Thought Provoking Quotes

I just flew back from Atlanta, where I attended a multi-day conference on family ministry in the church. Some random quotes from the Orange Conference …



We have a deep, compulsive need to control the way we are perceived and this insecurity messes everything up. Yes, even in the church. We tend to hide from honest evaluation. We long to appear decisive and leader-like and godly to others. Humility and team and spiritual family lose out.


We can stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory. We did this last year, and it was great. That church on the other side of town is doing this, and they’re growing. So we should do it, too, right? Really? The Spirit specializes in fresh works. Which leads to:


There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. God’s not out of ideas yet. Culture hasn’t stopped evolving. We need to keep looking to our creative God for new ways to reach out.


Focus on your own &*!@ family. Even though this was lifted from a bumper sticker that opposed Focus on the Family as an organization, this talk wasn’t a slam against the group. Rather, the speaker gave an impassioned reminder to be intentional with our families at home. Am I working hard on my job to make a big impact, be more innovative, go deeper? Great! But I also need to pour that same kind of energy into my own family.


Most people in our culture are moralistic, therapeutic deists. Meaning this:


moralistic – they value certain forms of being nice and good, and are willing to judge some kinds of evil; therapeutic – they seek happiness above all and want to feel good about themselves, others, and life; deists – they believe in a distant and vague God who is basically uninvolved in their lives until they feel a need for him.


These descriptions mark the people and families we’re trying to reach. They permeate the people who sit in our services. Changed lives won’t happen until we address them. Our job is to help people recalibrate their morals, personal goals and view of God to a biblical view.

~Jan Cooper