Elane O'Rourke > Quotes

“Justice without love will always fall short of what needs to be done. It will never be as good as it should be.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“Salvation is not merely forgiveness with a ticket to heaven, but a life lived interactively in the present kingdom of God.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“God's own ‘kingdom,’ or ‘rule,’ is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“Faith is what knowledge is called when the knowledge is of something intangible or invisible. Faith has an element of confidence that moves one to action.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“RH 231: [The call of Christ] is  …  everything he said.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“Definition The five progressive dimensions (or stages) of the life of an apprentice are: trust in Jesus, desire to be his apprentice, obedience, inner transformation, and finally, the character and power to do the work of the kingdom. Quotes “We should be aware of, roughly, five dimensions of our eternal kind of life in The Kingdom Among Us, and these dimensions more or less arrange themselves in the following progression: 1.  Confidence in and reliance upon Jesus as ‘the Son of man,’ the one appointed to save us … This confidence is a reality, and it is itself a true manifestation of the ‘life from above,’ not of normal human capacities … 2.  But this confidence in the person of Jesus naturally leads to a desire to be his apprentice in living in and from the kingdom of God … . 3.  The abundance of life realized through apprenticeship to Jesus, ‘continuing in his word, naturally leads to obedience … Love of Jesus sustains us through the course of discipline and training that makes obedience possible. Without that love, we will not stay to learn. 4.  Obedience, with the life of discipline it requires, both leads to and, then, issues from the pervasive inner transformation of the heart and soul …  as we admire and emulate Jesus and do whatever is necessary to learn how to obey him. 5.  Finally, there is power to work the works of the kingdom … Great power requires great character if it is to be a blessing and not a curse, and that character is something we only grow toward.” (DC 366-68) “The various scenes and situations that Jesus discusses in his Discourse on the Hill are actually stages in a progression toward a life of agape love. They progressively presuppose that we know where our well-being really lies, that we have laid aside anger and obsessive desire, that we do not try to mislead people to get our way, and so on. Then loving and helping those who hurt us and hate us, for example, will come as a natural progression.” (DC 139) Exercise—”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“As long as our habits, pride, and selfishness restrict or direct our wills, we are not free, and our habits, pride, and selfishness will cause bad things to happen.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“belief is a different type of idea than knowledge. Beliefs may turn out to be true or false, but what matters about them is that they that motivate our actions. Beliefs have a connection to the will—to our actions and behavior—that knowledge does not.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“Definition A belief is an idea on which we are prepared to take action. Beliefs are motivating factors in our lives; they are the ideas that move the will.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary

“Apologetics is the argument one gives for belief in something. The best apologetics for Christian belief is the transformed life of one of Christ’s disciples.”
― Elane O'Rourke, A Dallas Willard Dictionary