David Timms > Quotes

“Our vision of the heavenly realm...can sustain us through the most difficult of days and circumstances. It births hope amidst hardship and nurtures faith amidst opposition.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“If Jesus pounded away on any kingdom principle, He pounded on equality. The kingdom of God has no room for status-hunting.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Authentic community will undoubtedly be marked by conflict, risk, and rejection. At the same time it offers the deepest levels of acceptance, intimacy, and support.8 Virtual community declares mine and yours and his and hers as though everyone lives independent lives linked only by a thread or two. But genuine community demands an authentic, collective, inclusive our—multiple lives woven strongly together, not simply hanging by threads.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Nevertheless, a fixed reference point does exist—in Scripture. We find a ready-made summary not in the saints or scholars of the past, but in Christ himself.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Ultimately, the Lord’s Prayer reveals more about how to live than how to pray.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Our Father calls and invites us to new places—the ground zero of spiritual formation.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“In spite of the messages of Western culture, personal fulfillment lies in connection, not autonomy. Spirituality is the discovery of the fundamental connection that exists between us and God.”7”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“If we are to grow as persons . . . we must consciously participate in the emerging community of our lives, in the claims made upon us by others as well as our claims upon them. Only in community does the person appear in the first place, and only in community can the person continue to become.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“However, if homelessness presents a challenge, the problem of lovelessness poses an even greater threat to society. We see symptoms of lovelessness, for example, in the rate of reported domestic violence, which has escalated dramatically in recent decades. In the United States, 5.3 million women are abused each year,4 and nearly one in three American women reports being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in her life.5 Everywhere we look we see displaced and neglected people.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“If we are to grow as persons . . . we must consciously participate in the emerging community of our lives, in the claims made upon us by others as well as our claims upon them. Only in community does the person appear in the first place, and only in community can the person continue to become.11”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Thomas à Kempis lived in the fifteenth century. His classic work, entitled The Imitation of Christ, has been one of the most widely read and recommended books in all of Christian history. In”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“the average age of a homeless person is nine, and families account for nearly 40 percent of the homeless numbers.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“beyond the millions of discarded and abandoned souls, we encounter millions of others who live their lives in terrible isolation and loneliness.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Harvard professor Robert Putnam’s ground-breaking book Bowling Alone stirred the conscience of America in 2001, when he showed that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, socialize with friends less frequently, and even get together with our families less often. 6 Latchkey kids return to empty homes each day from school, and our electronic culture entertains us without meaningful social interaction. These experiences, among others, contribute to the growing alienation that we sense.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Our interest in the will of God tends to spring more from curiosity or fear than devotion to Him. We think it would be helpful to get a glimpse of our lives five years from now. We certainly don’t want to make a mistake that could cause us grief. “Lord, a little guidance, please?” But this preoccupation with the future, more than the will of God, may hurt us more than help us. Perhaps we will find deepest satisfaction not in second-guessing the future but living fully in this moment, this day. As we live in His presence, we live in His will.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“C. S. Lewis countered the accusation of heavenly-mindedness when he wrote: “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”15 On another occasion he stated: “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“We will only wait on Him with joy if we have deep confidence in His love for us.”
― David Timms, Sacred Waiting: Waiting on God in a World that Waits for Nothing

“We dare go no further in spiritual formation until we decide, once and for all, firmly and unreservedly, that we cannot love God if we do not love our brother (1 John 4:20); that we cannot be one with Him if we disregard the unity of His body (Ephesians 4:3–6); that we cannot know the fellowship of the Trinity except that we enter fully into the Christian community (Philippians 2:1–2).”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“We also encounter a prayer that does not seek to get God’s attention but to give our attention to Him.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer

“Our binds us together. It becomes the glue between all believers. It jolts us to recall that we stand together before God with all His children—equally, interdependently, without favoritism or exception. Our levels the playing field. It erases distinctions, labels, and status issues. It renders us the same. My excludes others. Our is the language of inclusion.”
― David Timms, Living the Lord's Prayer