# Jordan's Crossing  ## Metadata - Author: [[Randall Arthur]] - Full Title: Jordan's Crossing - Category: #books ## Highlights - The missionary raised a finger and punctuated the air with his next words. “ ‘God is not a respecter of persons,’ he told me, ‘but He is a respecter of faith.’ The reason God is more liberal in working miracles among converts in the third world, my friends, is not because those people have greater needs. It’s because they have greater faith. “The American went on to observe that in our western cultures we have become so high-tech and have developed so many human resources for meeting our needs and desires, that in a practical sense we don’t need God anymore. “Oh yes, we call on God in times of crisis, but our lack of faith in God is manifested by the fact that we immediately start gathering together all available resources and start assembling Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, just in case God doesn’t come through.” ([Location 1088](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=1088)) - “What you and I must learn, my brethren, is that God alone can truly meet our needs. All our technology, all our resources, all our planning and evaluation are an illusion! They are empty distractions from the central requirements of human life—to love and to trust the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. “With that in mind, listen once again to the strong words of Hebrews chapter eleven, verse six: ‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him. He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him’.” ([Location 1095](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=1095)) - “Why do you call yourself a Christian, Jordan?” she asked through tears. “You’re not a follower of Christ; you’re a follower of Jordan Rau.” She continued staring at him. “You believe only in yourself, you listen only to yourself. That’s why you never hear God’s voice. Isn’t that right, Jordan?” ([Location 1527](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=1527)) - “All across America,” Faircloth continued, “people enter the doors of their church behind a smiling mask and a locked-up heart. They sit front-to-back. Allowed by American tradition to be only spectators, they listen to one-man sermons. And then they go home. Very seldom, if ever, do they touch hearts with one another in a below-the-surface, meaningful, serious, edifying, and productive manner. ([Location 1664](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=1664)) - “Remember this little formula,” he told them. “Relationships versus programs. Programs ordinarily presuppose that the people in the pews are simply an audience. On the other hand, building relationships in the church—through scripturally teaching one another, encouraging one another, listening to one another, confessing to one another, forgiving one another, and interacting with one another in a host of other ways—will transform the church from a passive audience to a living family.” ([Location 1817](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=1817)) - “Pain is like language, Susan. It comes in many different sounds, dialects, and accents. Once you learn a spoken language fluently, you can understand and communicate with others who speak that same language. It’s the same for those who experience mutual pain. They understand each other.” ([Location 2832](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=2832)) - “While sowing your good seed, you may still be reaping from the old harvest. The good harvest, the harvest of life, hasn’t yet come to fruition. Therefore, you’re living under the false illusion that your efforts to sow good seed are ineffective.” ([Location 2898](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=2898)) - “Stripped down to the basics,” he was saying, “the heart of Christianity is the heart, Jordan. If a man is locked away in a prison cell and has no Bible to read, no money or material goods with which to be generous, no freedom to attend any kind of worship service, no pulpit from which to preach, and no tradition to define his Christian expression, he can still be a Christian. Because the heart of Christianity is the heart. It’s having a personal relationship in the heart with Jesus Christ—confessing Him as Savior, accepting His forgiveness, communing with Him, worshiping Him, loving Him, believing Him, obeying Him, honoring Him. And if that heart-born relationship cannot be expressed outside the prison cell, the man can still express his Christianity from the heart—through a supernatural peace of mind, a loving kindness toward his enemies that’s contrary to human nature, an inner joy that can’t be explained logically, a willingness to trust God regardless of the situation, and a self-control that reflects God’s surpassing strength. It’s the heart, Jordan. The heart.” ([Location 2985](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=2985)) - a man will never choose to be healed from his blindness until he first realizes he cannot see. ([Location 3004](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B005ACD2H6&location=3004))