Quotes About Community

To be structured for spiritual growth, a church (whether front-door or back-door focused) must have some sort of method in place to consistently connect people to both significant relationships and the Bible.

Once people get a taste of frontline ministry, they don't let it go easily. Once the church has been let loose, it's hard to put it back in the box.

If the back door of a church is left wide open, it doesn't matter how many people are coaxed to come in the front door—or the side door, for that matter.

First, it strongly emphasizes evangelism. Every group is required to have an empty chair that is supposed to be filled with a new Christian before the year is out. Second, it's based on the idea that the most effective way to bring new Christians into the larger church is to first reach them through a small group.

Everything we do is aimed at helping the Christians we already have grow stronger in Christ. But everything is done in such a way that their non-Christian friends will understand all that we're saying and doing. Bottom line: We've tried to create a perfect storm for come-and-see evangelism while velcroing newcomers for long-term spiritual growth.

Yet the reality is that in the American church, very few people come to Christ through a small group. It's much more likely that their first exposure to the gospel will come through a conversation with a friend, followed by a visit to a church's special program or a worship service.

A Radically Different Society A third major cultural distinctive that impacts how well this model will or won't work is the level of mobility within a society and the extent to which people have strong extended-family ties.

In keeping with this, the human knowledge of this God advocated in the NT is to be exhibited primarily by participating in this relationship and not simply by ritual performance.

Paul identifies "those who belong to Christ" as summoned and enabled now to live and be guided by the Spirit (Gal 5:24-25).

When I announced the development of Perl 6, I said it was going to be a community design. I designed Perl, myself. It's limited by my own brain power. So I wanted Perl 6 to be a community design.

Christmas is the season when people run out of money before they run out of friends.

Make yourself happy and surround yourself with people who are cool with that.

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.

Our work-worn hands, our strong legs, our tree-trunk backs, our throats and mouths speaking spells, singing incantations, and screaming out warnings, our bodies and our stories and our ceaseless working, loving, fighting for remembrance of our past and hope for our future, the safety of our loved ones, the knowledge of our ways, all these have been the true magickal tools of our survival.

By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this form of art has constantly responded to the profound needs of the society in which it was made.

After a while, her speech changed too, and she began to speak just like the other villagers. One thing she never learnt, however, was to stop and give way to the men she met on the road. Instead, she marched straight ahead with firm steps.

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.

When you hear about gay pride, do not think of the silly men in their drag queen outfits — think of kids being kicked out of their homes for something all evidence shows is genetic. Think of the higher rate of suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse among young gay people. Think of the children growing up in a church where they are taught to love God but taught that God has no place for them, no matter how good they are. It's what you do with your sexuality that makes a difference.

You realize you are not alone when you write, and you start to write for the person who will read your words. I think that's a bad thing, but I'm not sure, because I do think of being an author someday, and authors have to commune with their readers.

When you have so many people, Isobel, it's almost the same as having no people at all.

Politics is a people business. I like people.

The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into a shared vision. As long as we have books, we are not alone.

As long as we have books, we are not alone.

The woman is the fiber of the nation. She is the producer of life. A nation is only as good as its women." —MUHAMMAD ALI