TGC13 Sound Bytes

This is such a small representation of the immense goodness we've heard here, but these are thoughts I want to be reminded of for various reasons, so I thought they were worth recording to come back to later. Disclaimer: Many of these are paraphrases (or maybe even accidental misquotes by the guys who talked a little faster than I type on my phone), but I *think* I at least captured the correct intent of what they were saying.

From John Piper:

People know things like clouds that can be blown away and replaced by other clouds, not mountains that are permanent and unmovable. We need to know our doctrine like a mountain, not a cloud.

You can't buy truth with money. You can't control truth with power.

(After reciting the lengthy list of references to "God" or "Lord" in Luke chapters 1 and 2) Some wonder where the term "God-saturated" comes from. Are you kidding me?

You have to read the Gospels all the way through. I'm cheating, because they only gave me the first two chapters. How could they assign such a thing? ;-)

Do you have the Holy Spirit? Is it producing JOY in this stunning salvation?

From Crawford Loritts:

Don't discount the reality of demons. The mess that's going on in our culture right now is not normal.

You should never walk around acting as if you're the 4th member of the Trinity.

(Summing up Jesus' teachings in Luke 8:26-56) I am Lord over the devil. I am Lord over disease. And I am Lord over death.

100% of the people Jesus healed eventually died. The miracles weren't about people perpetually living. They're meant to put our focus on Jesus, not just what he did.

Our faith will only grow in proportion to our desperation.

Faith is a verb even when it's a noun.

Inadequacy and suffering are our friends, and they are holy handicaps that keep us tied to the heart of God.

Brokenness is not a state of not being able to do anything. Brokenness is a state of permanent God-neediness.

From Don Carson:

You wanna be a Christian? The cross.

From Kevin DeYoung:

True repentance is as much an act of grace as not sinning in the first place.

We have a God who seeks out sinners and absolutely revels in their return.

Are we feeling contamination more than we trust the power of Christ to cleanse?

No one in the history of the world has been more inclusive of repentant sinners than Jesus, and no one has been more intolerant of sin.

There is an experience of joy and an expectation of joy in the kingdom of God. There is no kingdom where there is an absence of joy.

From Stephen Um:

Do you find hope in your retirement plan, or do you find hope in God?

Are you increasing the Master's assets by investing wisely because your treasure is in heaven?

When we see ourselves as owners rather than stewards, we become robbers.

If money is your lover, it demands your fidelity.

It is the love of wealth, not the amount of wealth, that starves the soul.

(In regard to the way Satan tempts us where he knows we are weak) If only Satan would tempt me to turn stones into bread. I can't even turn water, yeast and flour into bread.

From Matt Chandler:

You are not "the next" anybody. You are you.

All ministers of the Gospel are but servants carrying out their God-given assignments.

When I was going through reformed puberty. . .  ;-)

I need to handle even important theological differences in a way that is distinctly Christian.

If you have built something on anything other than the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it cannot be a fruitful ministry.

You can be right in the wrong way.

From Burk Parsons:

If our theology doesn't bring us to our knees, it is flawed theology.

We wouldn't know Christ unless the Holy Spirit caused us to be reborn.

To be truly Christ-centered is to be led by the Spirit.

From Al Mohler:

If there is one thing that is missing from our churches, it is Godly detestation of sin.