Let it be a settled principle in our religion that when a man brings forth no fruits of the Spirit, he has not the Holy Spirit within him. Let us resist as a deadly error the common idea, that all baptized people are born again, and that all members of the Church, as a matter of course, have the Holy Spirit. One simple question must be our rule: What fruit does a man bring forth? Does he repent? Does he believe with the heart on Jesus? Does he live a holy life? Does he overcome the world? Habits like these are what Scripture calls "fruit." When these "fruits" are lacking, it is profane to talk of a man having the Spirit of God within him. ~ J.C. RyleExpository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 192.

Little things come daily, hourly, within our reach, and they are not less calculated to set forward our growth in holiness than are the greater occasions which occur but rarely. Moreover, fidelity in trifles, and an earnest seeking to please God in little matters, is a test of real devotion and love. Let our aim be to please our dear Lord perfectly in little things, and to attain a spirit of childlike simplicity and dependence.-Jean-Nicolas Grou

"You will have tribulation in this world." John 16:33
The word tribulation is very suggestive. It comes from a root which means 'a flail'. The thresher uses the flail to beat the wheat sheaves, that he may separate the golden wheat from the chaff and straw.
Tribulation is God's threshing--not to destroy us, but to get what is good, heavenly, and spiritual in us--separated from what is wrong, earthly, and fleshly. Nothing less than blows of pain will do this. The golden wheat of goodness in us, is so closely wrapped up in the strong chaff of sin--that only the heavy flail of suffering can produce the separation!
Many of us would never enter the gates of pearl--were it not for this unwelcome messenger, pain! "We must go through many troubles to enter the kingdom of God!" Acts 14:22 - J. R. Miller, "Miller's Year Book--a Year's Daily Readings")

If the Holy Spirit can take over the subconscious with our
consent and cooperation, then we have almighty Power working at
the basis of our lives, then we can do anything we ought to do,
go anywhere we ought to go, and be anything we ought to be.
Life is supplied with a basic adequacy...
The conscious mind determines the actions, the unconscious
mind determines the reactions; and the reactions are just as
important as the actions. Many Christians are Christians in
their actions--they don't lie, steal, commit adultery, or get
drunk; but they react badly to what happens to them--they react
in anger, bad temper, self-pity, jealousy, and envy... When the
depths are held by the Holy Spirit, then the reaction is
Christian.- E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), Conversion, New York:Abingdon Press, 1959, p. 233,235

The reason we can hope to find God is that He is here,
engaged all the time in finding us. Every gleam of beauty is a
pull toward Him. Every pulse of love is a tendril that draws us
in His direction. Every verification of truth links the finite
mind up into a Foundational Mind that undergirds us. Every deed
of good will points toward a consummate Goodness which fulfills
all our tiny adventures in faith. We can find Him because in
Him we live and move and have our being.-Rufus M. Jones (1863-1948), Pathways to the Reality of God, New York: Macmillan, 1931, p. xi-xi

At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.- Gore Vidal

Lo, God, our God has come!
To us a Child is born,
To us a Son is given;
Bless, bless the blessed morn!
O happy, lowly lofty birth,
Now God, our God, has come to earth!

Rejoice, our God has come!
In love and lowliness;
The Son of God has come
The sons of men to bless.
God with us now descend to dwell,
God in our flesh, Immanuel.

Praise ye the word made flesh!
True God, true man is He.
Praise ye the Christ of God!
To Him all glory be.
Praise ye the Lamb that once was slain,
Praise ye the king that comes to reign.
Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), Hymns of Faith and Hope,third series, New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1877, p. 59-60

For somehow, not only at Christmas, but all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.- John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807 - 1892

Christmas is the day that holds all time together.- Alexander Smith, 1830 - 1867

To be "born of God" is to be the subject of an inward change of heart, so complete, that it is like passing into a new existence. It is the introduction into the human soul of a seed from heaven, a new principle, a Divine nature, a new will. Certainly it is no outward bodily alteration; but it is no less certain that it is an entire alteration of the inward man. It adds no new faculties to our minds; but it gives an entirely new bent and bias to our old ones. The tastes and opinions of one "born of God," his views of sin, of the world, of the Bible, of God, and of Christ, are so thoroughly new, that he is to all intents and purposes what Paul calls "a new creature."~ J.C. Ryle, The Upper Room, “Victory”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1970], 137.

God sometimes strips His people of their nearest and dearest earthly mercies--that they may the more prize, and the better taste--of spiritual and heavenly mercies!
God takes away uncertain riches--that His people may the more prize certain riches!
God takes away natural strength--that His people may the more prize spiritual strength!
God takes away the creature--that His people may more prize their Savior.
Spiritual and heavenly things can alone satisfy the soul. The language of a godly man is this, "Ah, Lord! the good earthly things which I have from You, though they may refresh me--yet they cannot satisfy me without Yourself!"
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail--but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!" Psalm 73:25-26- Thomas Brooks, "A Believer's Last Day, His Best Day"

Christ's death is the Christian's life. Christ's cross is the Christian's title to heaven. Christ "lifted up" and put to shame on Calvary is the ladder by which Christians "enter into the holiest," and are at length landed in glory. It is true that we are sinners--but Christ has suffered for us. It is true that we deserve death--but Christ has died for us. It is true that we are guilty debtors--but Christ has paid our debts with His own blood. This is the real Gospel! This is the good news! On this let us lean while we live. To this let us cling when we die. Christ has been "lifted up" on the cross, and has thrown open the gates of heaven to all believers.
~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 145.

