Henri Nouwen Quotes

The minute the church and pastors start saying what do people want and then giving it to them, we betray our calling. We're called to have people follow Jesus. We're called to have people learn how to forgive their enemies.

The church which ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical.

Mother was a great force in her area of evangelism.

Why does the Church grow and flourish? It does so because of divine direction to the leaders and members.

The mission proper to the Church is that of proclaiming the Gospel.

In Christian terms, evangelization and humanization are not alternatives. Nor are the 'vertical dimension' of faith and the 'horizontal dimension' of love for one's neighbor and political change.

Eighteen years ago, the Holy Spirit led me to establish a church in the heart of Times Square.

I wanted to be successful enough that I'd have opportunities to talk about the church. I wanted people to listen whenever I talked about it.

The devil took advantage of Christ's hunger to tempt him to limit his concern to the relief of human need. These are vital concerns, but they cannot be the sole concern of the Church. We need daily bread; we need, too, a reason for living, a sense of purpose, a vision.

The responsibility to do missionary work rests with every member of the Church.

It is not that the Church hasn't been trained in evangelism; it is not a lack of instruction or information. The fact is, if you don't love people through the eyes of Christ, the world will never be changed.

The business of church is ultimately people. You're trying to heal people, grow people, teach people, and mend people. And when leaders spend all of their time helping and growing other people, they ignore their own growth.

I owe my nurture to evangelicalism. The evangelical wins hands down in the history of the church when it comes to nurturing a biblically literate laity. When we think of evangelism, evangelicals are the most resourceful, the most intrepid, and the most creative. But evangelicals themselves would say that they have never come to grips with what the whole mystery of the church is.

Men of prayer, before anything else, are indispensable to the furtherance of the kingdom of God on earth. No other sort will fit in the scheme or do the deed. Men, great and influential in other things but small in prayer, cannot do the work Almighty God has set out for His Church to do in this, His world.

I've been stuck on John Eldredge lately. He's all about being a warrior outside of the church. I hate to think about this kind of stuff - I just like to do it.

People look at me and see a calm, cool guy on the sidelines and I want them to know that my Christian faith affects my coaching and everything I do.

I don't want to just preach to the church. I feel like I have a broader message.

We are to introduce our people into the life of the Church, which is salvation, that they may grasp its meaning, its contents and purpose, to taste and see how good the Lord is.

You don't have to be a Christian to work at Chick-fil-A, but we ask you to base your business on biblical principles because they work.

In the Church, and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord.

God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.

As a pastor, I have a deep desire to lead people to God and encourage people to pray, read the Bible, and carry their faith into every part of their lives.

This Sunday School has been of help to me, greater perhaps than any other force in my Christian life, and I can ask no better things for you than that you, and all that shall come after you in this great band of workers for Christ, shall receive the same measure of blessedness which I have been permitted to have.

American churches work very hard at reaching out to people to bring them in.

The way to preserve the peace of the church is to preserve its purity.