Hearts Afire with Wonder

Too often, we're given the impression that life after faith in Christ is met with a burdensome list of things to do, but there appears to be none of that burden in the book of Acts. Instead, people who've been hit with the gospel respond naturally with radically changed lives and hearts. The church and the ministries of the church are gospel centered when they flow from hearts that are afire with wonder at the glory and grace of God, revealed in the person of Jesus.

--Daniel Montgomery & Mike Cosper, Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 23.

When One Good Thing Becomes Everything

Fads lead to factions; people committed to one fad usually position themselves against another fad, rallying around their fad and declaring war on the opposition. Churches divide and denominations and movements form when one good thing becomes everything.

--Daniel Montgomery & Mike Cosper, Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 15.

True Greatness

Jesus is saying that we carry those positions of responsibility as those who believe that greatness has little relation to the position one has and more to do with the quality of life in Christ that one humbly offers. Every moment of obscure service makes the hall of fame in heaven. This means that everybody, no matter what color, what economic reality, what gender, or what position they have or will never have in this life can do something great for God.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 562.

Looking for the Extraordinary

Church success can damage our souls when definitions of success are removed from what God teaches us in Eden--when ordinary persons and places made in God's image and given by him are not extraordinary or exceptional enough for us.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 462.

A Definition of Christian Ministry

I believe that Christian life and ministry are an apprenticeship with Jesus toward recovering our humanity and, through his Spirit, helping our neighbors do the same.

--Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), Kindle location 217.