If we allow some area of our life to spin out of control, God will continue to bring it up until we deal with it. Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink. Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product. Beware of becoming careless over the small details of life and saying, “Oh, that will have to do for now.” Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely His.-Oswald Chambers

As a good Christian should consider every place as holy,
because God is there, so he should look upon every part of his
life as a matter of holiness, because it is to be offered unto
God. ...worldly business is to be made holy unto the Lord,
by being done as a service unto Him, and in conformity to His
Divine will.- William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 46

Whatever others around you think, don’t you ever be ashamed of being a Christian. Let them laugh, mock, jest, and scoff, if they will. They will not scoff in the hour of death and in the day of judgment. Hoist your flag; show your colors; nail them to the mast. You may certainly be ashamed of drinking, gambling, lying, swearing, idleness, pride, and failing to go to church on the Lord’s Day. But of reading the Bible, praying, and belonging to Christ, you have no cause to be ashamed at all. Let those laugh that will. A good soldier is never ashamed of the colors of his nation’s flag, and his uniform. Be careful that you are never ashamed of your Master.~ J.C. Ryle, Practical Religion, “Our Home”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 401.

Humility and love are precisely the graces which the men of
the world can understand, if they do not comprehend doctrines.
They are the graces about which there is no mystery, and they
are within reach of all classes. The poorest... Christian can
every day find occasion for practicing love and humility.-J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Expository thoughts on the Gospels, with the text complete, St. John, v. III, London: William Hunt, 1873, p. 16

We have no control over how we feel, how we act- our attitudes, and actions- except as they are determined by our thoughts. All these elements are irrevocably tied together. But since we do have control over what we think, it is possible to control our attitudes and actions…All thoughts can be divided into two basic categories: true and false. The thoughts that come from God are true. He is the God of all truth and has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and to guide us into all truth. If I can receive God’s thoughts, I can think the truth. Therefore I will have the right attitudes and actions. How do you get the air out of a glass? By filling it with water. How do you get rid of wrong and untrue thoughts? By filling your mind with true and right thoughts from God. The control of our thought life, then, comes by thinking God’s thoughts with Him.- Peter Lord

Oh, what a blessed and comfortable thing to be known by Christ, known and marked as His friends, His relations, His dear children, His beloved family, His purchased possession! Here we are often cast down, often discouraged, often persecuted, often spoken against, often misunderstood—but let us take courage, our Lord and Master knows all. A day shall come when we shall no longer see through a glass darkly—but face to face—a day when we shall know even as we are now known; for the union between us and our Redeemer, which we so often feel disposed to doubt, shall then be clearly seen, and we shall no more go out to battle.~ J.C. Ryle,The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Privileges of the True Christian”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 107.

Faith is the avenue to salvation. Not intellectual understanding. Not money. Not your works. Just simple faith. How much faith? The faith of a mustard seed, so small you can hardly see it. But if you will put that little faith in the person of Jesus, your life will be changed. He will come with supernatural power into your heart. It can happen to you.- Billy Graham

"There shall be no night there!" Revelation 21:25
My soul! is it night with you here? Are you wearied with these midnight tossings on life's tumultuous sea? Be still! The day is breaking! Soon shall your Lord appear! That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. "The Lord will be your everlasting light--and your God will be your glory! Your days of sorrow will come to an end!" Everlasting light! Wondrous secret of a nightless world--the glories of a present God!
Strange realities! A world without night! A heaven without a sun! And, greater wonder still, yourself in this world--a joyful citizen of this nightless, sinless, sorrowless, tearless Heaven--basking underneath the Fountain of uncreated light! No exhaustion of glorified body and spirit to require repose; no lassitude or weariness to suspend the ever-deepening song, "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain--to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"- John MacDuff, "The Faithful Promiser")

Jesus Christ can so interfere in a human life that it can
look up and say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all
His benefits," even in the midst of sorrow or suffering.-Robert Pierce (1914-1978), founder and president, World Vision, in a private communication from World Vision

Oh, what a blessed and comfortable thing to be known by Christ, known and marked as His friends, His relations, His dear children, His beloved family, His purchased possession! Here we are often cast down, often discouraged, often persecuted, often spoken against, often misunderstood—but let us take courage, our Lord and Master knows all. A day shall come when we shall no longer see through a glass darkly—but face to face—a day when we shall know even as we are now known; for the union between us and our Redeemer, which we so often feel disposed to doubt, shall then be clearly seen, and we shall no more go out to battle.~ J.C. Ryle,The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Privileges of the True Christian”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 107.

