Some of my favourite quotes from John Wimber:
“It’s not enough to be Biblically literate; we must also be Biblically obedient..”
”One question you never want to ask God unless you want the answer is, ‘what’s wrong with me?’ He will tell you the truth..”
“It’s not the Churches job to hold onto people. That’s what cemeteries do..”
“I’m just change in His pocket- He can spend me however He chooses…”
“Programs are only workable as long as they work. When they quit working- quit working them..”
Wimber-“I would never send anyone out from my church that wasn’t a discipler. I don’t care where they went to school and what kind of education they have. What i want to know is ‘Are they trained?’ Education is not training folks. I’m all for education, i just don’t want it to get in the way of learning. And so often it does…”
“Never mess with the message of the Gospel. Leave it alone. It was good then and its great now..”
“I’m for disciples. I’m glad for people that have experiences- but that’s not enough. Until you have somebody who can reproduce it in peoples lives you haven’t got much..”
Wimber on following leaders.. “Put your cart behind the one with the most fruit..”
“There is no ‘new thing’ and there will be no ‘new thing’ of what man thinks he can discover. The only thing is the exaltation of Jesus; the waiting for His imminent return; the winning of the lost and the establishing of the Church, and nurturing of the same…”
“I don’t trust any leader that doesn’t walk with a limp…”
Wimber to Vineyard Leaders-“Dont offer simplistic solutions to complex problems such as leadership development and pastoral care..”
Wimber to Vineyard Leaders- “Ruthlessly assert the Vineyard value of ‘no hype’ in all communications. Avoid pumping people up for the ‘new thing’ God is doing. Demystify new emphasis even as the Vineyard has attempted to demystify spiritual gifts. Understatement is a key Vineyard value that I pray will flourish for many years..”
“You only get to keep what your willing to give away… we must always give away our best!”
“Social justice is at the very heart of the Gospel. Remember, ‘It is a Kingdom in which justice rolls like a river; righteousness like a never failing stream..’ Jesus linked His healing ministry with ministry to the poor..”
“Our job is to care for the poor. We don’t get to decide who is worthy to be cared for. Our job is care and God decides whose worthy…”
“I started praying for the sick not because the sick were being healed, but because thats what Scripture tells Christians to do..”
“People often confuse decisions with discipleship. Effective ministry is not just about the catching, its also about the cleaning. We must not only harvest, but also process the fruit..”
“We’ve been given the keys of the Kingdom; the authority & power over the enemy. But if we don’t exercise that power then its of no use. The Kingdom of darkness is organized to distract us & to prevent us from doing God’s bidding. We must know the power we have, use the power we have and not allow ourselves to become distracted…”
“Remember, the enemy follows no rules of war. He considers nothing unfair; and he is not a gentleman. The sooner Christians understand this the more serious they will become about being equipped and properly trained for the Kingdom..”
