Quotes from James MacDonald

An overemphasis upon imminence in preaching has banished transcendence and tended to a theology of God being technically present as an observer but effectively absent as a participant. When

If spiritual formation is the purpose of the church, then personal transformation should intentionally be the purpose of the small group ministry. Bible study is great. Fellowship is wonderful. Evangelism is essential. But changing and growing to be more like Christ should be the purpose of the small group ministry.

Tell them," God said through Isaiah, "hard times are coming, but don't give up—now or ever. Don't let them underestimate My power to reorder the universe. Tell them to keep trusting Me and living the way I told them to in spite of what's coming.

John 5:44, Jesus continued, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

If God really did write a book, we ought to be reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and letting it guide our lives.

We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings starting with the single cell, then the fish, then the bird, then the animal, then man and angels and cherubs and God.… This would be to grant God eminence or even preeminence but that is not enough. We must grant God transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word. He's wholly other. He breaks all the categories of being and knowing.24

Only God is perfect! None of us comes within a country, not a country mile, but a whole country, in proximity to perfection.

All church activities that dilute, diminish, or detract from worship destroy Verticality, deny the priority of doxology, and forfeit what Vertical Church is all about—glory.

If our counseling is truly Christ-centered, then the topic of forgiveness will inevitably come up in the journey toward growth and change.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

If God is not changing you, you have to honestly ask, "Have I ever really converted?" To put it another way, "If your faith isn't changing you, it hasn't saved you." The people who really have the new birth—the people who really have that conversion experience—are changing.

Vertical Church teaches its people to judge every circumstance and opportunity in terms of its potential to reveal "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."21 That is the goal for every person in our church