Joe Debenedictis

“Describing the Church’s calling, Paul writes, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). We are called together in the fellowship of Christ. Christ is what we share together. This means the stickiness of our calling doesn’t depend upon our proficiency but his glory and grace. Christ is what holds us together, through thick and thin. We live together because we are conceived together, in Christ. As a result, every Christian upon conversion is called into God’s community. There are no exceptions. No one is left out. Everyone has a place in the people of God.”
― Jonathan K. Dodson, Called Together: A Guide to Forming Missional Communities

“Jesus, as the Son of Man, is not only inspirational—He is epic. Knowing that He got up from the grave after such a savage and brutal martyrdom should make us as men pump our fists in the air in worship. Here before us is a man who was man enough to drink in death and spit out victory. He is fully God and yet truly and fully human. He is a man just like—and yet wholly unlike—us, all at the same time. So if we’re looking for an example of manhood, we need look no further than the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus, over and over again, shows us what it means to really be a man.”
― Eric Mason, Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole

“In our case, most people don’t miss who we are as the church because they have not heard what we say or preach to (at) them; they miss who we are because they have seen little to no evidence that we are the transformed people of Jesus. We have not begun to live out of what is now true for us.”
― Zondervan Publishing, Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian

“This certainly wasn’t an isolated incident, but it is indicative of Jesus’ ferocious ambition to walk with His Father by trusting in Him to overcome temptation. For Jesus, just as it is for us, prayer and vigorous fighting are the means to overcome temptation. Jesus’ manhood in this particular instance is awe inspiring; He fought against the greatest temptation imaginable, in regard to His most challenging responsibility, and yet didn’t drop the ball:”
― Eric Mason, Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole