From Douglas A. Jacoby’s A Quick Overview of the Bible: Understanding How All the Pieces Fit Together

The church was never meant to be an association of nice people, but an army on the move. Though we should not ignore the family imagery in Scripture, there is a reason the church is persecuted: Its message is disturbing, and those who proclaim this message must not compromise. In a world as dark and dysfunctional as ours, those who take the light will at the times appear abnormal and even ungracious (though they aren’t).

From David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream

We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.

From John Piper’s Reading the Bible Supernaturally:

Which means, therefore, that our Bible reading is never just for seeing, never just for learning and doctrine. It is not even just for savoring, if that savoring is thought of in a private way that leaves us unchanged in our relationship with others. No. We read the Bible—we always read the Bible—for the kind of seeing and savoring Christ that transforms us into his likeness.

From Gordon Ferguson’s Romans: The Heart Set Free

The Holy Spirit is vitally concerned about every aspect of our lives. He loves us. He cares how we feel. He intercedes because he is an Encourager and a Counselor to us.

From John Piper’s Reading the Bible Supernaturally:

The Bible itself shows that our ultimate goal in reading the Bible is that God’s infinite worth and beauty would be exalted in the everlasting, white-hot worship of the blood-bought bride of Christ from every people, language, tribe, and nation. In other words, each time we pick up the Bible to read, we should intend that reading would lead to this end.

From Robert E. Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism:

Evangelism is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we are called to be and do. It is the commission of the church that gives meaning to all else that is undertaken in the name of Christ. With this purpose clearly in focus, everything that is done and said has glorious fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose—educational institutions, social programs, hospitals, church meetings of any kind—everything done in the name of Christ has its justification in fulfilling this mission.

From Robert E. Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism:

Having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program—just letting his disciples follow him.

From Gordon Ferguson’s Romans: The Heart Set Free

The only motivation for serving God that can last a lifetime is our love responding to his grace. Fear may get our attention, but it will not keep it to the same degree that grace will.

From N.T. Wright’s Surprised By Hope:

The power of the gospel lies not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire…which can be removed if only the hearer checks this box, says this prayer, raises a hand, or whatever, but in the powerful announcement that God is God, that Jesus is Lord, that the powers of evil have been defeated, that God’s new world has begun.