witness for Him. One of the greatest

joys you will ever have in this life is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with another person. A greater joy is to see them come to know your Saviour as their Saviour. So plant the seed everywhere you go and allow God to use you to “turn many from darkness to light.”

7. If you are willing to follow Jesus Christ as one of His disciples, pray with me the following prayer: Holy Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ please forgive and cleanse me of all sin. Create within me a pure heart and a right spirit. Please help me to do the things that I just read, and grant me your grace to be a Christian that will glorify your name. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Congratulations on entering through the “Door” of Eternal Life by believing in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Trusting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour is the most important thing you will ever do.

Now that you are saved, let’s live for the One who died for us. God bless you as you serve Him.

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Adrian Rogers Kirsten Powers Mary J. Blige Dietrich Bonhoeffer Candace Cameron Bure LeBron James Philip Yancey Craig Groeschel Samuel Rodriguez Bear Grylls Nick Vujicic Elisabeth Elliot Lysa TerKeurst Steph Curry Anne Graham Lotz Russell Wilson Eric Metaxas Lovie Smith Stephen Colbert Zig Ziglar