Tom Smith > Quotes

“Tom Smith masterfully weaves together the lives of his father George, his daughter Danielle, and his nephew Blake, creating a tapestry of experiences that are both heart-wrenching and inspiring.
-Flying Books”
― Tom Smith, The Three O’Clock Calls

“We cannot listen to the voice of God in a hurry.”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life

“can’t build the church with any great idea, plan or management. The church is built by Someone else.”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life

“I grew up in a church culture where it was all about 'having Jesus in your heart.' Churches were interested in getting Jesus into hearts and populating heaven with people who have Jesus in their hearts. There wasn’t a lot of emphasis on the Jesus life through the rest of my anatomy and into everyday life. The Jesus life was disembodied. It was this version of the Jesus story that allowed a gross system like apartheid to form in my home country, South Africa. We accepted Jesus into our hearts and worshiped him on Sunday, but during the rest of the week we used our bodies and the rest of our complex lives in ways that oppressed other people. We segregated Jesus from the raw material of our everyday life.”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life

“The more we train ourselves to spend time with God and him alone, the more we will discover that God is with us at all times and in all places. Henri Nouwen”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life

“Scientists say we only see around 10% of an iceberg above water; but, it's the remaining 90% underneath that damages the ships and often sinks them (like the Titanic). In reality, the same is true with our mental, emotional and spiritual icebergs. The only difference is we end up spending the rest of our lives trying to stay afloat, continuing trying to plug the holes and bail out the water that's making us sink.”
― Tom Smith

“church is not a theater where some people perform and the rest become spectators or critics. Church is not the place where we perform.”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life

“The usual way in which we try to become like God is first to eliminate the God who reveals himself in human form and reimagine God as the god I want to be, invest this reimagined god with my own god fantasies, and then take charge of the god business.”
― Tom Smith, Raw Spirituality: The Rhythms of the Jesus Life