J.O. Fraser on prayer

Bunch of quotes and book recommendation from Terry Virgo.

Faith to inherit

Series by Terry Virgo:

Part 1: Faith and patience."To our surprise, the book of Hebrews tells us to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb. 6:12). Faith, it seems, does not operate only in the realm of the immediate, the here and now. In fact the faith that the Bible often highlights and celebrates is the faith that has to wait, yet keep believing."

Part 2: Don't be sluggish.

Part 3: Making the most of waiting. "Delay is not like the commercial time on TV – time to flick through the channels; time for short-term distractions until returning to the plot. Delay is part of the plot! Delay is God’s way of proving you, testing you to see what’s in your heart."

Part 4: What's in your heart? "It’s not for me to know why God tests you when He already knows you through and through. Your responsibility is to live this life in reverent fear and holy joy, trusting Him with every unexpected turn in the road and believing that the One who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all is not careless or capricious. He is not heartless or indifferent, putting us through pains that we don’t need to bear and delays that we don’t have to endure."

12 reasons story is the best way to think of the life of faith

By Dan Taylor: "The single best way of conceiving of faith and the life of faith is by seeing it as a story in which you are a character."

1. Stories are God's idea.
2. Stories fit how we have been made and how we live.
3. Like faith, stories engage us as whole persons, not as parts.
4. Stories are about choices and their consequences.
5. Stories have the power to change us.
6. Stories are directive.
7. Stories are strong and complex enough to contain pain, suffering, failure and mystery.
8. Stories call us to action.
9. Each of us needs a master story.
10. Stories create communities.
11. Stories makes connections between seemingly unconnected things.
12. Stories are the foundation for meaning and significance.

Audio link at bottom of page.

Radical risk without relocation

John Piper speaking about what radical sacrifice can look like.