ex libris

"The evangelizing congregation is continuously being evangelized."

"The 'gospel which meets my needs' must be replaced with the good news that reveals needs I did not know I had while providing healing power I never dreamed was possible."

"The members of the congregation need constantly to be helped to 'say their faith' when they are together, so that they can learn how to say it when they are apart - that is, when they are the sent-out people of God in mission."

"We reveal what we think Christian witness is all about with the standards and practices we establish for becoming a Christian. If we accept a 'lowest common denominator' definition of Christian commitment, then we should not be surprised that our congregations evidence so little commitment to gospel mission."

"The world of the principalities and powers is little challenged by a private and personal, vertical-relationship gospel. And that suits the powers and principalities fine....

"There is always pressure to tame the gospel. There is always resistance to the claims of Christ for total lordship. There is always a desire to move humans from the posture of sinners dependent upon grace to the stance of co-workers with God for the improvement of the world."

- Darrell L. Guder, The Continuing Conversion of the Church; 151, 155, 161, 173, 190.