2 Quotes to Remember

A while back I shared a book review on Costly Grace a modern rewrite of Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship.  The following is 2 quotes I wrote down from the book (I forgot to write down the page reference, whoops).  These quotes clearly articulate the prayer of my heart for the modern-day church in America:

Our good behavior - and the example we set by keeping the rules - are nothing more than by-products of our intimate connection with Jesus.  But because we get this backwards - preaching and teaching people to focus on their behavior instead of their Savior - we have congregations full of people who deny the power of Jesus in their lives.

By consistently and systematically telling people the goal is to be good rather than obedient, we have created a Christianity without Christ.  We preach an anemic Christianity that suggests behavior is more powerful than the blood of Jesus and that our righteous influence comes from the rules we keep, instead of the power of God Almighty flowing through us!!!!!!

That really says it all for me.  It's about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.  It's only through knowing Him and following His lead that we can do anything in this world. 

In Christ,

P.S. I recently finished listening to a series by Mosaic called a Stranger in a Strange Land. It is a 9-part series all about Jesus and all of His "I AM" statements: I am the Bread of Life, I am the Ressurection and the Life, I am the Good Shephard, etc. I enjoyed listening to the series all about Jesus and who He says He is and the power He holds to change our lives.