Burk Parsons > Quotes

“Reformed theology isn't a sledgehammer with which to hit people, it's a pillow on which they can lay their weary heads.”
― Burk Parsons

“A person with an increasingly grateful heart is one with a decreasingly complaining mouth.”
― Burk Parsons

“Much of my learning to follow Jesus is unlearning to follow myself.”
― Burk Parsons

“For Calvin, to accept compromise when Scripture has spoken is to affront the divine majesty of the Author. What”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“• God has revealed Himself as a Father; therefore, we should behave as His children.
• Christ has purified us through His blood; therefore, we should not become defiled by fresh pollution.
• Christ has united us to His body as His members; therefore, we should not disgrace Him by any blemish.
• Christ has ascended to heaven; therefore, we should leave our carnal desires behind and lift our hearts upward to Him.
• The Holy Spirit has dedicated us as temples of God; therefore, we should exert ourselves not to profane His sanctuary, but to display His glory.
• Both our soul and body are destined to inherit an incorruptible and never-fading crown; therefore, we should keep them pure and undefiled.
For”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“The very purpose of the sacrament is to give us a tangible experience of the spiritual mystery of our union with Christ. "When we come to this holy table," Calvin told his congregation in Geneva, "we must know that our Lord Jesus Christ presents Himself to confirm us in the unity which we have already received by the faith of the Gospel, that we may be grafted into His body in such a manner that He will dwell in us and we in Him."27”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“Don't believe everything you feel. Our emotions are sometimes the greatest liars we know.

Preach the truth to your emotions and the truth will begin to change your emotions by the power of the Spirit.”
― Burk Parsons

“We don't know what we will know in heaven, and we don't know what or how we will learn it, but we do know that we will see Jesus face-to-face, and when we do, we may in fact not have any questions.
Until that day, we read, we study, and we learn what we can about what God has revealed to us, and we do so to understand not only the stories of biblical figures but our story as well.”
― Burk Parsons

“But Calvin recognized that our hearts will never seriously wish for and meditate on the future life unless we have first determined to forsake the vanities of this present life. He writes, "There is no golden mean between these two extremes; either this earthly life must become low in our estimation, or it will have our inordinate love."21”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“While urgently pressing the importance of our diligent pursuit of holiness, Calvin is realistic about our meager attainments. He acknowledges that the vast majority of Christians make only slight progress. But this is not to excuse us. Rather, he writes, "Let us not cease to do the utmost; that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair because of the smallness of our accomplishment."9”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“When preaching, the Reformer writes, "The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off ... wolves.”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“Calvin presents a systematic exposition of his doctrine of providence in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, especially in book 1, chapters 16 and 17.”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“Christian hope is not a hope that everything will work out in this life; rather, it is hope that God will make everything work out for our ultimate good and His glory. Hope is not wishful thinking; it is confident expectation. Hope is not the absence of sadness; it is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Hope is not a feeling; it is a mindset fixed on God that informs our feelings. Hope is trusting God because of who He is and what He has done as we await the fulfillment of all His promises now and throughout eternity.”
― Burk Parsons

“According to Calvin, "faith is a singular gift of God, both in that the mind of man is purged so as to be able to taste the truth of God and in that his heart is established therein. For the Spirit is not only the initiator of faith, but increases it by degrees, until by it he leads us to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology

“It is entirely the work of grace and a benefit conferred by it that our heart is changed from a stony one to one of flesh, that our will is made new, and that we, created anew in heart and mind, at length will what we ought to will. i
-John Calvin”
― Burk Parsons, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology