Quotes collected by Shane

Shane Deike (link at right) always has good quotes on his blog. I thought I'd collect a few of them. -Ethan Wiekamp

"Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both"
- Author John Andrew Holmes

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"To expect dramatic results without stepping out is more foolish than foolishly stepping out."
-Shane Deike

"There is always a philosophy for a lack of courage"
- Albert Camu

"For years, ministry leaders have used a business model in managing their churches. It's a legitimate attempt to get religious organizations working at a more efficient level and trying to make them more productive. But ultimately that won't work. Writer and consultant Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says a business ins driven by profit, but a nonprofit is driven by mission. The two cannot be confused."
- Phil Cooke, Ph.D.

“Men do not follow titles, they follow courage.”
- William Wallace in Braveheart.

Another gem from Lee

Posers….or as the song goes plastic people. Does your heart beat within you with a passion? Or are you like the rest of the world like a zombie searching for your heart and life? I think the biggest problem with us Christians is that we really don’t believe Jesus. If we did it would show. Jesus said seek the kingdom of God first and all the stuff we think makes life worth living would be given to us. Instead, we seek the things that we think will make us happy and try to add Jesus into the mix. How backwards is that? The Bible promises if we search for Him with a hunger and thirst we will be filled. If we search for fulfillment we will go hungry and thirsty. Empty.

God has designed us for relationship. First with Him, then with other believers. Community. That’s the ticket to happiness. Most people have to wear themselves thin before they can listen to the Spirit quietly yet definitely calling them to a real life…a life that satisfies.

Real, we need to be real. We need to be with people who let us be real…who God made us to be. We need acceptance. We need to know God finds pleasure in us and He looks upon with love and desire to walk with us if we would only walk with Him. We need to be real not because that is what we are supposed to do but because if we don’t we will die inside and our heart will stop beating. But we are afraid to be real. We have been in a world (and sadly even in church) where we are constantly being corrected and chastised for being ourselves. Walking with God is not just behaving. It is living. Real living. To truly live a life worthy of God we have to be real first.

Let’s quit faking and be real. Be filled and full.

-Lee Jones

NCTA at Curtis

Over the past several months we have met a handful of men in Curtis Nebraska who have a heart for college students. We are fortunate to know these guys, and to have the opportunity to work alongside them this year at the local community college. One of the men, Lee, just wrote this to the students:

In Matthew 26:40 we read where our Lord Jesus told the disciples to ‘watch with me’. He knew what was to come. He knew the agony the disciples would face separated from Him; He knew the excruciating trial that was before Him and He told the men ‘watch with me’. He tells you and me that same thing today. He knows the trials in life. He knows our tendency to chase so many schemes to find happiness and significance apart from Him. He knows our heart and He loves us. And…we have a role to watch WITH Him. He invites us to join Him yet we would rather HE watch over us, He reveal Himself to us, He serve us. So we watch FOR Him not with Him.

Jesus invites you to watch with Him. To stand in the gap for fellow believers and tell the good news of His salvation to unbelievers; to face the trails of our lives and stand with others in the trials of their lives. Yes, it will cost you something. Your faith isn’t worth anything if serving the Lord doesn’t cost you something. This world tells you there is no consequence to ignoring what must be done. Have you bought into that?

What will it cost you? Everything. What will you gain? Do you know? There is no comparison.

Has God spoken into the darkness of your life yet? As He did in His wondrous act of creation let Him speak into the darkness of your life or be the voice of Him to speak into the darkness of another’s life and bring order out the chaos and turmoil that this life can bring.

But first we must watch with Him.Are you at your post?

-Lee