Quotes from James MacDonald

Repentance is shockingly beautiful when we see it not as "I sinned again, I need to repent," but as "I sinned against my God again, but He is calling me back so He can lavish me with His love and forgiveness.

The biblical counselor must always remember that the ROOT problem is deeper than skin; it is sin. The ultimate cure is not culture, but Christ.

In healthy churches, the pastors life, not just his words, sets the tone for the church.

Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for living!

The people sang to the Lord, not about Him.

If we believe God is present in our worship as He promises to be, then we must frame all language of worship as to Him and not merely about Him.

Churches closing at a rate of six thousand per year in North America are not doing so because of worship style or form of government or methodology. They are failing because regardless of your preference on those points, it's pointless to deny the true cause behind debates and divisions—a failure to love.

If counseling is to be restored to the church, affection must be restored to reflection. If counseling is to be restored to the church, delight in God must be restored to doctrines about God. Savoring Christ must be restored to seeing Christ. Tender contrition must be restored to tough conviction. Communication with God must be restored to contending for God.

Church was never intended to be a place where we serve God to the exclusion of meeting with Him.

Like David we have a number of self-destructive options we use to avoid repenting and admitting sin. I'll list them and let you come up with personal examples for each: deny, avoid, blame shift, rationalize, and give excuses. If you can't think of how you've used these, you may be stuck in denial!

Where is there a systematic theology class that helps students realize that when you unpack the inclination or the nature of the Trinity or the two natures of Christ or the substitutionary atonement, you commune with the Lord as you defend and contend for the doctrine, or else you are not doing it right? No wonder people often don't want to be around doctrinally driven individuals! They are not doing doctrine right. They are not emotionally in touch with the truths they are teaching.

Given the impossibility of not failing one another, when the Bible says, "We all stumble in many ways," the only way forward in loving community with one another is forgiveness.