John Koessler > Quotes

“Rest is synonymous with grace, which is never seized by force but always taken hold of freely by faith.”
― John Koessler, The Radical Pursuit of Rest

“The silence of this age is an exclamatory silence. God has stopped talking because all that needs to be said has been summed up in the person of Christ. Those who preach do not come with a new word. Instead, they declare and apply that which has already been said. Like the apostle Paul, the preacher’s message is shaped by a determination to “know nothing … except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).”
― John Koessler, Folly, Grace, and Power: The Mysterious Act of Preaching

“The Bible clearly teaches God's sovereignty and human responsibility. The great Charles H. Spurgeon of London was asked to reconcile these two truths. He answered, “I wouldn't try. I never reconcile friends.”
― John Koessler, The Moody Handbook of Preaching

“Life and thought mutually illuminate each other: I come to understand what I believe and the language I use only as I live it, and I am able to live my belief and the language I use only as I come to understand them more clearly.”9”
― John Koessler, Folly, Grace, and Power: The Mysterious Act of Preaching

“gross insensitivity. In some cases, it removes many of the thoughts and practices that were once called sins from the category of sin altogether. They are choices, alternative lifestyles, or if they are negative, simply mistakes. The fatal flaw in this perspective is its exclusion of God. It is the same flaw that has corrupted our notion of virtue. Where there is no God, there is no sin. Where there is no God, there is no virtue, either. There are only privately or commonly held standards. What renders an action a sin is that it is ultimately committed against God.”
― John Koessler, Dangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good

“Ethos can amplify the preacher’s message, but it cannot serve as a substitute for the authority of the biblical text. Good ethos is not a guarantee of good results. Godly preachers like Jeremiah are sometimes ignored, while surly and self-centered preachers like Jonah may be heeded beyond all expectation.”
― John Koessler, Folly, Grace, and Power: The Mysterious Act of Preaching

“Jesus came for us, but that doesn't mean he came to please us. Jesus came for us, but he does not answer to us. Jesus came for us, but he will not subject himself to our agenda . . .”
― John Koessler, The Surprising Grace of Disappointment: Finding Hope when God Seems to Fail Us