Short is the joy that guilty pleasure brings.-Euripides, 480 - 406 BC

There is a covenant, ... and God is faithful to His
covenant. But the substance of that covenant is all pure mercy
and grace. If men presume to claim for themselves, upon the
basis of the covenant, some relationship with God other than
that of the sinner needing God's grace, the covenant has been
perverted. And where that has happened, God, in the sovereign
freedom of His grace, destroys these pretensions, calls "No
people" to be His people, breaks off natural branches and
grafts in wild slips, filling them with the life which is His
own life imparted to man. There is no law in His Kingdom save
the law of pure grace. That is why they come from east and west
to sit down with Abraham and Isaac, while the sons of the
Kingdom are cast out; for the sons of the Kingdom have no place
there unless they are willing to sit down with all whom the
Lord of the feast shall call, and to receive His mercy in
exactly the same way as the publicans and sinners.-Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 90-91

The value of our prayers, we can all understand, depends exceedingly on the state of mind in which we offer them. But the point before us is one which receives far less attention than it deserves. Our prayers must not only be earnest, fervent, sincere, and in the name of Christ. They must contain one more ingredient besides. They must come from a forgiving heart. We have no right to look for mercy, if we are not ready to extend mercy to our brethren. We cannot really feel the sinfulness of the sins we ask to have pardoned if we cherish malice towards our fellow men. We must not flatter ourselves that we have the Spirit of adoption if we cannot bear and forbear.~ J.C. Ryle,Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 239, 240.

The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet.- Robert Orben

Let us walk as stewards and not act as owners, keeping for ourselves the means with which the Lord has entrusted us. He has not blessed us that we may gratify our own carnal mind but for the sake of using our money in His service and to His praise.-George Muller, The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 195.

The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come. Money is really worth no more than as it can be used to accomplish the Lord’s work. Life is worth as much as it is spent for the Lord’s service.-George Muller,The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 212

We should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried. The more I am in a position to be tried in faith, the more I will have the opportunity of seeing God’s help and deliverance. Every fresh instance in which He helps and delivers me will increase my faith. The believer should not shrink from situations, positions, or circumstances in which his faith may be tried, but he should cheerfully embrace them as opportunities to see the hand of God stretched out in help and deliverance. Thus his faith will be strengthened.- George Muller, The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 159.

It is impossible to describe the abundance of peace and heavenly joy that often flows into my soul because of the answers I obtain from God after waiting on Him for help and blessing. The longer I have had to wait on Him or the greater my need it, the grater the enjoyment when at last the answer came.-George Muller, The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 190.

It is not darkness you are going to, for God is Light. It is not lonely, for Christ is with you. It is not unknown country, for Christ is there.- Charles Kingsley

Let us determine by God's grace to forgive, even as we hope to be forgiven. This is the nearest approach we can make to the mind of Christ Jesus. This is the character which is most suitable to a poor sinful child of Adam. God's free forgiveness of sins is our highest privilege in this world. God's free forgiveness will be our only title to eternal life in the world to come. Then let us be forgiving during the few years that we are here upon earth.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 240, 241.

Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.-John R. W. Stott

Happiness is a great love and much serving.-Olive Schreiner

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.- George Santayana, 1863 - 1952

To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.-Elizabeth I of England, 1533 - 1603

If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married.- Elizabeth I of England, 1533 - 1603

There is no marvel in a woman learning to speak, but there would be in teaching her to hold her tongue.- Elizabeth I of England, 1533 - 1603

It often astonishes me that I did not see the importance of meditation upon Scripture earlier in my Christian life. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time unless he eats, so it is with the inner man. What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God – not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe. No, we must consider what we read, ponder over it, and apply it to our hearts.- George Muller,The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 139.

How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.- Edward Benson

God is the author of the Bible, and only the truth it contains will lead people to true happiness. A Christian should read this precious Book every day with earnest prayer and meditation. But like many believers, I preferred to read the works of uninspired men rather than the oracles of the living God. Consequently, I remained a spiritual baby both in knowledge and grace.- George Muller'The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 21

If anyone thinks that on account of our trials of faith during this year we have been disappointed in our expectations or discouraged in the work, my answer is that the very opposite is true. Such days were expected from the beginning. The chief end for which the institution was established is that the Church would see the hand of God stretched out on our behalf in answer to prayer. Our desire, therefore, is not that we may be without trials of faith, but that the Lord would graciously support us in the trial and that we may not dishonor Him by distrust.- George Muller,The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 130

It has been a frequent trait in Christian theologians down
the ages to commit themselves whole-heartedly to the
fashionable philosophies of their day, while passing severe
judgments on their predecessors for adopting precisely the same
attitude.-E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman Todd, 1966, p.103

Above all, let us pray daily that our own Christianity may at any rate be genuine, sincere, real and true. Our faith may be feeble, our hope dim, our knowledge small, our failures frequent, our faults many. But at all events let us be real and true. Let us be able to say with poor, weak, erring Peter, "You, Lord, who know all things, know that I love You." (John 21:17.)~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 3, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 5.

