14 Quotes From “Billy Graham In Quotes”

There are just way too many great quotes from Billy Graham In Quotes to share them all here, since the whole book is basically the best from all of Rev. Graham’s books and sermons. You can read my full review of this wonderful book by clicking here.

Normally I share some of my favorite quotes from the books I have reviewed, but that’s next to impossible for this book. So let me just say here are 14 quotes that seemed to stand out a little more to me this afternoon:

“America is said to have the highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have the greatest variety and greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can’t even entertain themselves.”

“The great flaw in the American economic system has finally been revealed: an unrealistic faith in the power of prosperity rather than in the ultimate power and benevolence of God.”

“What makes us Christians shrug our shoulders when we ought to be flexing our muscles? What makes us apathetic in a day when there are loads to lift, a world to be won, and captives to be set free? Why are so many bored, when the times demand action? Christ told us that in the last days there would be an insipid attitude toward life.”

“Our generation has become well versed in Christian terminology but is remiss in the actual practice of Christ’s principles and teachings. Hence, our greatest need today is not more Christianity but more true Christians.” 

“The very ones whose social pressure cause you to compromise will despise you for it. They probably respect your convictions, and many of them wish they had the moral stamina to stand alone. May the Lord give you added courage to be a witness for Him, even in a hard place.”

“When the Christian or the church becomes popular with the unbelieving world, something is seriously wrong. Because Christ runs counter to evil and because we are Christ-owned, we must also stand against evil.”

“Talk about God can become dreary and lackluster if God isn’t in you. Church can become a drab thing and the Bible an irksome Book if the Holy Spirit does not illuminate your soul with His indwelling presence.”

“The Gospel shows people their wounds and bestows on them love. It shows them their bondage and supplies the hammer to knock away their chains. It shows them their nakedness and provides them the garments of purity. It shows them their poverty and pours into their lives the wealth of Heaven. It shows them their sins and points them to the Savior.” 

“Some people have said that man has improved . . . [and] that if Christ came back today, He would not be crucified but would be given a glorious reception. Christ does come to us every day in the form of Bibles that we do not read, in the form of churches that we do not attend, in the form of human need that we pass by. I am convinced that if Christ came back today, He would be crucified more quickly than He was two thousand years ago. Sin never improves. Human nature has not changed.”

“It has always been a mark of decaying civilizations to become obsessed with sex. When people lose their way, their purpose, their will, and their goals, as well as their faith . . . they go ‘a whoring.’ It is a form of diversion that requires no thought, no character, and no restraint.”

“God wants to use you right where you are. Every day you probably come in contact with people who will never enter a church, or talk with a pastor, or open a Bible—and God wants to use you to point them to Christ. You may be the ‘bridge’ God would use to bring them to Himself.”

“There is not one verse of Scripture that indicates you can be a Christian and live any kind of a life you want to. When Christ enters into the human heart, He expects to be Lord and Master. He commands complete surrender.”

“The Christian should stand out like a sparkling diamond against a rough background. He should be more wholesome than anyone else. He should be poised, cultured, courteous, gracious, but firm in the things that he does and does not do. He should laugh and be radiant, but he should refuse to allow the world to pull him down to its level.”

“Our world needs to be touched by Christians who are Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, and Spirit-empowered.” 

This is an amazing book… go get it!

What Is Happening Is God Is Happening

The Apostle Paul is in prison and on trial for his life, and yet he pens these words: 

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. (Philippians 1:12) 

Huh?! How can being in prison be a good thing?

First of all, the word know here means experiential knowledge; the kind of insight you only get from personal, intimate, hands-on experience. No one can teach you this, you just have to know it through experience. In essence, Paul is saying, “It might look like a setback from where you’re seated, but I know personally that this is a good thing!” 

Then notice the phrase has happened (I also like this in the King James Version: has fallen out). This isn’t the best translation of this phrase from Greek to English. It’s what is called the middle voice, so that means it’s in the present and imperfect tense. My translation:

It’s happening right now AND it’s not done yet!

  • IF I mean it when I pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…”
  • IF I truly understand that God is working all things together for His glory…
  • IF I really believe that God is directing my steps…
  • THEN I can know that what IS happening IS a God-thing! 

God is up to something that will glorify His name!

And I’m a part of what IS happening to fulfill God’s plan!

So if things aren’t looking too good (even if you’re in prison or on trial for your life!), take note—GOD IS STILL UP TO SOMETHING AND IT’S A GOOD GOD-THING!

Billy Graham In Quotes (book review)

My admiration of Billy Graham goes back to my earliest childhood. I can vividly recall the sermons and books from Billy Graham that my grandfather had on his shelf. I used to listen to those sermons when I visited his farm. In many ways, reading Billy Graham In Quotes was like a walk down memory lane.

