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Goodness cannot be imposed externally, from the top down it must grow internally, from the bottom up.

Philip Yancey

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Philip Yancey
Age: 75
Born: 1949
Born: November 4
Author
Journalist
Publisher
Writer
Atlanta
Georgia
Grows
Cannot
Must
Externally
Internally
Imposed
Goodness
Bottom
Grow

More quotes by Philip Yancey

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Some things just have to be believed to be seen.
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Prayer is not a means of removing the unknown and predictable elements in life, but rather a way of including the unknown and unpredictable in the outworking of the grace of God in our lives.
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When he lived on earth, [Jesus] surrounded himself with ordinary people who misunderstood him, failed to exercise much spiritual power, and sometimes behaved like churlish schoolchildren.
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The surgery of life hurts. It helps me, though, to know that the surgeon himself, the Wounded Surgeon, has felt every stab of pain and every sorrow.
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If God doesn't want something for me, then I shouldn't want it either.
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...to see that God does answer, in great things as well as small, the prayers of those who put their trust in Him will strengthen the faith of multitudes.
Philip Yancey
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The shift in American society from admiring Christians to fearing and criticizing them provides an opportunity for self-reflection. How have we been presenting the message we believe in? Might there be a more grace-filled way?
Philip Yancey
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God does not seem impressed by size or power or wealth. Faith is what he wants, and the heroes who emerge are heroes of faith, not strength or wealth.
Philip Yancey
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Be still. In that focus, all else comes into focus. In that rift in my routine, the universe falls into alignment.
Philip Yancey
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If Jesus had never lived, we would not have been able to invent him.
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I ask God most often that we would be an unbroken line of Christians until Christ shall return.
Philip Yancey
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Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part.
Philip Yancey
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The deadening part of Bible study is when you think you've already got it all figured out.
Philip Yancey
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If God doesn't want something for me, I shouldn't want it either. Spending time in meditative prayer, getting to know God, helps align my desires with God's.
Philip Yancey
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The giants of the faith all had one thing in common: neither victory nor success, but passion.
Philip Yancey
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The Quakers have a saying: An enemy is one whose story we have not heard. To communicate to post-Christians, I must first listen to their stories for clues to how they view the world and how they view people like me.
Philip Yancey
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Some of us seem so anxious about avoiding hell that we forget to celebrate our journey toward heaven.
Philip Yancey
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When the world asks if there is any hope, we can say absolutely! No one is exempt from tragedy or disappointment- God himself was not exempt. Jesus offered no immunity, no way out of the unfairness, but rather a way through it to the other side.
Philip Yancey
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On a small scale, person-to-person, Jesus encountered the kinds of suffering common to all of us. And how did he respond? Avoiding philosophical theories and theological lessons, he reached out with healing and compassion. He forgave sin, healed the afflicted, cast out evil, and even overcame death.
Philip Yancey
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All too often the church holds up a mirror reflecting back the society around it, rather than a window revealing a different way.
Philip Yancey