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek
to understand in order to believe, but believe that you may
understand.-Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, vol. i, Marcus Dods, ed., as vol. x of The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Edinbugh: T & T Clark,
1873, p. 405

Satan’s “fiery darts” do not easily penetrate a mind captivated by the beauty of Christ. When our hearts beat with perpetual fascination and our thoughts are filled with the beauty and splendor and adequacy of God, little room is left for the devil to gain a foothold (see Phil. 4:8).-Sam Storms Tactics of Temptation, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.- James Russell Lowell, 1819 - 1891

I can let Christ grip me; but I cannot grip him. I love...
to sit on Christ's knee; but I cannot set my feet to the
ground, for afflictions bring the cramp upon my faith. All I
now do is to hold out a lame faith to Christ, like a beggar
holding out a stump, instead of an arm or leg, and cry, Lord
Jesus, work a miracle.- Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel
Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 9, 1637, p. 178

Temptation, in and of itself, is not sin. This is critically important, especially for those who suffer from an overly sensitive and tender conscience. Jesus was repeatedly tempted (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15; Mt. 4), but he was sinless. We must resist thinking that we are sub-Christian or sub-spiritual simply because we are frequently tempted. It was the great reformer Martin Luther who first said, “You can't prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” His point is that a temptation only becomes a sin when you acquiesce to it, as it were “fondle” it and “enjoy” it.-Sam Storms, Tactics of Temptation, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com

Hope is a vigorous principle; it sets the head and heart to work, and animates a man to do his utmost. It makes a seeming impossibility give way.- Jeremy Collier

Do we desire to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we wish to make progress in our religion, and become strong Christians, and not mere babes in spiritual things? Then let us pray daily for more faith, and watch our faith with most jealous watchfulness. Here is the corner-stone of our religion. A flaw or weakness here will affect the whole condition of our inner man. According to our faith will be the degree of our peace, our hope, our joy, our decision in Christ's service, our boldness in confession, our strength in work, our patience in trial, our resignation in trouble, our sensible comfort in prayer. All will hinge on the proportion of our faith. Happy are they who know how to rest their whole weight continually on a covenant God, and to walk by faith, not by sight.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 238, 239.

What makes the Dead Sea dead? Because it is all the time receiving, but never giving out anything. Why is it that many Christians are cold? Because they are all the time receiving, never giving out.- Dwight L. Moody

In his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton heard someone recite this text, "By the grace of God I am what I am." He remained silent a short time and then said: "I am not what I ought to be. Ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be. I abhor that which is evil, and I would cleave to that which is good. I am not what I hope to be. Soon, soon I shall put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, what I wish to be, and what I hope to be; yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was--a slave to sin and Satan! I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge--By the grace of God I am what I am!" Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.- William Plumer, "Sinners Saved by Unmerited Kindness"

There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more
than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance. But what is Repentance? Not the last and noblest
and most refined achievement of the righteousness of men in the
service of God, but the first elemental act of the
righteousness of God in the service of men; the work that God
has written in their hearts and which, because it is from God
and not from men, occasions joy in heaven; that looking forward
to God, and to Him only, which is recognized only by God and by
God Himselm. -Karl Barth (1886-1968), The Epistle to the Romans translated from the 6th edition by Edwyn C. Hoskyns, London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1933,6th ed., Oxford University Press US, 1968, p. 68

How do we distinguish between satanic accusation and divine conviction? Among other things, the former comes in the shape of condemnation that breeds feelings of hopelessness. We are told that our sin has put us beyond the hope of grace and the power of forgiveness. Satan’s accusations are devoid of any reference to the sufficiency of the cross. Divine conviction for sin, on the other hand, comes with a reminder of the sufficiency and finality of Christ’s shed blood, together with a promise of hope and the joy of forgiveness.-Sam Storms, Tactics of Temptation, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com.

Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting Him. We tend to make our first priority the gaining of relief from our feelings of heartache or disappointment or frustration. This is a natural desire, and God has promised to give us grace sufficient for our trials and peace for our anxieties (2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:6-7). But just as God's will is to take precedence over our will (Jesus Himself said, "Yet not as I will, but as you will" Matthew 26:39), so God's honor is to take precedence over our feelings. We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don't understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur. As we seek God's glory, we may be sure that He has purposed our good and that He will not be frustrated in fulfilling that purpose.-Jerry Bridges,Trusting God, 1988, p. 52.

If we want proof of God's love for us, then we must look first at the Cross where God offered up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God's love for us.-Jerry Bridges,Trusting God, 1988, p. 138.

Until our Master summons us, not a hair on our head can perish, not a moment of our life be snatched from us. When He sends for us, it should seem by the message that the child is wanted at home.-Anthony Thorold

Love is a grace which many professing Christians think far too little about; but it is of infinite value in the eyes of God. Love is the most characteristic feature of Christ’s image in a renewed man. Love is the most precious fruit of grace; and yet the fruit which too many of His professed followers seem to think themselves hardly under any obligation to cultivate.- John Angell James

If by doing some work which the undiscerning consider “not spiritual work” I can best help others, and I inwardly rebel, thinking it is the spiritual for which I crave, when in truth it is the interesting and the exciting, then I know nothing of Calvary love.- Amy Carmichael

Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control. His sovereignty is absolute. Everything that happens is uniquely ordained by God. Sovereignty is a weighty thing to ascribe to the nature and character of God. Yet if He were not sovereign, He would not be God. The Bible is clear that God is in control of everything that happens.- Joni Eareckson Tada, Is God Really in Control, Joni and Friends, 1987, p. 1

Are we honest and sincere in our professed desire to be true Christians? Have we given up all our idols? Is there no secret sin that we are silently clinging to, and refusing to give up? Is there no thing or person that we are privately loving more than Christ and our souls? These are questions that ought to be answered. The true explanation of the unsatisfactory state of many hearers of the Gospel, is spiritual idolatry. We need not wonder that John says, "Keep yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21.) ~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 240, 241.

