“I never smile if I can help it. Showing your teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.”

- Dwight K. Schrute

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“We have to reattach the hands and feet to the body of Christ and start being the church. For too long, we’ve just been a big mouth.”

- Rick Warren

[HT: Jay Hardwick]

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Three great C.S. Lewis quotes from his masterpiece, “Mere Christianity.”

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

“If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.”

“I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond.”

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Some great quotes from some brilliant minds on The Church:

“The Church is the most magnificent concept ever created. It has survived persistent abuse, horrifying persecution, and widespread neglect. Yet despite its faults (due to our sinfulness), it is still God’s chosen instrument of blessing and has been for 2,000 years.

The Church will last for eternity, and because it is God’s instrument for ministry here on Earth, it is truly the greatest force on the face of the Earth.“

- Rick Warren (pastor, Saddleback Church // CA)

“Nothing else - not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes - will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting.“

- Tim Keller (pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church // NYC)

“My primary assessment would be because American Christians tend to be incredibly self-indulgent. So they see the church as a place that is there for them to meet their needs and to express faith in a way that is meaningful for them. There is almost no genuine compassion or urgency about serving and reaching people who don’t know Christ.

I think the bottom line is our own spiritual narcissism. There are methods and you can talk about style, structure and music, but in the end it really comes down to your heart and what you care about.”

- Erwin McManus (pastor, Mosaic // CA)

“Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 that the kingdom should forcefully advance, not through violence or making up stupid Christian bumper stickers…but by people realizing that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven…and the church is RESPONSIBLE for getting that message to the world.“

- Perry Noble (pastor, NewSpring Church // SC)

“I don’t think Jesus wanted church to be boring.“

- Reece Salamun (5th grader, Project Church // SD)

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Godin on persistence:

“Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over.”

That was brilliant!

It sort of reminds me of this often-quoted definition.

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Are you persistent, annoying, or insane?

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Great quote from C.S. Lewis in “The Weight of Glory”

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is not part of the Christian faith.

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

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Love this quote by David Foster about the difference between religion and Jesus.

“A mission that can attract missionaries is a movement. That’s why religion has never been a friend of Jesus, because just the minute you try to build a stagnant structure around Him, He moves and all those who follow Him move with Him. While religion draws boxes to exclude, and buildings to house; Jesus draws circles to include as He leaves the building.”

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In three days, we have our first launch party for Project Church.

Even though we’re months away from a public launch- I’m starting to get that “I’m so excited but I want to throw up” feeling about this first gathering. I find myself praying the prayer that Astronaut Alan Shephard prayed shortly before the launch of Freedom 7 in 1961.

“Please, dear God, don’t let me screw up!”

When the conception of a dream takes its first breath of infancy, it’s really something special. I hope everyone has an opportunity to experience it at some point in their lives.

Sunday is just around the corner. Contact me if you plan on coming.

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I’m sitting on the bleachers watching my son’s basketball game today and this 3-year-old boy randomly comes up to me, makes this statement, and walks away:

“You’re not Superman- you’re a turtle.”

I’m still chewing on that one. I’ve been called names, insulted, and criticized many times in my life but I think this may take the cake.

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