Quotes from Wayne Jacobsen

we create an environment, define the rules by which it works, and then encourage people to conform, we lose the spirit of that family. There's a reason why dysfunctional families and shattered relationships hurt so deeply. We were created for something better. We are designed for connection and sharing a depth of love others can rely on. That's

As with a symphony, it is important to be able to contribute your part while simultaneously listening to and blending in with others.

God sees something redemptive even in letting us fail. He seems less concerned about our mistakes than how we respond to them. Do our mistakes lead us away from trusting in our own strength or wisdom and toward seeking what it means to put our trust in him?

love—not imposed order—is the nature of his church. That's why his church is a family: a Father inviting us to take our place in his home; an older brother, Jesus, who empathizes with our struggles and offers us grace in time of need; a Spirit who empowers us; and brothers and sisters who can live alongside us with love and honor. The church reflects the best of what a family can be. It is

They can't afford to solve the issues because they've turned the conflict itself into profit.

God never wanted our indentured servitude but to share his life with his grateful children.

God of the universe loves you more than anyone on this planet ever has or ever will.

Jesus is building this church by quietly bringing together a family so rich and vast that she doesn't need the religious conventions we've used to contain her.

simply following what Jesus put on my heart and loving people around me, I found myself living squarely in the middle of the church life I had been hungering for all those years. I didn't

Polarity damages people. The current atmosphere is saturated with disdain for one another. It's time for a new approach that celebrates our common humanity.

Those who have different experiences and cultures will have ideas that can benefit us if we choose to be exposed to them.

Don't be concerned if it's nothing you can point to and say, 'That is the church.' You are the church. Don't be afraid to live in that reality.

purpose was not to make us worthy of God's love, but to set us free to see that we already have it. And

think Jesus taught us that we have a Father who loves us more than we know, and if we could sort that out we would know how to treat each other.

No, the cross was not primarily about exacting punishment; it was about prevailing over sin's power. In the Son of God didn't just punish sin, but he served up the antidote that Christ was able to endure until sin itself was destroyed. Now, all who embrace him can live in the effects of the andidote, prevailing over sin through a growing relationship to the Creator of all.

No, the cross was not primarily about exacting punishment; it was about prevailing over sin's power. In the Son, God didn't just punish sin, but he served up the antidote that Christ was able to endure until sin itself was destroyed. Now, all who embrace him can live in the effects of the andidote, prevailing over sin through a growing relationship to the Creator of all.

I happen to believe that respect also has to be given, simply due to our common humanity. Since God created you, you get my respect.

family, however, inculcates a collaborative environment: people working and growing together. They share openly, offering whatever they have without a thought to what they'll get in return. They demonstrate humility and respect because they have nothing to prove and nothing to gain in one-upping others. They trust the Spirit to work as he wills, and they can support each other even if they don't see eye-to-eye on everything.

The mind of a Pharisee thinks truth is more important than love, but Jesus showed us that love is the most important part of truth. Adapted from Don Francisco's Pharisiatis Test

The fruit of the Spirit is not what we can make ourselves do for a moment, But what God makes us to be for a lifetime.

I am convinced that real community flows out of right relationship with God and not that right relationship with God flows out of right community.

There is no one that God does not love with all that he is. His love reaches beyond every sin and failure, hoping that at some moment they will come to know just how loved they are.

Our attempts to trust others will often be frustrated, but that's because God never wanted us to trust others. He wanted us to love others but to trust him alone.

The sad truth is that most Christians spend their entire lives trying to score points with Someone who is not keeping score.