The vocation of pastor has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans.

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This kingdom of God life is not a matter of waking up each morning with a list of chores or an agenda to be tended to, left on our bedside table by the Holy Spirit for us while we slept. We wake up already immersed in a large story of creation and covenant, of Israel and Jesus, the story of Jesus and the stories that Jesus told. We let ourselves be formed by these formative stories, and especially as we listen to the stories that Jesus tells, get a feel for the way he does it, the way he talks, the way he treats people, the Jesus way.

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We cannot be too careful about the words we use; we start out using them and they end up using us.

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The gospel is never about everybody else; it is always about you, about me. The gospel is never truth in general; it's always a truth in specific. The gospel is never a commentary on ideas or cultures or conditions; it's always about actual persons, actual pains, actual troubles, actual sin; you, me; who you are and what you've done; who I am and what I've done.

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The Bible is not a script for a funeral service, but it is the record of God always bringing life where we expected to find death. Everywhere it is the story of resurrection.

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The life of faith isn't meant for tourists. It's meant for pilgrims.

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One way to define spiritual life is getting so tired and fed up with yourself you go on to something better, which is following Jesus.

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Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship.

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The life of faith is a daily exploration of the constant and countless ways in which Gods grace and love are expereinced

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Prayer is the disciplined refusal to act before God acts.

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