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Congregation Quotes

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Congregation Quotes

“Most priests wish they were as righteous as they seem to most members of their congregations.”

HumorFunnyQuotesEvilWishChurchMoralAtheismHonestHumourPureJokesHumorousBibleAtheistNobleGoodBelieverImpressionMinistersDecentWickedSatirePriestsEthicalAphorismRighteousVirtuousPreacherImpressQuotationsHonorablePastorJokeBadImmoralHilariousPersonaFoulPaganAphorismsCorruptCrookedCongregationImageObsceneBelieversAngelicShamelessCriminalShadyClergymenDepravedWantonSynagogueAphoristAphoristsPriestPrincipledPromiscuousUnethicalAtheistsChurchesPastorsReverendsBlamelessDishonorableSinfulVicarsChaplainsDishonestPadresPadrePreachersMinisterSleazyLooseGodlessBaseNonbelieverNonbelieversVileUnscrupulousPervertedReverendUprightCurateImpureSynagoguesImamDegenerateClergymanLaw AbidingPerverseChaplainLewdVicarCongregationsClericDebauchedDisreputableParsonsClericsDebasedHigh MindedLicentiousMorally WrongNefariousSaintlyUnconscionableUnprincipledVillainousWrongfulChurchmanChurchmenCuratesDissoluteEcclesiasticEcclesiasticsImamsIniquitousIrreproachableLowdownMan Of The ClothMen Of The ClothMiscreantParsonRectorRectorsReprobateUnchasteUnvirtuousUpstanding
Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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“Our bread was given, not earned. We had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do but sit there together, saying sonorous words in unison, listening to language we did not hear anywhere else in our lives. Take heart. Go in peace. Bear fruit. Although we could have sat quietly with Bibles on our laps and read these things to ourselves, we took turns reading them out loud to each other instead. The words sounded different when Kline read them than they did when Kathy read them. They sounded different from the mouth of a young mother than they did from the mouth of a widow. This was because the words did not come straight off the page. They percolated up through the silt and gravel of real people's lives so that the meaning in them was fluid, not fixed. Listening to one another read Holy Scripture, some of us learned what is meant by 'the living word of God.' We also sang things we could more easily have said. The Lord be with you. And also with you. None of us would have dreamed of doing this in the grocery store, but by doing it in church we remembered that there was another way to address one another. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up unto the Lord. Where else did any of us sing anymore, especially with other people? Where else could someone pick up the alto line on the second verse of 'Amazing Grace' and give five other people the courage to sing in harmony? Sometimes, when we were through, we would all just stand there listening until the last note turned entirely to air. We could even be quiet together, which was something else that did not happen many other places in our lives. Silence was so countercultural for most of us that it took a lot of practice before we could do it together.”

CommunityChurchSilenceSingingCongregationSpoken Word
Book:Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
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“Whenever He answers prayers, God usually prioritizes those by people who, instead of their mouths, have prayed with their hands and/or feet.”

GodHumorHandsActionFunnyReligionQuotesWishChurchPrayerFateFeetAtheismHumourArmsPrayingWorshipJokesHumorousAtheistLegsBelieverKarmaSatirePrayAphorismQuotationsJokeGodsHilariousActPaganAphorismsPrayersWishful ThinkingDoersCongregationDoBelieversPrioritizeHandPrioritySynagogueReligionsAphoristAphoristsWorshippersAtheistsChurchesDaydreamDoerArmFootNonbelieverNonbelieversPraying WomanLegPrayedSynagoguesCongregationsDaydreamerWorshipersWorshipperPraying WomenWorshiperDaydreamersChurchgoerChurchgoersPraying ManPraying Men
Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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“Just preaching "you are blessed" to a congregation is like giving them a big fertile land. They need the seeds to plant on it; they need business ideas, a little of which is enough!”

IdeasEnoughGodMotivationChurchBusinessTeachingLandBlessedFood For ThoughtIsraelmore AyivorSeedsBlessPreachingGood NewsIdeaFertileCongregationLittleBigInspirationsPreachGod Bless YouBusiness IdeasSermonYou Are BlessedIsraelmoreLittle Is EnoughFertile LandGood SermonBusiness Seminars
Book:The Great Hand Book of Quotes
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“[...] like any human practices, those of religions are not exempt from ethical questioning. Rituals and rites in groups change behavior, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. For the madness of crowds is a very close cousin to the fervor or congregations and the martial spirit of armies.”