Do not let us fail one another in interest, care and practical help; but supremely we must not fail one another in prayer.-Michael Baughen

God takes life’s pieces and gives us unbroken peace.-W. D. Gough

Would you have perfect peace in life? Then lay hold on this doctrine of perseverance. Your TRIALS may be many and great. Your cross may be very heavy. But the business of your soul is all conducted according to an "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." (2 Sam. 23:5.) All things are working together for your good. Your sorrows are only purifying your soul for glory. Your bereavements are only fashioning you as a polished stone for the temple above, made without hands. From whatever quarter the storms blow, they only drive you nearer to heaven. Whatever weather you may go through it is only ripening you for the garner of God. Your best things are quite safe. Come what will, you shall "never perish.~ J.C. Ryle, Old Paths, “Perseverance”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 516, 517.

Christian leadership models itself upon our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the paradoxes of His ministry was that although He was so obviously the leader, He was conspicuously the servant. He illustrated and underlined this truth when He washed the disciples’ feet (John 13). We are spiritually effective as leaders as we follow His example. Although leaders, we are first and foremost servants.- Derek Prime and Alistair Begg, On Being a Pastor, Moody Press, 2004, p. 219.

The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

To be at peace with the world, the flesh, and the devil, is to be at enmity with God, and in the broad way that leads to destruction. We have no choice or option. The promises to the Seven Churches in Revelation are only "to him that overcomes." We must fight or be lost. We must conquer or die eternally. We must put on the whole armor of God. "He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one" (Eph. 6:11; Luke 22:36).~ J.C. Ryle , The Upper Room, “Victory”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1970], 144, 145.

There's plenty of intelligence in the world, but the courage to do things differently is in short supply.- Marilyn vos Savant

Be able to notice all the confusion between fact and opinion that appears in the news.- Marilyn vos Savant

[Affliction] brings out graces that cannot be seen in a time of health. It is the treading of the grapes that brings out the sweet juices of the vine; so it is affliction that draws forth submission, weanedness from the world, and complete rest in God. Use afflictions while you have them.- Robert Murray McCheyne, Comfort in Sorrow, Christian Focus, 2002, p. 25

We are all strings in the concert of His joy.- Jacob Boehme

When it comes to finding available men in Minnesota, the odds are good, but the goods are odd.- Garrison Keillor

Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.- Garrison Keillor

I never knew all there was in the Bible until I spent those years in jail. I was constantly finding new treasures.-John Bunyan (1628-1688), quoted in A Treasury of Sermon Illustrations, Charles Langworthy Wallis, ed., Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1950, p. 27

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the strength of a Minister. I, for one, would not be without it for all the world. I would feel like a soldier without arms, like an artist without his pencil, like a pilot without his compass, like a laborer without his tools. Let others, if they will, preach the law and morality; let others hold forth the terrors of hell, and the joys of heaven; let others dwell on the sacraments and the Church. Give me the cross of Christ. This is the only lever which has ever turned the world upside down up to this point, and made men forsake their sins: and if this will not, nothing will.~ J.C. Ryle, Tract: Christ Crucified

How is the will of God done in heaven? Sadly? Burdensomely? Begrudgingly? No! It is done gladly! If I then pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” how can I not be motivated by a desire to be glad? It is a contradiction to pray for the will of God to be done in my life the way it is done in heaven, and then to say I am indifferent to whether I am glad or not. When the earth rejoices to do His will and does it perfectly, His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.-John Piper,Desiring God, p. 140-41

It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace, wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

To him that chose us first,
Before the world began;
To him that bore the curse
To save rebellious man;
To him that form'd
Our hearts anew
Is endless praise
And glory due.

The Father's love shall run
Through our immortal songs;
We bring to God the Son
Hosannahs on our tongues:
Our lips address
The Spirit's name
With equal praise,
And zeal the same.

Let every saint above,
And angel round the throne,
For ever bless and love
The sacred Three in One;
Thus heav'n shall raise
His honors high,
When earth and time
Grow old and die.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book III, hymn 39, p. 494-495

In Christ, as a great storehouse, lie all the riches of spiritual wisdom, the massive ingots of solid gold which when coined into creeds and doctrines are the wealth of the Church. All which we can know concerning God and man, concerning sin and righteousness and duty, concerning another life, is in Him Who is the home and deep mine where truth is stored... The central fact of the universe and the perfect encyclopedia of all moral and spiritual truth is in Christ, the Incarnate Word, the Lamb slain, the ascended King.- Alexander MacLaren

Kind words produce their own image in men's souls; and a beautiful image it is. They soothe and quiet and comfort the hearer. They shame him out of his sour, morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to use kind words in such abundance as they ought to be used.-Blaise Pascal

Gold is a living god and rules in scorn,
All earthly things but virtue.- Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 - 1822

Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the Prodigal Son who had fallen most low, could still be saved. The bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle again.-Soren Kierkegaard

The Scriptures recognize both the Sovereignty of God, and the free agency and accountability of man. Consciousness assures us of the latter. The nature of God proves the former. The Bible makes no attempt to reconcile the two. ~ James P. Boyce

If we have anything to tell others about Christ, let us resolve to tell it. Let us not be silent, if we have found peace and rest in the Gospel. Let us speak to our relations, friends, families and neighbors, according as we have opportunity, and tell them what the Lord has done for our souls. All are not called to be ministers. All are not intended to preach. But all can walk in the steps of the man of whom we have been reading, and in the steps of Andrew, and Philip, and the Samaritan woman. (John 1:41, 45; 4:29.) Happy is he who is not ashamed to say to others, "Come and hear what the Lord has done for my soul." (Psalm. 66:16.)~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 97, 98.

I do believe that we slander Christ when we think that we are to draw the people by something else but the preaching of Christ crucified. We know that the greatest crowd in London has been held together these thirty years by nothing but the preaching of Christ crucified. Where is our music? Where is our oratory? Where is anything of attractive architecture, or beauty of ritual? “A bare service,” they call it. Yes, but Christ makes up for all the deficiencies-C.H. Spurgeon

The way to think about self-denial is to deny yourself only a lesser good for a greater good... In other words, Jesus wants us to think about sacrifice in a way that rules out all self-pity.-John Piper, Desiring God 1996, p. 202

Pleasure-seeking, as we learn from experience, is a barren business; happiness is never found till we have the grace to stop looking for it and to give our attention to persons and matters external to ourselves.-J. I. Packer

Revenge indeed seems often sweet to men, but oh, it is only sugared poison, only sweetened gall. Forgiving enduring love alone is sweet and blissful and enjoys peace and the consciousness of God’s favor. By forgiving it gives away and annihilates the injury. It treats the injurer as if he had not injured and therefore feels no more the smart and sting that he had inflicted.- William Arnot, The Parables of our Lord, 1884.

Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"  There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us.  It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking.  We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love; but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him?  In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief; in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season.  O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but art now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken thee.  God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the luster of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Savior have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"-C. H. Spurgeon

To all the crofters of Lorgill. Take notice that you are hereby duly warned that you will be rqdy to leave Lorgill at 12 o'clock on the 4th August with all your baggage but no stock and proceed to Loch Snizort, where you will board the ship Midlothian that will take you to Nova Scotia, where you are to receive a free grant of land from Her Majesty's government. Take further notice that any crofter disobeying the order will be immediately arrested and taken to prison. All persons over the age of seventy and who have no relatives to look after them will be taken care of in the county poorhouse. This order is final and no appeal to the government will be considered. God save the Queen.- Proclamation on Skye, 3rd August 1830 (Any moral difference between this and the slave trade?)

The basis for our security in salvation is not ultimately our righteousness or obedience but God's promise, God’s power, God’s purpose, and most of all God’s passionate love for us in Christ. God is committed to preserving us in faith, for if we were to stumble so as to fully and finally fall away, God stands more to lose than we do.- Sam Storms, A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part II, November 6, 2006,

Christ chargeth me to believe His daylight at midnight.- Samuel Rutherford

Better that we should err in action than wholly refuse to perform. The storm is so much better than the calm, as it declares the presence of a living principle. Stagnation is something worse than death. It is corruption also.- Simms.

If I were but sure that I should live to see the coming of the Lord, it would be the joyfulest tidings in the world. O that I might see His kingdom come! It is the characteristic of His saints to love His appearing, and to look for that blessed hope. `The Spirit and the bride say, Come.' "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."- Richard Baxter.

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.- Aughey.

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.- Washington Irving.

The brightest crowns that are worn in heaven have been tried and smelted and polished and glorified through the furnace of tribulation.- Chapin.

So we’re not to ask, “What did Jesus do?” so we could copy what he did. But we’re to ask, “What has Jesus done?” because he has done all for our salvation. The gospel is Christ’s life, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension and session at God’s right hand. There’s nothing in that gospel that we could do.– unk.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can). (Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.- 
Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield. (Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

We must never flatter ourselves that God cannot be angry. He is indeed a God of infinite grace and compassion. But it is also written, that He is "a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:29.) His spirit will not always strive with men. (Gen. 6:3.) There will be a day when His patience will come to an end, and when He will arise to dreadfully judge the earth. Happy will they be who are found hidden in the ark, in the day of the Lord's anger! Of all wrath, none can be conceived so dreadful as "the wrath of the Lamb." ~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 328.