Billy Graham has been relevant to every generation that has heard him preach because his life and ministry are solidly grounded on the timeless principles in the Bible. So every problem that society faces, every challenge that each generation is trying to conquer, every doctrinal argument that needs to be solved, Rev. Graham brings God’s Word to bear.

This book is arranged topically, and it’s amazing to read in every topic the same theme: focus on Jesus, read His Word, bring your life in alignment with His life. Time after time after time the solution is right there!

I received this book on my Kindle as a gift from my sister and brother-in-love. I enjoyed reading the book, but the search features and cross-referencing in the ebook format have been a real treat as well.

Whether or not you’ve heard a Billy Graham sermon or read a Billy Graham book, I am confident you will thoroughly enjoy Billy Graham In Quotes.

The Power Of United

One of my highlights every summer since I have moved to Cedar Springs is our annual United service. All of the churches in the Cedar Springs Ministerial Association cancel our regular Sunday morning services, and join together for a united worship service in the park. How incredible it is to see people from so many churches—United Methodist, Free Methodist, Christian Reformed, Evangelical Free, Assembly of God, Church of God, Weslyan and non-denominational—praising God together!

Kevin Reed shared in yesterday’s service the blessings of being one in our worship and in our lifestyle. He highlighted Jesus’ prayer just prior to His passion:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message [that’s us!], that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. (John 17:20, 21)

I tweeted what Pastor Kevin said next…

I love that thought: When all who love Jesus unite, we show the world the love of God Who sent His one and only Son to reconcile us to Himself!

In the few days leading up to our United service, some of my friends in other parts of the country contacted me to say they wished that there was cooperation like this among the churches in their community. I know that we are truly blessed in Cedar Springs to have this sort of unity among our churches. But with all of these comments from my friends still on my mind, I stumbled across this great thought from Shane Claiborne…

I pray that you can begin to build the bridges that will start to start create the oneness—the unity—in your community. Start becoming the church God dreams of!

United In Prayer

Here are a couple of photos I took this morning at the United service. As the service concluded, people formed prayer circles to prayer in unity. How amazing to see folks from different churches, different denominations, different backgrounds all united in prayer to the one true God!

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! (Psalm 133:1)

Holy Spirit-Controlled

I am loving my time reading Spirit Rising by Jim Cymbala! This passage I just read leapt off the page:

“Many of us want more of God but not to the point of being ridiculed. Our Western minds think, I will serve the Lord, but I will remain in control as I do it. But whether we like it or not, that’s not how the church began. The church began with Spirit-controlled Christians who yielded themselves to God. That’s radical, yes, but that’s the way the Lord did it.

“Some might say, ‘Yeah, but we’ve improved upon the New Testament style of Christianity.’ If that’s true, I want to see the spiritual fruit our improvements have produced. People may have mocked those first, ‘unsophisticated’ Christians, but thousands got saved in the first four chapters of Acts. The Word of God was treasured. The churches were filled with sacrificial love. A holy excitement pervaded the atmosphere. Have we really improved upon that?”

Oh, how I want that in my life, and in Calvary Assembly of God, and in my city!

If it takes being “unsophisticated” and ridiculed, bring it on, Lord! 

I want to be totally Spirit-controlled.

Bring. It. On!

11 Quotes From “The Greatest Thing In The World”

I loved the depth of insight about love from Henry Drummond’s short book The Greatest Thing In The World. This book dives into the definition of love that the Apostle Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 13. To read my full review, and find the links for a free download of this book, please click here.

These are 11 of my favorite quotes from this book.

“Charity is only a little bit of love, one of the innumerable avenues of love, and there may even be, and there is, a great deal of charity without love. It is a very easy thing to toss a copper to a beggar on the street; it is generally an easier thing than not to do it. Yet love is just as often in the withholding. We purchase relief from the sympathetic feelings roused by the spectacle of misery, at the copper’s cost. It is too cheap—too cheap for us, and often too dear for the beggar. If we really loved him we would either do more for him, or less.”

“We hear much of love to God; Christ spoke much of love to man. We make a great deal of peace with heaven; Christ made much of peace on earth.”

“[Patience] is the normal attitude of love; love passive, love waiting to begin; not in a hurry; calm; ready to do its work when the summons comes”

“Love waives even self-satisfaction.” 

“Politeness has been defined as love in trifles. Courtesy is said to be love in little things.”

“The peculiarity of ill temper is that it is the vice of the virtuous. …No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to unchristianize society than evil temper. For embittering life, for breaking up communities, for destroying the most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for withering up men and women, for taking the bloom of childhood, in short, for sheer gratuitous misery-producing power this influence stands alone.”

