John Stott, who died today in 2011, was one of the great figures in 20<sup>th century evangelicalism. A scholar, pastor and preacher, he was revered for his wisdom and statesmanship and influenced generations through his writing and speaking. He placed his formidable intellect at the service of the Church, but found time to indulge his great passion of birdwatching. His work continues today through his books and the work of the Langham Partnership global fellowship.
Here are nine quotes from John Stott's writings.
1. Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love.
2. Every Christian should be both conservative and radical; conservative in preserving the faith and radical in applying it.
3. The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them.
4. In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent, but thin, veneer of Christianity. They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable.
5. Social responsibility becomes an aspect not of Christian mission only, but also of Christian conversion. It is impossible to be truly converted to God without being thereby converted to our neighbour.
6. The overriding reason why we should take other people's cultures seriously is because God has taken ours seriously.
7. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?
8. The Bible isn't about people trying to discover God, but about God reaching out to find us.
9. Christianity is not just about what we believe; it's also about how we behave.