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.- 
Sir Robert Peel, Bt. (Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

"No one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this." 1 Thessalonians 3:3
Man is born to trouble--as the sparks fly upward. Affliction does not comes not forth from the dust--neither does trouble spring out of the ground. Trouble is the natural consequence of sin--and all trouble springs from this bitter root. But God makes our trouble--our medicine, and uses it for our present and everlasting welfare.
Our troubles are not the inflictions of an angry God--but the chastisements of a loving Father! He foresaw what we would be, and what would be necessary for us--and consequently He has appointed . . . the number, the nature, and the length of our troubles.
Every Christian has his 'cup of trials'--it is mixed by his Father's wisdom, and put into his hand by his Father's providence. He should therefore take it, endeavor to acquiesce in it, and say with Jesus, "The cup that My heavenly Father gives me--shall I not drink it?" Every trouble . . . comes from God's appointment, is intended to do us good, and will be overruled for our real welfare!
Every trial is labeled "LOVE"--if only we could but read the writing! And in every affliction God calls to us, saying, "Come near unto Me, My son--that I may bless you!"
Let us, then, draw near unto God, and show our trouble to Him!
Let us entreat him to sanctify it to us, that it may . . . wean us from earth, consecrate us to Jesus, and fit us for heaven!
All is love--which comes from the God of love!
"He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me." Job 23:13-14 - James Smith, "Our Father and Comforter"

When Christians take counsel together, their purpose should not be to ascertain what is the mind of the majority, but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit- something which may be quite different.- Margaret Hilda Thatcher

Let us beware of the beginnings of backsliding, however small. We never know what we may come to, if we once leave the king's highway. The professing Christian who begins to say of any sin or evil habit, "it is but a little one," is in imminent danger. He is sowing seeds in his heart, which will one day spring up and bear bitter fruit. It is a homely saying, that "if men take care of the pence the pounds will take care of themselves." We may borrow a good spiritual lesson from the saying. The Christian who keeps his heart diligently in little things shall be kept from great falls.~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 436, 437.

Let us remember what we are, corrupt, evil, and miserable sinners. Let us remember who the Lord Jesus is, the eternal Son of God, the maker of all things. And then let us remember that for our sakes Jesus voluntarily endured the most painful, horrible, and disgraceful death. Surely the thought of this love should constrain us daily to live not unto ourselves, but unto Christ. It should make us ready and willing to present our bodies a living sacrifice to Him who lived and died for us. (2 Cor. 5:4. Rom 12:1.) Let the cross of Christ be often before our minds. Rightly understood, no object in all Christianity is so likely to have a sanctifying as well as a comforting effect on our souls~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 344.

Hosanna to the King
    Of David's ancient blood;
    Behold, he comes to bring
    Forgiving grace from God:
        Let old and young
        Attend his way,
        And at his feet
        Their honors lay.
   
    Glory to God on high;
    Salvation to the Lamb;
    Let earth, and sea, and sky,
    His wondrous love proclaim:
        Upon his head
        Shall honors rest,
        And every age
        Pronounce him bless'd.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book 3, hymn 45, p. 496

We must never get into the habit of being preoccupied with the future.  There is no reason to do so.  God is there.-Mother Teresa

[Righteous] anger is not selfish and does not center on the pain you currently feel. To be free of sin such anger must be zealous for truth and purity, with the glory of God its chief objective.-Oswald Sanders
Spiritual Leadership, Moody Publishers, 1967, p. 70.

Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.- Helen Keller

We might well pray for God to invade and conquer us, for
until He does, we remain in peril from a thousand foes. We bear
within us the seeds of our own disintegration... The strength
of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls.
Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life.
Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our
knees... So He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us
for Himself -A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Divine Conquest, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1950, Revell, 1950, p. 57

The nature of true repentance is clearly and unmistakably laid down in holy Scripture. It begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before God. It shows itself before man by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a habit of deep hatred for all sin. Above all, it is inseparably connected with lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance like this is the characteristic of all true Christians.~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 109.

Christians fight in the army as soldiers, but the church does not do so; Christians work in the tax office as civil servants, but the church does not do so; Christians should be involved in the political process as citizens (and, as with soldiers and civil servants, their behaviour there is shaped by their Christianity), but the church is not to be so engaged.  The church is rather to preach the good news of Christ's death and resurrection.- CARL TRUEMAN, Reformation 21

Cover, Lord, what has been: govern what shall be. Oh,
perfect that which Thou hast begun, that I suffer not shipwreck
in the haven.-Theodore Beza (1519-1605), his last words, quoted in Last Hours of Eminent Christians, Henry Clissold,London: Rivingtons, 1829, p. 169

God cleans His fish after He catches them. The fish don't clean themselves then get caught. - Lane Chaplin

Where God guides he provides.  He is responsible for our upkeep if we follow his directions.  He is not responsible for expenses not on his schedule.- Vance Havner

One of the greatest favors bestowed on the soul transiently
in this life is to enable it to see so distinctly and to feel
so profoundly that it cannot comprehend God at all. These souls
are herein somewhat like the saints in heaven, where they who
know Him most perfectly perceive most clearly that He is
infinitely incomprehensible; for those who have the less clear
vision do not perceive so clearly as do these others how
greatly He transcends their vision.- St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), The Spiritual Canticle, VII.9

The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus, are indeed widely different. They are more than different. They are flatly contradictory one to the other. Among the children of this world, he is thought the greatest man who has most land, most money, most servants, most rank, and most earthly power. Among the children of God, he is reckoned the greatest who does most to promote the spiritual and temporal happiness of his fellow-creatures. True greatness consists not in receiving, but in giving - not in selfish absorption of good things, but in imparting good to others - not in being served, but in serving - not in sitting still and being ministered to, but in going about and ministering to others.
~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 256.