ReligionMilitaryBehaviorEthicsMoralsCongregationCrowdFervor
Book:Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love
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“Ndani ya chumba, akiwa bado amechanganyikiwa, akiwa hajui Debbie alikokwenda, Murphy alisikia walinzi wakipiga kelele nje. Kamanda huwa anakuwa shetani nyakati kama hizo. Alibeba pumzi. Mikononi mwake akiwa na M-16, Debbie kichwani; Murphy alishangaza umati wa watu! Risasi zaidi ya sitini zilifyatuka katika bunduki, mlango wote ukabomoka – ndani ya sekunde kumi!”

TenGunSecondsBulletsBreathCongregationMurphyDoorRoomJohn MurphyCommanderJohn Murphy AmbilikileDebbie Patrocinio AbregoDebbieRisasiBundukiDebbie PatrocinioSekundePumziChumbaKumiMlangoKamandaM 16Umati Wa Watu
Book:Kolonia Santita
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“A church leadership that cannot provide members with business ideas should stop demanding tithe from them. Plant greatness in the members and they pay greatly; Plant zero in them and they pay in negatives!”

ChurchBusinessPayLeaderChristianityGreatnessDemandPlantFood For ThoughtIsraelmore AyivorZeroLeadersPreachingBusiness AdviceCongregationTrue LeaderTithePreachChurch LeadershipPlantingSermonHarvestingBad LeadersSeed Of GreatnessSowing ReapingNegativesChurch LeaderGood SermonA ChurchPay GreatlyPay HugePoor Church Leadership
Book:The Great Hand Book of Quotes
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“What can there be that is splendid in my life? - a farmer's son, with perhaps the chance of a country church as my highest hope - after all kinds od signings, and confessions, and calls, and presbyteries. It would be splendid indeed to be plucked by a country presbytery that didn't know six words of Greek, or objected to by a congregation of ploughmen.”

MinistersGreekScotlandCongregationChurch Of ScotlandPresbyterianismColin CampbellPresbyteries
Book:A Son of the Soil
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“The word 'church' in the Bible is a mistranslation of the Greek word 'ekklesia.' The accurate translation is 'assembly' or 'congregation.' Literally 'ekklesia' means the 'called out ones.' The common usage of this word during the apostles' time was for a called out assembly of people, such as a town square meeting, where citizens were 'called out' to attend.”

CitizensCongregationEkklesiaWord UsageAssembly Of GodCalled Out OnesTown Square
Book:ONE: Unfolding God's Eternal Purpose from House to House
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“If the divine Logos of God the Father became son of man and man so that He might make men gods and the sons of God, let us believe that we shall reach the realm where Christ Himself now is; for He is the head of the whole body (cf. Col. 1:18), and endued with our humanity has gone to the Father as forerunner on our behalf. God will stand 'in the midst of the congregation of gods' (Ps. 82:1 LXX) - that is, of those who are saved - distributing the rewards of that realm's blessedness to those found worthy to receive them, not separated from them by any space.”

IfsMenBelieveWholeBodyMightChristianHumanityFoundFatherChristSpaceGoneDivineSonRewardsWorthySavedGods WillRealmsMidstOrthodoxBehalfCongregationCfsLogosBlessednessForerunners
Author:Maximus the Confessor
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“History does seem to repeat itself hence it's mindboggling to still hear the 'avoid all negative people' speeches from, of all people, supposedly important spiritual teachers. Ironically, their congregations would probably be the ones hiding their faces from the accuracies of truth speakers like Christ. Now, Christ was the complete opposite of negative, however the danger is that truth is often misunderstood as negativity by those who are constantly taught to only seek flattery.”

PeopleDoeStillsImportantSeemsFacesSpiritualChristTeacherDangerTaughtTruth IsSpeechNegativeOppositesRepeatsHidingSpeakersNegativityFlatteryMisunderstoodAccuracyNegative PeopleCongregationSpiritual TeachersComplete Opposites
Book:Killosophy
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“How can this strange story of God made flesh, of a crucified Savior, of resurrection and new creation become credible for those whose entire mental training has conditioned them to believe that the real world is the world which can be satisfactorily explained and managed without the hypothesis of God? I know of only one clue to the answering of that question, only one real hermeneutic of the gospel: a congregation which believes it.”

