Great/inspirational quotes

[Keith Martin]

We must decide whether we are going to put our money into buildings, or into the message. For nearly 1,900 years now, the Church has been putting its money into buildings; and, instead of getting out the message, we have been erecting magnificent and luxurious auditoriums in which to worship God.

Some false cults have been much wiser. They put their money into their erroneous message. They know that the message is more important than buildings. Yet all over the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada we are still investing in bricks and mortar, whereas God wants us to invest in the message.

God did not tell us to build luxurious “churches” and invite the people to come in. He told us to go out with the message and preach the Gospel to the entire world. Let us put our money not into building, but into the message.

Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986)

 

[Mojo]

We must decide whether we are going to put our money into buildings, or into the message. For nearly 1,900 years now, the Church has been putting its money into buildings; and, instead of getting out the message, we have been erecting magnificent and luxurious auditoriums in which to worship God.

Some false cults have been much wiser. They put their money into their erroneous message. They know that the message is more important than buildings. Yet all over the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada we are still investing in bricks and mortar, whereas God wants us to invest in the message.

God did not tell us to build luxurious “churches” and invite the people to come in. He told us to go out with the message and preach the Gospel to the entire world. Let us put our money not into building, but into the message.

Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986)

Mega dittos.

 

[frederick]

We must decide whether we are going to put our money into buildings, or into the message. For nearly 1,900 years now, the Church has been putting its money into buildings; and, instead of getting out the message, we have been erecting magnificent and luxurious auditoriums in which to worship God.

Some false cults have been much wiser. They put their money into their erroneous message. They know that the message is more important than buildings. Yet all over the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada we are still investing in bricks and mortar, whereas God wants us to invest in the message.

God did not tell us to build luxurious “churches” and invite the people to come in. He told us to go out with the message and preach the Gospel to the entire world. Let us put our money not into building, but into the message.

Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986)

Thanks @Keith Martin. This has been my conviction for many years and the same regarding cemeteries, oh, I mean seminaries. The command in my Bible is to preach the gospel and make disciples. Hmmm....but maybe there is a bible version that has a command to erect cathedrals and give doctorates of ministry(?).

 

[Keith Martin]

Thanks @Keith Martin. This has been my conviction for many years and the same regarding cemeteries, oh, I mean seminaries. The command in my Bible is to preach the gospel and make disciples. Hmmm....but maybe there is a bible version that has a command to erect cathedrals and give doctorates of ministry(?).

If there is, it's probably either the Latin Vulgate or the KJV.

;^)

 

[Keith Martin]

"How can anyone worship if he does not go to church?" This is the question often asked. This query does nothing more than reveal the ignorance of the one who asks it concerning the meaning and character of true worship. Here is another quid pro quo which would make worship to be that which men do in "church" on Sunday, therefore, he who does not attend "church" does not worship. This is denied.

True worship is always a personal and individual matter, which while it may be done with a company, it will not be at all unless it is done by an individual. True worship is heartfelt adoration of God because of who He is, what He is, and what He does. It is never dependent upon place or ritual. It needs no established forms or ceremonies. Whenever because of revealed truth a heart responds with adoration and gratitude because of what God is or what He has done, that is worship.

Otis Q. Sellers (1901-1992)
Christian Individualism:
A Way of Life for the Active Believer in Jesus Christ (1961)

 

[rockfox]

We must decide whether we are going to put our money into buildings, or into the message. For nearly 1,900 years now, the Church has been putting its money into buildings; and, instead of getting out the message, we have been erecting magnificent and luxurious auditoriums in which to worship God.

Some false cults have been much wiser. They put their money into their erroneous message. They know that the message is more important than buildings. Yet all over the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada we are still investing in bricks and mortar, whereas God wants us to invest in the message.

God did not tell us to build luxurious “churches” and invite the people to come in. He told us to go out with the message and preach the Gospel to the entire world. Let us put our money not into building, but into the message.

Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986)

The problem isn't misplaced priorities, the problem is they don't believe their message. American Christianity has spent the last 100 years modifying the Gospel and the church to make it more pleasing to lost men. They don't believe the Gospel of the Kingdom is good enough. They prefer comfort and the approval of men to obedience and sacrificial service to God.

 

[steve]

The problem isn't misplaced priorities, the problem is they don't believe their message. American Christianity has spent the last 100 years modifying the Gospel and the church to make it more pleasing to lost men. They don't believe the Gospel of the Kingdom is good enough. They prefer comfort and the approval of men to obedience and sacrificial service to God.

They have embraced the nurturing side of Yah and rejected His justice.
Not only have they feminized the church, they have feminized the Almighty.

