More Quotes

When He wore a crown of thorns, do you wish to wear a crown of gold?" Johann Arndt, *True Christianity*. "To know the mechanics does not mean that we are practicing the Disciplines. The Spiritual Disciplines are an inward and spiritual reality, and the inner attitude of the heart is far more crucial than the mechanics for coming into the reality of the spiritual life." ------- Richard Foster, *Celebration Of Discipline* 2nd ed. (Harper, 1988), p.3 "Resolved : that all men should live for the glory of God. Resolved second : that whether others do or not, I will." ------- Jonathan Edwards "You may as well quit reading and hearing the Word of God, and give it to the devil, if you do not desire to live according to it." -------- Martin Luther "Faith, if it be true faith, is a sure trust and confidence of the heart, and a firm consent whereby Christ is apprehended: so that Christ is the object of faith, yea, rather he is not the object, but, as it were, in the faith itself Christ is present." ------ Martin Luther "Faith...comes only when the outward fact penetrates to the inner heart of man and takes possession of him there -- and this is the work of the Spirit." ------ George Hendry, *The Holy Spirit in Christian Theology*. "By faith we receive the saving grace of God that delivers us from guilt and sin. In love we participate in the victorious struggle of God against the principalities and powers of evil." ------ Gabriel Fackre, *A Christian Story*, p.203 "If knowing answers to life's questions is absolutely necessary to you, then forget the journey. You will never make it, for this is a journey of unknowables -- of unanswered questions, enigmas, incomprehensibles, and, most of all, things unfair." ------ Jeanne Guyon, in *Spiritual Torrents* "Spell this out in capital letters: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON. He is not enthusiasm. He is not courage. He is not energy. He is not the personification of all good qualities, like Jack Frost is the personification of cold weather. Actually, the Holy Spirit is not the personification of anything...... He has individuality. He is one being and not another. He has will and intelligence. He has hearing. He has knowledge and sympathy and ability to love and see and think. He can hear, speak, desire, grieve and rejoice. He is a Person." ------ A W Tozer, *The Counselor* "Medicine makes people ill, mathematics makes them sad, and theology makes them sinful." ~ Martin Luther (1483-1546) German Reformation leader "Although Satan does his part, God still retains supreme authority." (John Calvin) "If there were no God, there would be no atheists." - Where All Roads Lead, 1922 The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man." - Introduction to the Book of Job, 1907 "Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, *Cost Of Discipleship*, p.47 "When a successful figure becomes especially prominent and conspicuous, the majority give way to the idolization of success. They become blind to right and wrong, truth and untruth, fair play and foul play." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, *Ethics* "God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede." ------ Oswald Chambers "Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a lion. Just turn the Bible loose. It will defend itself." (Charles Haddon Spurgeon) Every time we say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit," we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it. J. B. Phillips, *Plain Christianity* The incentive to peacemaking is love, but it degenerates into appeasement whenever justice is ignored. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness are both costly exercises. All authentic Christian peacemaking exhibits the love and justice—and so the pain—of the cross. John R. W. Stott Love is an act of endless forgiveness. Jean Vanier Faith is believing He, the miracle worker, can turn my stone-cold indifference into a fire of love toward certain "unlovables". Pamela Reeve If we want the advantages of love, then we must be willing to take the risks of love. And that requires vulnerability. Of course, we can refuse this path and trod another one devoid of openness. But the toll on such a road is extremely high. Charles (Chuck) R. Swindoll Not all of passion is love and not all of love is passion. Ed Cole, Christian Men's Network Our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner - no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis, Into The Wardrobe If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer: Intercession is a way of loving others. Richard J. Foster Instead of allowing yourself to be unhappy, just let your love grow as God wants it to grow. Seek goodness in others. Love more persons more -- love them more impersonally, more unselfishly, without thought of return. The return, never fear, will take care of itself. Henry Drummond The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. Victor Hugo Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love. Henri J. M. Nouwen Love finds no steady home in psychological health. I am sure God wants us to be whole and healthy in every way possible, but love neither depends upon these things nor ends with them. In fact, blessings sometimes come through brokenness that could never come in any other way. Gerald May There are so many different ways of being healed. The best way, and by far the commonest, is to be loved. To be loved by God, and to know it and live it, is to be healed indeed. The Good News first of all is that you and I are accepted and loved by God. From all eternity you and I have been in the mind of God. God’s love for us is utterly reliable and has no conditions whatsoever. Cyril Brooks "We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the one who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy." John Piper "Thinking Theologically is a tough thing to do. It works against our human and horizontal perspective on life. Thinking vertically is a discipline few have mastered. We much prefer to live in a here-and-now realm, seeing life as others see it, dealing with realities we can touch, analyze, prove, and explain. We are much more comfortable with the tattile, the familiar, the logic shaped by our culture and lived out our times." Chuck Swindoll, The Mystery of God's Will (pg 17) "It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances, for we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them." - Oswald Chambers People with disabilities are God's best visual aids to demonstrate who He really is. His power shows up best in weakness. And who by the world's standards is weaker than the mentally or physically disabled? As the world watches, these people persevere. They live, love, trust and obey Him. Eventually the world is forced to say, "How great their God must be to inspire this kind of loyalty." Joni Eareckson Tada "You as a family have been chosen in a special way to display His unique Masterwork. I pray that your roots of faith will grow deep down into the faithfulness of God's Loving Plan, that you will exchange your inadequacy for the Adequacy of Jesus' resurrection power, and that you will be awed as you witness the fruits of the Spirit manifested in your family." Elisabeth Elliot (Back to the Bible) "Thinking Theologically is a tough thing to do. It works against our human and horizontal perspective on life. Thinking vertically is a discipline few have mastered. We much prefer to live in a here-and-now realm, seeing life as others see it, dealing with realities we can touch, analyze, prove, and explain. We are much more comfortable with the tattile, the familiar, the logic shaped by our culture and lived out our times." Chuck Swindoll, The Mystery of God's Will (pg 17)