Paul wanted those who persecuted him to know Jesus as he knew him—as all in all, as his sufficiency and strength, as his one exclusive hope.
God chose a man who hated his son to become his son’s chief witness.
This is conversion: the journey from knowledge to knowing. It makes all the difference in the world.
Why aren’t our churches centers of learning languages? It’s probably the most apostolic move we could make.
The world sees a crisis. The apostle sees an opportunity. What looks like sure martyrdom turns out to be a bigger microphone.
The greatest threat to the gospel doesn’t usually come from the outsiders but from the insiders. Religion can be treacherous.
Whenever the inappropriate fear of people eclipses the appropriate fear of God, it’s a short step to image management and control tactics.
Our meetings ought to look more like, “Reporting in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through this ministry.”
The confounding logic of eternal life is this: Die before you die and then all is life.
Know the destination. Don’t sweat the details. I think it’s how the will of God works more often than not.
We must learn to simply, meaningfully, and regularly send one another out into the mission of the gospel.
What’s so amazing about Paul is he left churches he had planted all the time yet he never protected himself from the pain that comes from saying goodbye to deep friendships.
