Dever Quotes & Sayings

T]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people - the new covenant, blood-bought people of God. That's why Paul said, 'Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her' (Eph. 5:25). He didn't give himself up for a place, but for a people. — Mark Dever

Suffering can serve us. Suffering tests our trust in God's promises. And we have a great interest in knowing the truth about our trust in Him. — Mark Dever

A church is not a Fortune 500 company. It's not simply another nonprofit organization, nor is it a social club. In fact, a healthy church is unlike any organization that man has ever devised, because man didn't devise it. — Mark Dever

As long as quick numerical growth remains the primary indicator of church health, the truth will be compromised. Instead, churches must once again begin measuring success not in terms of numbers but in terms of fidelity to the Scriptures. — Mark Dever

Pride causes us to care more about what our non-Christian friends think of us than what God will do to them in their sin. — Mark Dever

By the grace of God I am what I am — Mark Dever

Friend, the church finds its life as it listens to the Word of God. It finds its purpose as it lives out and displays the Word of God. The church's job is to listen and then to echo. — Mark Dever

I feel like social media is a great thing. I try not to go on it too much. — Kaitlyn Dever

I'm not really a Method actor. I'm always afraid of working with someone who's afraid to [break character] and won't talk to anyone because they're in character. — Kaitlyn Dever

Working with my hands keeps me sane. — Seamus Dever

I think about all the people who have created something that lives after them - works of art, plays, music, films, literature, poetry that will be read, seen, performed, and heard for the rest of time. If I could do something that lives after me, then I think I will have had a life well led. — Seamus Dever

The church arises only from the gospel. And a distorted church usually coincides with a distorted gospel. — Mark Dever

Today is what the Lord has prepared you for. — Mark Dever

If you can't imagine female torch singers and Skrillex-style demon techno onstage at the same moment, you don't know Eurovision. — Seamus Dever

Job learned about the vanity of this world by losing it all; the Teacher {Qoheleth} saw it by having it all." (The Message of the Old Testament, p. 536) — Mark Dever

A gospel that in no way offends the sinner has not been understood. — Mark Dever

Again, we are humble because we know we are not the power to change the heart. But we are obedient because we know we are the necessary means ordained by our sovereign God by which the light comes to those in darkness. — Mark Dever

It is only in the context of understanding something of God's character, of his righteousness and perfection, that we begin to understand the tremendous nature of saying that God truly is love, and his love has a depth, texture, fullness, and beauty to it that we, in our present state, can only begin to wonder at. — Mark Dever

We are all called to initiate involvement in each other's lives ... We covenant together to work and pray for unity, to walk together in love, to exercise care and watchfulness over each other, to faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require, to assemble together, to pray for each other, to rejoice and to bear with each other, and to pray for God's help in all this. — Mark Dever

The first step toward the one true God is to acknowledge that we are not that God. — Mark Dever

Humility is not an 'added extra,' one of the lesser Christian virtues. If you don't have humility, you may be lost. — Mark Dever

If you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, you may well be going to hell. — Mark Dever

I'll tell you what's more important than all the commentaries in your library: prayer. — Mark Dever

Ultimately, discipling involves living out the whole Christian life before others. — Mark Dever

When a person becomes a Christian, he doesn't just join a local church because it's a good habit for growing in spiritual maturity. He joins a local church because it's the expression of what Christ has made him - a member of the body of Christ. — Mark Dever

Anger and desire for revenge can be a great motivating force. It's either that or you allow it to affect your confidence and that can be crippling. — Seamus Dever

I think social media is a great place to share ideas and to connect with other people. — Kaitlyn Dever

I feel like Eurovision is a parallel dimension. It reminds me of 'Dance Fever' and 'Solid Gold' when I was a kid. Then when you hear these songs sung in English by someone who may or may not understand the words, the unique awesomeness hits you. — Seamus Dever

Prayer is the preview of God's action. — Mark Dever

No, it's that fun we have. It's real. I'm so thankful they cast good, funny, interesting, warm, kind people in "Castle", because we blend very well together. At this point it's like a family. We help each other. I constantly ask them: "What's funnier: if I do this or I do that?" And I don't think we care anymore about looking weak or unprofessional. We all just want the best for each other and for the show. — Seamus Dever