KnowsWorldBelieveMadeRealStoriesCreationStrangeTrainingFleshReal WorldSaviorResurrectionClueHypothesisCredibleCongregationHermeneuticsStrange Stories
Author:Lesslie Newbigin
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“In a large congregation, while there is a wide diversification of interest, it is also true that there are only a few basic human problems. It must also be taken into consideration that people are people regardless of who they are or what their backgrounds may be. There are certain deep universal appeals to human interest and to these human nature always responds.”

PeopleHumansMayProblemCertainInterestTakenHuman NatureUniversalWideBackgroundsAppealsConsiderationCongregationDiversificationHuman Problems
Book:A Guide to Confident Living
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“Every time some new huckster of angst-ridden metaphor is appointed by Art Forum, the congregation genuflects, stroking the catalog like a handful of Rosary beads, and starts spreading that old gospel according to Hyperbole. No questions asked... And thus the bill of goods is sold, all along the line. An art historical snake, swallowing its own tale.”

ArtLinesBillsHistoricalMetaphorTalesGoodsSnakesHandfulAngstCongregationForumsBeadsRosaryContemporary ArtSwallowingHyperboleQuestions AskedRosary Beads
Author:Abe Ajay
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“There are multitudes in our congregations who are just waiting while they ought to be acting. They must work, if they would have God work in them. There can be no religion without obedience.”

IfsWaitingActingOughtObedienceMultitudesCongregation
Book:A pastor's sketches: or, Conversations with anxious inquirers respecting the way of salvation. With an intr. and ed. notes, by J.A. James
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“The clergy profession is fundamentally self-defeating. Its stated purpose is to nurture spiritual maturity in the church - a valuable goal. In actuality, however; it accomplishes the opposite by nurturing a permanent dependence of the laity on the clergy. Clergy become to their congregations like parents whose children never grow up, like therapists whose clients never become healed, like teachers whose students never graduate.”

ChildrenSelfSpiritualPurposeGrowsParentGoalChurchGrowing UpTeacherStudentsOppositesValuableAccomplishProfessionPermanentMaturityGraduatesClientsNurtureDependenceHealedNurturingTherapistsCongregationClergyActualitySpiritual Maturity
Author:Christian Smith
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“Science may have come a long way, but as far as religion is concerned, we are first cousins to the !Kung tribesmen of the Kalahari Desert. Except for the garments, their deep religious trances might just as well be happening at a revival meeting or in the congregation of a fundamentalist TV preacher.... As we move further from the life of ignorance and superstition in which religion has its roots, we seem to need it more and more.... Why has religion become a force just when we'd have thought it would be losing ground to secularism?”

WayNeedsFirstsWellsMayLongSeemsMightWould BeMovingForceReligiousAtheismIgnoranceTvsLosingHappeningsConcernedRootsMeetingsPositive AtheismDesertSuperstitionsPreacherCousinLong WayRevivalSecularismGarmentsFundamentalistCongregationTrance
Author:Phil Donahue
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“Nevertheless we have this curious spectacle: daily the trained parrot in the pulpit gravely delivers himself of these ironies, which he has acquired at second-hand and adopted without examination, to a trained congregation which accepts them without examination, and neither the speaker nor the hearer laughs at himself. It does seem as if we ought to be humble when we are at a bench-show, and not put on airs of intellectual superiority there.”

IfsDoeShowsHandsSeemsAcceptingLaughingAirAtheismOughtIntellectualHumblePositive AtheismCuriousIronySpeakersNeverthelessSuperiorityAdoptedExaminationBenchesBe HumbleCongregationPulpitParrotsSecond HandIntellectual Superiority
Book:Mark Twain's Fables of Man
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“When we see the many grave-stones which have fallen in, which have been defaced by the footsteps of the congregation, which lie buried under the ruins of the churches, that have themselves crumbled together over them; we may fancy the life after death to be as a second life, into which man enters in the figure, or the picture or the inscription, and lives longer there than when he was really alive. But this figure also, this second existence, dies out too, sooner or later. Time will not allow himself to be cheated of his rights with the monuments of men or with themselves.”

