Sam Persons Parkes

“Evangelism and stewardship, women’s and men’ ministries, youth ministry, Sunday school, worship, social justice ministries, and even pastoral care must be held accountable to this one question: how does what we are doing encourage and enable others to live lives of active faith?”
― Michael W. Foss, Power Surge: Six Marks Of Discipleship For A Changing Church

“the holy things we need for healing and sustenance are almost always the same as the ordinary things right in front of us.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

“The adjective so often coupled with mercy is the word tender, but God’s mercy is not tender; this mercy is a blunt instrument. Mercy doesn’t wrap a warm, limp blanket around offenders. God’s mercy is the kind that kills the thing that wronged it and resurrects something new in its place.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

“Over the years, I have time and again invited folks who have been worshiping with us and contributing in many ways to the life of the congregation to join, only to be asked, “What do I get as a member that I don’t get now?” Membership is about getting; discipleship is about giving. Membership is about dues; discipleship is about stewardship. Membership is about belonging to a select group with its privileges and prerogatives; discipleship is about changing and shaping lives by the grace of God.”
― Michael W. Foss, Power Surge: Six Marks Of Discipleship For A Changing Church