Quotes from Frank Viola

The social location of the church meeting expresses and influences the character of the church.

Consequently, adoption is not a word of relationship but of position. You as a Christian are a child of God by new birth. But adoption is God's act in which you are placed in the position of an adult son (Gal. 4:1—5). Greek, Roman, and Jewish families adopted their own children. Birth made them children, but discipline and training brought them into adoption and the full stature of sonship.

When God created the world, He worked for six days and then rested. Adam was created on the sixth day. So God's seventh day—the Sabbath—was Adam's first full day.

the One who touched lepers and dead bodies wasn't afraid of getting His holy hands dirty with the problems of this fallen world.

Are we living in a culture that is so infatuated with change that we have forgotten that the church is about transformation, not mere change?

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

When Mark records the baptism of Jesus, he says that Jesus saw the heavens "splitting apart" (Mark 1:10 NLT). The Greek term for this word is the same used in Exodus 14:21 in the Greek Old Testament.* Exodus 14:21 is speaking about the "splitting apart" ("dividing") of the Red Sea at Israel's exodus.

the normative church meeting is when every member of the church comes together to share his or her portion of Christ (1 Corinthians 14:26, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 10:24-25). All are free to teach, preach, prophesy, pray, and lead a song.

This does not mean that the knowledge of the world, church history, theology, philosophy, and the Scriptures is without value. Such knowledge can be very useful.[105] But it is not central. Theological competence and a high-voltage intellect alone do not qualify a person to serve in God's house.

Consider this thought: Adam's entire existence was based upon what he ate. His diet determined his destiny. It also determined the entire course of human history.

According to the first-century use of the word, an ekklesia is a local gathering of Christians who live as a shared-life community and who gather regularly under the Headship of Jesus Christ.

The main message of Gothic architecture is: "God is transcendent and unreachable—so be awed at His majesty." But such a message defies the message of the gospel, which says that God is very accessible—so much so that He has taken up residence inside of His people.