MenMayHas BeensTogetherLyingDiesChurchExistenceAliveRightsFiguresHe ManStonesGravesRuinsFallenFancyBuriedSooner Or LaterLong LifeMonumentAfter DeathFootstepsCheatedCongregationLife After DeathInscriptions
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“How on earth can religious people believe in so much arbitrary, clearly invented balderdash?....The acceptance of a creed, any creed, entitles the acceptor to membership in the sort of artificial extended family we call a congregation. It is a way to fight loneliness. Any time I see a person fleeing from reason and into religion, I think to myself, There goes a person who simply cannot stand being so goddamned lonely anymore.”

PeopleThinkingWayBelievePersonsReasonEarthReligionFightingReligiousLonelinessAcceptanceLonelyArtificialCreedsArbitraryCongregationMembershipFleeingExtended Family
Book:Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage
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“The minister should preach as if he felt that although the congregation own the church, and have bought the pews, they have not bought him. His soul is worth no more than any other man's, but it is all he has, and he cannot be expected to sell it for a salary. The terms are by no means equal. If a parishioner does not like the preaching, he can go elsewhere and get another pew, but the preacher cannot get another soul.”

IfsMenShouldMeanDoeSoulFeltTermChurchEqualSellsExpectedMinistersElsewherePreacherPreachingSalaryCongregation
Author:Edwin Hubbel Chapin
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“The spiritual differs from the religious in being able to endure isolation. The rank of a spiritual person is proportionate to his strength for enduring isolation, whereas we religious people are constantly in need of 'the others,' the herd. We religious folks die, or despair, if we are not reassured by being in the assembly, of the same opinion as the congregation, and so on. But the Christianity of the New Testament is precisely related to the isolation of the spiritual man.”

PeopleIfsMenNeedsPersonsAbleSpiritualDiesReligiousChristianityOpinionDespairEndureFolksRelatedIsolationTestamentNew TestamentAssemblyHerdsCongregation
Author:Soren Kierkegaard
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“An invitation to be a bridesmaid is an honor which cannot be declined without some very good reason. Our idea of one of the better reasons is the impending arrival of a little stranger. ... any lady in this interesting condition should have the grace to refuse. We know that symbols of fertility are appropriate to the marriage ceremony, but they needn't be quite so obviously borne in on the congregation.”

KnowsShouldLittlesIdeasReasonInterestingGraceConditionsHonorShould HaveVery GoodRefuseStrangerSymbolsAppropriateCeremonyInvitationsArrivalsCongregationFertilityMoatsBridesmaidsMarriage Ceremony
Author:Alice-Leone Moats
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“Of all persecuted sects, the Baptists stand forth as most prominent, simply and only because they aim at a more complete and thorough reform than any others ever attempted. They teach that Christ's kingdom is not of this world; that the church is not a national, political, or provincial establishment; but a congregation of holy men, separated from the world by the receiving of the Holy Spirit.”

MenWorldPoliticalSpiritChristChurchTeachThis WorldHolyAimKingdomsReformHoly SpiritEstablishmentReceivingBaptistsThoroughSectsCongregationProminentPersecutedHoly Man
Book:Babtists, the Only Thorough Religious Reformers
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“There are congregations on nearly every corner. I'm not sure we need more churches. What we need is a church. I say one church is better than fifty. I have tried to remove the plural form churches from my vocabulary, training myself to think of the church as Christ did, and as the early Christians did. The metaphors for her are always singular - a body, a bride. I heard one gospel preacher say it like this, as he really wound up and broke a sweat: "We've got to unite ourselves as one body. Because Jesus is coming back, and he's coming back for a bride not a harem.”

ThinkingNeedsBodyChristianFormJesusChristChurchHeardTrainingMetaphorCornersWoundsBrokeNot SureFiftyRemoveSweatPreacherVocabularyComing BackBridesCongregationHarem
Author:Shane Claiborne
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“On summer evenings, when every flower, and tree, and bird, might have better addressed my soft young heart, I have in my day been caught in the palm of a female hand by the crown, have been violently scrubbed from the neck to the roots of the hair as a purification for the Temple, and have then been carried off highly charged with saponaceous electricity, to be steamed like a potato in the unventilated breath of the powerful Boanerges Boiler and his congregation, until what small mind I had, was quite steamed out of me”

MindHeartHas BeensHandsMightFunnyYoungPowerfulTreeFlowerHairSummerBirdHumorousFemaleRootsBreathsCaughtEveningNecksTemplesCrownsElectricityPalmsPotatoesCongregationPurificationSmall MindsYoung At HeartBoilerSummer Evening
Book:Novels
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