James MacDonald Quotes

When we shift from personal purity to personal happiness, we lose biblical hope because we are not f...

We must evaluate every person, place, product, perspective, position, or pleasure we have looked to ...

Counseling is ultimately not about the counselee or the counselor, but about the Divine Counselor.

God's Word is especially suited to directing those who want to focus primarily on the nature and dir...

In a society where rationality has ruled so long, the church frequently fails to see that in forsaki...

I experience transcendence when something infinite reminds me I am finite.

Let God Himself be the main attraction at church again, and let us be tireless in our insistence tha...

The entity God created to traffic His transcendence has fallen far from its mission when it chooses ...

We are less interested in the number of disciples and more interested in the quality of discipleship...

The counselee should be aware that you are not God. Better yet, she should be aware that you are awa...

A soul that is happy in the things of God can overcome tremendous obstacles.

The role of biblical counselors is facilitate the discovery of a greater God awareness through spiri...

Ed Welch says that all counseling is a variation on a single theme: knowing and praying for the coun...

Our view of human problems determines who is qualified to speak to them. If sin is the primary human...

If our counseling is truly Christ-centered, then the topic of forgiveness will inevitably come up in...

If spiritual formation is the purpose of the church, then personal transformation should intentional...

If we had not experienced our deep sinfulness and Jesus' deep forgiveness through the cross, we will...

So often, it's others around us who can see where God wants to grow us even before we see it ourselv...

Most counseling cases today involve good desires that have become overgrown. In these cases most rel...

Any counseling that does not pursue spiritual formation through an intimate relationship with Jesus ...

The marquee scrolling across our minds trying to reinterpret life reads: "God-Against-Us." This beco...

The body of Christ is about doing life together, and by doing life together sin is revealed.

Our hearts are wired for worship, and our worship is directly tied to our sense of hope.

Word-centered people who enter counseling will be more likely follow the guidance set out in Scriptu...

When we pray, we are speaking to the One Whose eternal purpose and designs are unfolding as our pres...

To disrespect a person made in the image and likeness of God is a lot worse than desecrating a flag....

This is God's world, so everything, even if it intends to efface God, bears witness to God – underst...

If we are to use the Bible effectively, then we must use it the way God wrote it – in narrative form...

One of the most frequent sins of omission is the failure to get adequate rest.

A continual diet of the Word satisfies, and it builds an appetite for more.

Many pastors would rather preach God's Word and keep their distance than invest in a personal one-on...

Small groups are the place to push past Bible knowledge and on to life application so that we can se...

Whether you realize it or not, your ongoing battle with unbelief drives all your sinful thoughts, em...

Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half as persistent, not half ...

What you hope for determines what you live for. What you hope for determines WHO you live for. Hope ...

We must rip the foundations out from under all the bastions of human reasoning that say, "I don't ne...

In counseling, we don't simply help people to change one thought; we help people to understand the p...

Pride rises above and against the knowledge of God, acting as if He is unworthy to be retained in ou...

All the stories and poems and letters and oracles and wisdom verses of God's Word, like individual i...

At the end of life, each of us must answer the question, Whose story captured my soul?

Spending too much time in one's individual silo can produce pride, isolation, and a stagnated minist...

You can't teach a person to love something. But you can get him to feel the heat of your love for so...

If all you are doing is spending time with the struggling members of your church and you are not bui...

In healthy churches, the pastors life, not just his words, sets the tone for the church.

If counseling is to be restored to the church, affection must be restored to reflection. If counseli...

When it comes to biblical counseling, friendship is central to the counseling relationship because i...

The biblical counselor must always remember that the ROOT problem is deeper than skin; it is sin. Th...

When we worry, we are telling God, "You are neither trustworthy nor in control, so I need to worry a...

Who we are is not a question we can ask without seeking to understand the context in which we live. ...

Reality is God-centered and all human beings are worshipers, whether or not they are conscious of th...

A rebellion against God, even as believers, is fueled by the toxic fumes of unbelief.

While the United States is becoming the most culturally diverse nation in the world, less than 5.5% ...

Most of the church landscape in my lifetime has been heavily invested in trying to do something for ...

Church leaders raised on rationalism lead ministries where the supernatural, the Vertical, is suppre...