Struggleville: November 2012

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The late Calvin Miller was one of our professors at Beeson Divinity School when my wife and I were students there. His passion for God and for his students was such an encouragement to us during those years. Since then I have read at least a dozen of his books and learned valuable insights about myself, my God and my own pursuit of Him. His memoir, Life is Mostly Edges, offers the reader valuable insight into major influences in Dr. Miller's life. Two things he wrote stuck with me as it pertains to ministry.

Sermons are only noble when they are so "see-through" that the pastor's need for God is clearly visible through his words.

Good teachers teach what they are more than what they know.

Challenging words for anyone who leads, teaches or preaches. The best sermons, lessons, and classes are discovered when you find yourself being influenced by your knowledge of the person communicating and the authenticity of their life of faith more than any theologizing, exegeting, or pontificating. Although, believers will have parts of the first 2 mixed in with their life if it truly is God-honoring.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Quoteable Quotes

"Fellowship with other disciples, living and dead, is another practice essential to the "Christ focus."

"Knowledge 'at a distance,' knowing certain 'facts' about something, doesn't amount to knowing it."

"Jesus is the human face on the kingdom of God. He makes it concretely accessible."

"Jesus, however, did not send his people out to make Christians or to start churches as we understand them today. He sent them to make disciples (students, apprentices) to him and, supported by his presence, to teach them all that he had taught by word and deed. That is a very different type of enterprise!"