It's really important that people know about it and the issue in schools because it happens every day to people and it really hurts when people get bullied. — Kaitlyn Dever

Our fears lie to us about how important they are. — Mark Dever

I do write. I actually do want to start my music as well. My sister and I are starting a band. I've been playing a guitar for nine years, and she plays piano, and we sing together. We're going to start up something soon. I mostly am writing songs right now actually, but I would love to write a script someday. — Kaitlyn Dever

My wife Juliana and I first saw Eurovision while on our honeymoon in Greece in 2006, and we were amazed by it. They basically recreate a music video onstage, and pyro cannons, LED video screens, background dancers, fireworks, costume changes, and wind machines are their tools. — Seamus Dever

According to the New Testament, the church is primarily a body of people who profess and give evidence that they have been saved by God's grace alone, for His glory alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. — Mark Dever

Everything teaches, whether you intend it to or not. The songs teach people doctrine and proper affections for God. Your prayers (or lack of them) teach people how to pray themselves. The kinds of prayers you pray (or don't pray) teach people about the important differences between prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. The way you administer the ordinances teaches people about their meaning, and even the very meaning of the Gospel. Your preaching teaches people how to study and use the Bible appropriately. Everything from the call to worship to the benediction counts as teaching. Teaching is everything. — Mark Dever

If you think that the gospel is all about what we can do, that the practice of it is optional, and that conversion is simply something that anyone can choose at any time, then I'm concerned that you'll think of evangelism as nothing more than a sales job where the prospect is to be won over to sign on the dotted line by praying a prayer, followed by an assurance that he is the proud owner of salvation. — Mark Dever

It got to a point where there were so many apps and stuff on my phone that I started getting overwhelmed because there were so many things to check. Just Instagram and Twitter are what I stick to these day. — Kaitlyn Dever

Christian proclamation might make the gospel audible, but Christians living together in local congregations make the gospel visible (see John 13:34-35). The church is the gospel made visible. — Mark Dever

The church has not been given authority to make commandments; it is the duty of the church to obey the commandments already made. It is not the prerogative nor the privilege of any church to modify, minimize or in any way obscure . . . any commandment, of Jesus Christ.8 — Mark Dever

A healthy church is not a church that's perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it's a church that continually strives to take God's side in the battle against the ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It's a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God's Word. — Mark Dever

Forgetfulness of God's grace is one of the greatest tools in the enemy's war against our souls. — Mark Dever

Avoiding the doctrine of Hell is one step away from denying it altogether. — Mark Dever

We are called to love others. We share the gospel because we love people. And we don't share the gospel because we don't love people. Instead, we wrongly fear them. We don't want to cause awkwardness. We want their respect, and after all, we figure, if we try to share the gospel with them, we'll look foolish! And so we are quiet. We protect our pride at the cost of their souls. In the name of not wanting to look weird, we are content to be complicit in their being lost. — Mark Dever

Mostly I've just worked with actors and actresses that are fun and easy to talk to and had nothing but great experiences. — Kaitlyn Dever

If you have no interest in actually committing yourself to an actual group of gospel-believing, Bible-teaching Christians, you might question whether you belong to the body of Christ at all! — Mark Dever

Membership is the church's corporate endorsement of a person's salvation. — Mark Dever

The truly changed, truly converted, truly Christian heart can say with John Newton, I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. Yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was. By the grace of God, I am what I am. — Mark Dever

Correct division should be preferred over corrupt unity. — Mark Dever

In The Greens Are Gone, I play a character that's bipolar, so that was a big step and quite a challenge. — Kaitlyn Dever

A lot of people just capitulate and say, "Well, that's just the way things are." I think that can be deadly for creative people. — Seamus Dever

I love going back and forth from drama to comedy. I love switching it around and showing people that I can do both. — Kaitlyn Dever

What about for your church? What boundaries has the gospel overrun that society fiercely respects? — Mark Dever

I've learned a lot from doing the sitcom. I've learned so much about comedic timing. For all the movies I've done, I've played so many different roles. I love both, but I guess in my career maybe I want to stick more to film. — Kaitlyn Dever

When our eyes fall from God to humanity, social ills replace sin, horizontal problems replace the fundamental vertical problem between us and God, winning elections eclipses winning souls. — Mark Dever

