PASTORAL CARE

'...are those you serve certain of the Father's love for them? Are you laboring to convince them of it? How do you leave your church at the end of a sermon? Where do you leave them at the end of a counseling appointment? What is the effect of even a casual conversation with you? Does a member of your church leave your presence more aware of his sin, or more aware of the love of God the Father? Is your church more secure in the Father's personal and passionate love as the result of your ministry?

Let me ask a more personal question: Are you convinced of the Father's love for you? He crushed his Son for you so that he might adopt you, so that he might convince you of his holy love for you. Pastor, are you more aware of your sin, the weakness in your pastoral ministry, the deficiencies in your church, or of the Father's love? You cannot convince your church of the Father's love if you are not convinced of it it yourself.'

CJ Mahaney, 'The Pastor and the Trinity' in For the Fame of God's Name, p.398.

GOD'S LOVE

'I will crush my Son under the full fury of my righteous wrath for you. In the Garden of Gethsemane, my Son will cry out for this bitter cup to pass from him. And I will remain silent. Why? Because I love you that much.

And when my Son utters that shriek on the cross, unlike any other protest in all of history "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I will again remain silent. Why? To convince you that I love you.

Behold the supreme demonstration of my love - the cross - the death of my Son, What more can I say? What else do you require to be convinced of my love for you?'

CJ Mahaney, 'The Pastor and the Trinity' in For the Fame of God's Name, p.397.

PASTORAL CARE

'Some facet of gospel truth is the ultimate answer for every pastoral situation you confront - every one.'

CJ Mahaney, 'The Pastor and the Trinity' in Sam Storms & Justin Taylor (Eds.), For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honour of John Piper, p.393.

HUMILITY

'Humility doesn't demand mathematical precision from another's input; humility postures itself to receive God's grace from any avenue possible.'

CJ Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness, p.134.

ANXIETY

'Where there's worry, where there's anxiousness, pride is at the root of it. When I am experiencing anxiety, the root issue is that I'm trying to be self-sufficient. I'm acting independent of God.'

CJ Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness, p.75.