“Souls are made sweet not by taking the acid fluids out but by putting something in—a great love, a new spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Christ, the Spirit of Christ, interpenetrating ours, sweetens, purifies, transforms all.”

“Willpower does not change men. Time does not change men. Christ does.”

“What we are stretches past what we do, beyond what we possess.”

“Never offer men a thimbleful of gospel. Do not offer them merely joy, or merely peace, or merely rest, or merely safety; tell them how Christ came to give men a more abundant life than they have, a life abundant in love, and therefore abundant in salvation for themselves, and large in enterprise for the alleviation and redemption of the world. Then only can the gospel take hold of the whole of a man, body, soul and spirit, and give to each part of his nature its exercise and reward. … Only a fuller love can compete with the love of the world.” 

“No worse fate can befall a man in this world than to live and grow old alone, unloving and unloved.”

Counsel From Billy Graham

There are very few people who bring to mind such a picture of ministry success, passion for lost souls, and total integrity like Billy Graham.

So for my pastor friends, here are a few quotes from this renowned preacher about study habits, sermon preparation, and message delivery.

“The sword of the Spirit—the Bible—is the weapon God has provided for us to use in this battle between truth and deception. Make it a priority to wield that sword skillfully.”

“If I stick to the Bible and preach the principles and the teachings of the Bible, and quote the Bible, it has an impact of its own.”

“The fact that God is infinite makes the study of His Word a lifetime occupation.”

“A seminary professor I once knew told his students, ‘Never preach about hell without tears in your eyes.’”

“Our preaching emerges out of what we are.”

“Sometimes I’m asked to list the most important steps in preparing for an evangelistic mission, and my reply is always the same: prayer . . . prayer . . . prayer.”

“Preach with authority. The authority for us is the Word of God. Preach with simplicity . . . Preach with urgency . . . Heaven and Hell are at stake. Preach for a decision.”

“Proclaiming ‘the whole will of God’ should be the goal—and the joy— of every church and every preacher.”

“When we preach or teach the Scripture, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to do His work. God has not promised to bless oratory or clever preaching. He has promised to bless His Word.”

“It is vitally important for local church leaders to keep in touch with the spiritual state of their members, to discuss their level of biblical knowledge, and to teach them how to study God’s Word and pray.”

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes (book review)

I don’t read very many fiction books, but I am a huge fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes! So I just finished a wonderful collection of short adventures called The Return Of Sherlock Holmes.

Without being as wordy as some authors, Doyle paints such descriptive pictures of Dr. Watson, Holmes, his clients, his villains, and the crime scenes. I can “see” exactly how the characters look and “hear” how they talk, and can feel the emotions they are feeling. And the crime scenes are also painted in such vivid detail by Doyle, that I can catch all of the same details the Sherlock Holmes is taking in.

I cannot stand how some detective story authors “uncover” some hidden details at the very end that magically helps their protagonist solve the crime. The “magic” of Sherlock Holmes’ solutions is that Doyle allowed you to see everything Holmes saw. The real art is in the way Holmes uses his gift of deductive reasoning to solve the clues.

These mysteries are not always crimes. Often times they are simply perplexing problems. I’ve never been called upon to solve a crime before, but I certainly am called upon to find solutions to thorny problems. In that regard, I owe a debt to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for helping me learn from Sherlock Holmes how to deduce the most logical solution to my mysterious situations.

These are also great stories to read aloud, especially to your kids.

Thursdays With Oswald—Mirror

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Mirror

    It is a wonderful thing that God can cleanse and purify the thinking of our hearts. That is why our Lord says, “Of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45). The Bible says that words are born in the heart, not in the head. …

     Jesus Christ said He always spoke as His Father wished Him to. Did His Father write out the words and tell Him to learn them by heart? No, the mainspring of the heart of Jesus Christ was the mainspring of the heart of God the Father, consequently the words Jesus Christ spoke were the exact expression of God’s thoughts. In our Lord the tongue was in its right place; He never spoke from His head, but always from His heart. 

From Biblical Psychology

Have you ever noticed how friends begin to talk like each other? They laugh at the punchline without the joke being told any longer, because they know it so well.

Or how about married couples who can finish each other’s sentences, because they are so in tune with each other.

Biblical scholars have pointed out the similarity of the writing styles of Luke and the Apostle Paul, probably due to the huge amount of time they spent with each other.

We begin to mirror those with whom we spend the most time.

Jesus Christ had His heart filled with God’s presence, so His words mirrored the thoughts of His Father (John 12:49).

What about me? Whom do I mirror? My vocabulary will tell me who fascinates me most, who has my attention, and who has my heart.

I pray that more and more my words reveal that I mirror my Savior Jesus Christ. May my heart be fascinated and attentive to Him, and then may I never speak from my head, but always from my heart.