Wendy Alsup > Quotes

“Don't be content with the Christian desk calendar approach to Christianity. Don't be satisfied with a daily practical saying or some three-step process for being a good wife or a better friend. God has both called you and equipped you to know him. We have no excuse to remain ignorant of his character. Seek God's face. Understand his character. Pursue knowledge of him, for apart from the "fear of the Lord" and "the knowledge of the Holy One" (Proverbs 9:10) we have no hope for being a wise mother, sister, wife, or friend.”
― Wendy Horger Alsup, Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives

“There is a lot in Christianity today that is easily defended by human logic but utterly lacking in a biblical foundation.”
― Wendy Horger Alsup, Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives

“Jesus says the evidence of our understanding of God's grace toward us is our grace toward others”
― Wendy Alsup, The Gospel Centered Woman: Understanding Biblical Womanhood through the Lens of the Gospel

“The entirety of the Christian walk is figuring out, for a lifetime, all the things the gospel changes about ourselves and the ways it changes them.”
― Wendy Alsup, The Gospel Centered Woman: Understanding Biblical Womanhood through the Lens of the Gospel

“We are children of God who are both passively connected to God and actively encouraged to seek His presence. These dueling images of abiding frees us from both legalism and apathy. I am kept secure in Christ through no work of my own, yet God calls me to actively participate in using the resources provided to me through this union.”
― Wendy Alsup, The Gospel Centered Woman: Understanding Biblical Womanhood through the Lens of the Gospel

“Practically speaking, when I mix up my roles at any given stage of life with my ultimate identity, I end up in idolatry.”
― Wendy Alsup, The Gospel Centered Woman: Understanding Biblical Womanhood through the Lens of the Gospel

“He alone has the amazing ability to turn the worst of circumstances into something beautiful and precious for his name's sake.”
― Wendy Horger Alsup, Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives

“Left on our own and apart from Christ, you and I tend toward very warped views of what is right.”
― Wendy Horger Alsup, Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives

“When I face the frustrations and disappointments of life, I have access to supernatural, resurrection strength to miraculously transform my dead, stinking thought processes. Do you believe that the very power that raised Christ from the dead is at work for you right now? My prayer to God for us all is that we really understand the resurrection power at work for us. May God open our eyes to his ability to transform our attitudes and responses in spiritual freedom just as he released Christ from the bonds of death.”
― Wendy Alsup, By His Wounds You are Healed: How the Message of Ephesians Transforms a Woman's Identity

“In this weaving together of the story of the Old Testament, four simple categories help identify how each part points to Jesus in the New Testament: 1. The easiest category is made up of passages or verses that offer prophecies of the coming Messiah, such as the Genesis 3:15 reference to Eve’s seed defeating Satan. Isaiah 53 and 61 are other examples. 2. Then we find stories that show God’s work to preserve the lineage of Christ, such as Joseph’s actions in Egypt that kept Abraham’s descendants from dying out. Esther, Rahab, and Ruth’s stories fall into this category as well. 3. We also see pictures of the coming Christ, His work, and His kingdom. The Old Testament sacrificial system clearly illustrates this. The story of Hosea and Gomer pictures Jesus’s coming redemption of His bride, as God instructed Hosea to pursue and restore Gomer despite her adultery (see Hosea 1:2–3). Boaz and Ruth’s story reflects aspects of the gospel as well, as Boaz took his place as Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer (see Ruth 2–3), foreshadowing Jesus’s redemption of His bride, the church. 4. Many stories simply reinforce our need for a Savior. Stories such as the rape and dismemberment of the concubine of an unnamed Levite in Judges 19 reinforce the Israelites’ warped sense of right and wrong, inability to be righteous on their own, and need for salvation through Christ. Most parts of the Old Testament will fit one or more of these four categories.”
― Wendy Alsup, Is the Bible Good for Women?: Seeking Clarity and Confidence Through a Jesus-Centered Understanding of Scripture

“A few years ago my former church scheduled a retreat for survivors of sexual sin. Organizers wanted to demonstrate to attendees a concept called reclothing a survivor of sexual abuse. A woman gave a raw testimony of her past sexual abuse. Afterward, a pastor stood by her and spoke of both her preciousness to God and his respect for her in our congregation. He acknowledged her vulnerability from both the pain of her sexual history and exposing it to those at the retreat. He spoke words to and over her, reminding her of her dignity as God’s daughter. What this pastor did was a beautiful example of reclothing with honor and value someone who had endured much evil.”
― Wendy Alsup, Is the Bible Good for Women?: Seeking Clarity and Confidence Through a Jesus-Centered Understanding of Scripture

“In the task God planned for mankind of tending and keeping, serving and protecting God’s creation, one gender wasn’t adequate.”
― Wendy Alsup, Is the Bible Good for Women?: Seeking Clarity and Confidence Through a Jesus-Centered Understanding of Scripture

“Any doctrinal or personal conflict we have with another must be dominated by the Biblical characteristics of love, mercy, and humility. To do any less is to trample upon the grace of God toward us.”
― Wendy Alsup, By His Wounds You are Healed: How the Message of Ephesians Transforms a Woman's Identity

“I wanted to stock up on faith and confidence, on joy and peace, and I wanted that stockpile to last me for a while. I wanted to shop for God’s provisions at Costco, not a food truck.”
― Wendy Alsup, Companions in Suffering: Comfort for Times of Loss and Loneliness