Many years ago, my husband preached a sermon and one quote emerged that distinctly characterized his ministry. He declared,
“It’s time we return to the discarded values of the past.” He continued to emphasize the way our society had declined in morality and standards of excellence, honor and integrity. Once political correctness and liberal ideology invaded our culture, the foundational values we were taught as children were either rare or non-existent. His was one voice that felt compelled to shine a light in a dark place. I remember purchasing a book for him by Judge Robert Bork (former Supreme Court nominee) which I believe accurately summed up the country’s condition, “Slouching Towards Gomorrah-Modern Liberalism and American Decline.”
It happens gradually. The enemy can work a plan in such a way that it’s barely noticeable; little by little, inch by inch, this freedom, that freedom and before we know it, we look like and sound like that place in the Bible that was consumed by fire. The frightening part is that the church has been so warmly soothed and bathed in grace that it believes that’s the water that extinguishes the fire that is rarely found in the messages of today. It’s that fire that equals the wages of sin and death, eternal damnation and oh my ... hell. Some even teach that there is no such place. I guess I was always taught that you can’t pick and choose the parts of the Bible to believe. It’s ALL truth or all a lie. I choose TRUTH even if it hurts!
I decided to showcase some of the very truth that has made Rod Parsley stand out as one of the strongest voices of a generation. Since our family likes to do sentimental or meaningful gifts on holidays, I thought I’d do just that this past Father’s Day.
I admit I’m a sentimental crybaby! I’d much rather have something that shines from the heart than from a jewelry store and I have years of these treasures that are much more valuable than anything I own. These are precious gifts that always come with a story that then becomes a priceless memory stored in my heart forever.
This year, I decided to take quotes from my husband’s sermons, books or writings (and even threw in a few quotes of my own!) and created a box of “discarded cards.” These cards reflected many of the values that we desperately want to see restored, so I thought I’d share some with you and make it an ongoing feature. Like they always said before I got a shot, “this may hurt a little, but it’s for your own good in the long run”!
“We have many voices but few fathers.” - PRP
“There was a time where men sought valor and women sought virtue.” - JKP
“The enemy is supply and demand; entertainment in the pulpit is demanded by the pew ... Be entertained and believe a lie and be dammed - go ahead!” - PRP
“My children, whom I love more than my next breath, have grown up and now take my breath away.” Children are not an accessory in a parent’s life nor an afterthought. They are the primary thought and focus because you are raising an eternal life; where they spend eternity will largely be up to you and there’s no app for that!” - JKP
“Can God share the secrets of righteousness as easily as Satan can share the mysteries of inequality?” - PRP
“We have secularized the sanctuary; it’s time to go back to the old wells! Give me that old time religion!” - PRP
“Preaching for results silences the Gospel.” - PRP
“Real Preachers: You are at ground zero. Preach the true Gospel and you are weary, battered, bruised relief workers enduring for ‘the cause.’ You are the first-responders running into the burning building of damned souls. To endure just declare, ‘I am not in the tragedy, I am in the healing.’ ” - JKP
“If God doesn’t meet our need we get impatient ... Do you know what we get from impatience? We get Ishmael.” - PRP
“Truth is like a lion, turn it loose and it will defend itself.” - PRP
“We must seek to KNOW God in order to know what He can do. He is the sunrise to every sunset; the Heaven to every Hell, and the tranquility to every tempest, and He is ... without delay.” - JKP
“Make your opponent your teacher and your ego your enemy.” - PRP
“Young preachers, don’t get seduced by attention and begin that slow fade. The bright lights will become as dim as the truth you walk in. Being called doesn’t make you special, it makes you equal.” - JKP
“If you can’t give it away, it doesn’t belong to you - The Shunamite woman gave all she had when Elisha asked and it wasn’t on credit - little is much when God is in it.” - PRP
“Most preachers won’t tell you this but you will have a valley. All you need to remember is that giants die in the valley not on the mountaintops.” - PRP
“God is not a man. Men lie, men fail you but God never fails.” - PRP
“Preachers can be seduced by the applause and the admiration. The pulpit is not a stage where you abuse the honor hoping to impress people rather than change them. The pulpit is the sacred place where the real gospel is unashamedly declared.” - JKP
“God did not call you to be HAPPY! God called you to be HOLY!” - PRP
“The delusion in the church is that a crowd equates a move of God.” - PRP
“We cannot leave ourselves unchecked or sorrow awaits us. The Church can’t be so careful about the outside and who or what people think you are. Do that and you’re ignoring the inside and that’s what is showing!” - PRP
“Service to God, in any capacity, will NOT elevate you if the act is right but the heart is wrong.” - PRP
“Discipleship is a word that has been tossed around so much in our ‘Christianese’ that it’s lost its true meaning. We have to drop our proverbial nets in total surrender and follow Him. What’s in your net?” - JKP
“The proof of desire is in pursuit.” - PRP
“We don’t have time to find a cadence with a leader and get in step because we’re too busy marching to the beat of our own drum and feel entitled to do so.” - JKP
Lastly the classic - “It’s time we return to the discarded values of the Past.” - PRP
Ouch and ouch! Growing in God is no picnic if you really want Him. Believe me we’ve had our picnics where there are life-size ants and a tornado rips through in the middle of it! We don’t speak from experience with haughtiness as though we lived in some ivory tower. We speak with heads bowed in humility from a tent in the valley. We go through boot camp because we are soldiers and this battle is not about us.
I close with one last quote of mine but it sums up the real pursuits of PRP and JKP pretty well!
“Character building has nothing to do with anyone else if you really think about it ... it’s done in solitude, forged in decision making, discovered in complexity and strengthened in adversity. Character becomes a noble attribute that defines us through our actions and inactions ... our words or our silence.” (from
Tapestry of Faith)