We are humble because we know we are not the power in salvation. We are obedient because we know we possess the light. — Mark Dever

Everyone talks about the elusive thing with chemistry. If you have a romance on screen or anything, the first thing you have to do is become friends with the person. It's not necessarily about falling in love. — Seamus Dever

Doubt not your purpose nor your strength. — Joe Dever

I play guitar and sing when I'm not busy with school and acting. — Kaitlyn Dever

Evangelism is not a making of proselytes; it is not persuading people to make a decision; it is not proving that God exists, or making a good case for the truth of Christianity; it is not inviting someone to a meeting; it is not exposing the contemporary dilemma, or arousing interest in Christianity; it is not wearing a badge saying "Jesus Saves"! Some of these things are right and good in their place, but none of them should be confused with evangelism. To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. — Mark Dever

not the writings that come from prophets inspired by the one true God revealed in Jesus Christ, then why do we find those passages as proof of who Jesus is?" In other words, they turned the old argument that had been used in the context of Jewish evangelism around. It's not — Mark Dever

I'm about to graduate senior year and I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to lose the momentum with what I'm doing now as an actress. — Kaitlyn Dever

For a Christian, our fears about the future are rooted in those places where our will differs from God's will. — Mark Dever

When someone is bullying you, don't let it get to you. I remember my friends in school, someone said something mean to them, and they really let it get to them. And it really affected them. But I would just say try to ignore it as much as possible and just be yourself. — Kaitlyn Dever

The gospel of Christ has never needed the gimmicks of man to effect conversion in the soul — Mark Dever

Our examples of enduring hardship are often more powerful than our stories of success and triumph. — Mark Dever

Sin claims to free but in fact it kills. — Mark Dever

'Last Man Standing' is overall a lot of comedy. And I love doing that. — Kaitlyn Dever

There is nothing like being on stage. — Seamus Dever

I would have to say that I have to concentrate more when I'm doing comedy. There are so many details that make up any character, but developing a character for a dramatic role seems to come more naturally. — Kaitlyn Dever

I think that the main thing that you can learn from watching 'The Spectacular Now' is just learning about growing up and moving on. — Kaitlyn Dever

Christians are defined not by our heritage, but by our mission; not by our blood, but by His. — Mark Dever

We cannot finally judge the correctness of what we do in evangelism by the immediate response that we see. It is important to understand this truth, because a failure to understand it can distract well-meaning churches into pragmatic, results-oriented endeavors and it can transform pastors into neurotic people-manipulators. — Mark Dever

God's Word has always been His chosen instrument to create, convict, convert, and conform His people. — Mark Dever

I am an old school sort of syndicated cartoon watcher. I'm a big fan of Voltron, too. — Seamus Dever

God's eternal plan has always been to display his glory not just through individuals but through a corporate body. — Mark Dever

We do not fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not subsequently converted; we fail only if we do not faithfully tell the gospel at all. — Mark Dever

Discipling involves instruction and imitation. — Mark Dever

My eyebrows - they have a life of their own. I don't arch them on purpose; I don't do, like, arching exercises or anything, I promise! — Seamus Dever

Usually I don't get specific advice from certain actors or actresses I work with. — Kaitlyn Dever

I used to love stage above all, but that was when I was a single man. As I get older, the time commitment gets harder for theatre. — Seamus Dever

Your plans are fine, as long as you realize God has the right to change them. — Mark Dever

It's hard to remain patient when it seems so debilitating to do so. The balance comes with staying ambitious while being patient. — Seamus Dever

We do live best in this world when we keep the next in mind. — Mark Dever

Unbelief is like gravity, it's always pulling down on the authority of Scripture. — Mark Dever

the most basic level of commitment by a Christian to his church is surprisingly substantial. — Mark Dever

Too often Christians today have only two gears on their theological bike: essential and unimportant. If something is not essential for salvation, it is treated as unimportant and therefore dismissable. But the Bible presents us with a number of matters that are not essential for salvation but which nonetheless are important, even necessary, for obedience to God's Word. — Mark Dever

Do you want to know that your new life is real? Commit yourself to a local group of saved sinners. Try to love them. Don't just do it for three weeks. Don't just do it for six months. Do it for years. And I think you'll find out, and others will, too, whether or not you love God. The truth will show itself — Mark Dever