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Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey Quotes

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Famous Philip Yancey Quotes

“The people who related to God best--Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah--treated him with startling familiarity. They talked to God as if he were sitting in a chair beside them, as one might talk to a counselor, a boss, a parent, or a lover. They treated him like a person.”

PeopleIfsPersonsGodMightParentLoversSittingTreatedRelatedChairsBossFamiliarityMosesAbrahamCounselorJeremiahSitting In A Chair
Book:Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud
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“Thanks to the scientific method, most people in "developed" countries have an outlook of mild deism. We assume things like weather and disease operate according to fixed natural laws. Every so often, though, problems impinge on us so directly that we stretch beyond that mildly deistic stance and ask God to intervene. When a drought drags on too long, we pray for rain. When a young mother gets a diagnosis of cervical cancer, we solicit prayers for her healing. We beseech God as if trying to talk God into something God otherwise might not want to do.”

PeopleIfsWantTryingLongCountryProblemMightLawYoungMotherAsksNaturalPrayerHealingPrayingDiseaseRainMethodAssumingCancerWeatherThanksFixedDragOutlookDiagnosisNatural LawStanceScientific MethodDroughtDeismDeveloped CountryYoung MotherCervical Cancer
Author:Philip Yancey
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“If I just think of the churches in my little town here because I've been to every one of them, there are 27, there aren't that many where you walk in and say wow, people are excited about their faith. A lot of them, it's just what you do on Sunday at 10:00 or 11:00 and that's not true in other countries. In some other countries, it's still a very lively, vibrant experience.”

PeopleIfsThinkingLittlesStillsCountryChurchWalksTownsExcitedSundayWowOther CountriesLivelyLittle Towns
Author:Philip Yancey
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“If we insist on visible proofs from God, we may well prepare the way for a permanent state of disappointment. True faith does not so much attempt to manipulate God to do our will as it does to position us to do his will. As I searched through the Bible for models of great faith, I was struck by how few saints experienced anything like Job's dramatic encounter with God. The rest responded to the hiddenness not by demanding that he show himself, but by going ahead and believing him though he stayed hidden.”

IfsWayBelieveWellsMayDoeStatesShowsJobsFaithReligiousPositionModelsSaintDisappointmentProofPermanentDramaticEncountersVisibleManipulateGreat FaithTrue FaithBelieving Him
Book:Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud
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“I say this with care, but I wonder if a fierce, insistent desire for a miracle - even a physical healing - sometimes betrays a lack of faith rather than an abundance of it. When yearning for a miraculous resolution to a problem, do we make our loyalty to God contingent on whether he reveals himself yet again in the seen world?”

IfsWorldSometimesProblemCareDesireFaithReligiousHealingWonderMiracleLoyaltyAbundanceResolutionBetrayYearningFierceMiraculousLack Of FaithPhysical Healing
Book:Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud
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“Individuals and societies are not helpless victims of heredity. We have the power to change - not by looking "down" to nature but "up" to God, who consistently calls us forward to become the people we were designed to be. A confused world urgently needs a model of what that looks like. If Christians fail to provide that model, who will?”

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Author:Philip Yancey
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“Politics deals with externals: borders, wealth, crimes. Authentic forgiveness deals with the evil in a persons heart, something for which politics has no cure. Virulent evil (racism, ethnic hatred) spreads through society like an airborne disease, one cough infects a whole busload. When moments of grace do occur, the world must pause, fall silent, and acknowledge that indeed forgiveness offers a kind of cure. There will be no escape from wars, from hunger, from misery, from rancid discrimination, from denial of human rights, if our hearts aren't changed.”

IfsWorldHumansHeartKindPersonsWarWholeMomentsFallEvilWealthDealsGraceRightsCrimeChangedOffersDiseaseRacismHatredMiserySilentHungerHuman RightsSpreadDiscriminationCuresDenialAcknowledgeBordersPausesAirborne
Author:Philip Yancey
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“We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.”

IfsThinkingShouldRealityExampleFairsConstantDisappointmentReality Of LifeExpectingGood Health
Book:Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud
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“Charles Williams has said of the Lord's Prayer, "No word in English carries a greater possibility of terror than the little word 'as' in that clause." What makes the 'as' so terrifying? The fact that Jesus plainly links our forgiven-ness by the Father with our forgiving-ness of fellow human beings. Jesus' next remark could not be more explicit: 'If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.'”

IfsMenHumansLittlesSaidFactsNextFatherJesusPrayerHuman BeingsSinLordGreaterPossibilityFellowsForgivingTerrorCarrieLinksForgivenRemarksForgive MeExplicitClauses
Book:What's So Amazing about Grace?
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“Someone asked the Swiss physician & author Paul Tournier how he helped his patients get rid of their fears. He replied, 'I don't. Everything that's worthwhile in life is scary. Choosing a school, choosing a career, getting married, having kids--all those things are scary. If it is not fearful, it is not worthwhile.'”

IfsKidsSchoolLife IsCareersMarriedPatientScaryFearfulWorthwhilePhysiciansGetting MarriedSwissHaving Kids
Book:Where Is God When it Hurts/What's So Amazing About Grace?
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“Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: You become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?”

IfsThinkingPersonsImportantSelfFatherSawsWifeTheoryMirrorsGlassesLife ChangingEtcBossGod's LoveSociologistsImportant PersonMost Important Person
Book:What's So Amazing about Grace?
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