 

[rockfox]

Not only have they feminized the church, they have feminized the Almighty.

That is very true. They've entirely tossed out all the masculine qualities such as justice, awe (fear inspiring), etc. He's no different than a walking wish wallet now.

 

[steve]

He's no different than a walking wish wallet who loves them.

 

[Mojo]

Perfect spot to link a great article from another post:

http://magazine.biola.edu/article/06-spring/the-feminization-of-the-church/

 

[Keith Martin]

Another great inspirational quote:

"For some of us who have been so habituated to institutional, highly structured, professionally led, building-centered Christianity, it feels like we are abandoning the Lord to so simplify our Christian walk. It has been reinforced in our psyche that “good Christians” go to church every week so we won’t be guilty of forsaking the assembling of ourselves together and so we are properly fed spiritually. Ceasing to follow that routine feels very strange at first, and the churchgoers in your family will begin to express concerns about your 'backsliding' when they note you aren’t going to church regularly as you once did. Those who have the church-as-a-building-with-religious-programs-you-go-to mindset cannot conceive that relaxed, simple conversation going beyond surface banter that results in everyone involved loving God and each other more deeply can be 'church.'

Steven L. Rogers
Quit “Going” to Church…and Other Musings of a Former Institutional Man

 

[Keith Martin]

Old notions of every kind, and most of all religious notions, are hard to dislodge from the mind. It does not matter how unscriptural they may be, or illogical, or even absurd, if only they have been believed for generations, if only they have been entertained by good and learned men, if only they have found a way into the current versions of the Bible, they are reverently received, and become “fixed” ideas.

The original Scriptures were divinely inspired, and therefore all their statements on a given subject are in full accord one with another; but the translations of the Scriptures, like the ecclesiastical systems which produced them, were not inspired, and the peculiar reverence frequently given to their opinions is not grounded in reasons, and would often be amusing if it were not sad. Traditions of good men and current versions (even though “authorized”) are broken reeds to lean upon, and those relying thereon are certain to experience disappointment.

Vladimir Gelesnoff (1877-1921)
Unsearchable Riches, vol. 5

 

[Joleneakamama]

This was very well said.

God's greatest gift to us aside from the potential for salvation is life itself, but when we expect everyone to sacrifice whatever they have to sacrifice in order to ensure that life lasts as long as possible no matter what pain they go through or what other suffering they have to endure or what pure joys associated with life they have to eschew to just rack up the days, then instead of honoring life we are instead fetishizing it.

Thank you @Keith Martin

 

[Keith Martin]

Is the love we bear our kindred a weakness of our earthly natures? Shall we drop it, in the resurrection? Nay, love is divine. It infuses into this life whatever there is of Heaven. It will constitute the atmosphere of the better land, for “God is love.” And, if one soul should fail of admission there, it would sadden all Heaven, nay, it would send a pang through the heart of God.

Daniel Parker Livermore (1818-1899)
Publisher and editor of the periodical The New Covenant
Voices of the Faith (1887)

 

[Keith Martin]

If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. These found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here [England] and in New England.

Benjamin Franklin
Toleration

 

[Keith Martin]

The fatal tendency of the church to pass from spiritual to moral issues, from evangelical effort to social sanitation, are but symptoms that the god of this eon is blinding the minds of the unbelievers in it.

A.E. Knoch (1874-1965)
The Unveiling, 12:7-17

 

[Keith Martin]

A religious spirit is a work of deception perpetuated by evil, which gives the person plagued by it a certain air of self-righteousness, but it’s more than attitude. It is a spiritual oppression that attacks the individual’s motivation under the surface.

Paul Vieira
Jesus Has Left the Building

 

[Keith Martin]

The religious spirit is obsessively preoccupied with appearances. It is rooted in a fear of man. Everything the Pharisees did, they did for others to see. Jesus taught us to do what we do before the Lord.

Paul Vieira
Jesus Has Left the Building

 

[IshChayil]

They have embraced the nurturing side of Yah and rejected His justice.
Not only have they feminized the church, they have feminized the Almighty.

Also they have watered down the command in Hebrew to "fear the L-rd your G-d" with "revere."
There are not 2 words in Hebrew, 1 meaning "fear" and the other meaning "have reverence."
There is 1 word, "fear!"
Fear + Love is how we are to approach the King and yet half of the equation is never seriously taught.

 

[steve]

Also they have watered down the command in Hebrew to "fear the L-rd your G-d" with "revere."
There are not 2 words in Hebrew, 1 meaning "fear" and the other meaning "have reverence."
There is 1 word, "fear!"
Fear + Love is how we are to approach the King and yet half of the equation is never seriously taught.

So true.
They only want the loving G-d, not one that they should fear.