If a man fights his way through his doubts to the
conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, he has attained to a
certainty that the man who unthinkingly accepts things can
never reach.-William Barclay (1907-1978), The Gospel of John, v. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, p. 322

Whether we like it or not, a breakdown in home-life will eventually lead to a breakdown everywhere. This is, surely, the most menacing & dangerous aspect of the state of society at this present time. Once the family
idea, the family unit, the family life is broken up, soon you will have no other allegiance. ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones

If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.-  George Orwell, 1903 - 1950

In real life it is always the anvil that breaks the hammer.-  George Orwell, 1903 - 1950

Since the days before Pentecost, has the whole church ever
put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days,
that [the Spirit's] power might be manifested? ... We give too
much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too
little to the source of power.- J. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), "The Source of Power for Christian Missions", in The Missionary Review of the World, v. LIII, Missionary Review Publishing Co., Inc., 1930, p. 516

Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable.- John Wesley, 1703 - 1791

We ought not to withdraw entirely from all communion with unconverted people. It would be cowardice and indolence to do so, even if it were possible. It would shut us out from many opportunities of doing good. But we ought to go into their society moderately, watchfully, and prayerfully, and with a firm resolution to carry our Master and our Master's business with us.~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 147

In the ordinary business of life, industry can do anything which genius can do, and very many things which it cannot.- Henry Ward Beecher, 1813 - 1887

It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade.- Henry Ward Beecher, 1813 - 1887

If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.-Mother Teresa

We must not conceal from ourselves that true Christianity brings with it a daily cross in this life,
while it offers us a crown of glory in the life to come.
The flesh must be daily crucified.
The devil must be daily resisted.
The world must be daily overcome.
There is a warfare to be waged, and a battle to be fought.
All this is the inseparable accompaniment of true religion. Heaven is not to be won without it.
Never was there a truer word than the old saying, "No cross, no crown!"
If we never found this out by experience, our souls are in a poor condition. ~ J.C. Ryle

Not to decide is to decide. - Harvey Cox

Somebody said to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.' That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'-Paul McCartney

Imagine.... no possessions. - John Lennon

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.- Elbert Hubbard, 1856 - 1915

Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage.- Jean Anouilh, 1910 - 1987

You are not a reservoir with a limited amount of resources; you are a channel attached to unlimited divine resources. - Unknown

Life is a voyage in which we choose neither vessel nor weather, but much can be done in the management of the sails and the guidance of the helm.-Unknown

The attentive reader will notice two items about the New
Testament, as he comes to the end of it. For one thing, there
is no book of church order, laying down a code of rules for the
worship and organization of the communities: [there is] no book
corresponding to the Book of Leviticus. The other thing is that
the writings are all meant for communities, not for
individuals: they reflect and presuppose the life of a society
or fellowship. Even the private notes of Paul to Philemon and
of the presbyter John to Gaius are addressed to these
individuals as members of the church;- James Moffatt (1870-1944), A New Translation of the Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1935, New York: Harper, 1935,Introduction, p. xxxv

The evils of riches, to the Christian, are the evils of distraction (the distraction that keeps men from thinking about God), the evils of a false dependence on the created order, and a would-be security that fails to take account o the inevitable fragility of human destiny on this earth.- D. L. Munby

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. - Mario Cuomo

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.-Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XVII, 1782

If Islam teaches peace, why do so many of its students flunk?
And after 14 centuries, why haven't its adherents noticed?-Josh Korn, National Post, October 19

We note that the elements appointed by the Lord Jesus are "bread and wine" and that the right to determine these rests with him alone, and not with the temperance movement  of the nineteenth century. While Jesus changed the water into wine, the temperance movement changed wine into grape juice concentrate [or Ribena]. No one has any right to change the elements of the Lord's Supper, any more than water may be replaced in baptism by orange juice. To do this is to usurp the authority of Christ. Robert Letham , The Westminster Assembly: Reading its theology in historical context, P&R, 2009, p. 351, n. 76.

So free we seem, so fettered fast we are.- Robert Browning, 1812 - 1889

The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life. - James L. Christensen

I regret the behavior of the Arabs… They brought African children to North Africa, they made them slaves, they sold them like animals, and they took them as slaves and traded them in a shameful way. I regret and I am ashamed when we remember these practices. I apologize for this ...Today we are embarrassed and shocked by these outrageous practices of rich Arabs who had treated their fellow Africans with contempt and condescension.- Moammar Gaddafi, second Afro-Arab summit, Libya 9 Oct 2010

After 9/11 I found it impossible to ignore his (Osama Bin Ladan's) claims that the murderous destrucion of innocent (if infidel) lives is consistent with the Quraan. I looked at the Quran and found it to be so. To me this meant I could no longer be a Muslim. - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

The veil deliberately marks women as private and restricted property, nonpersons. The veil sets women apart from men and apart from the world; it restrains them, confines them, grooms them for docility. A mind can be cramped just as a body may be, and a Muslim veil blinkers both your vision and your destiny. It is the mark of a kind of Apartheid, not the domination of a race, but of a sex. - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations   

All human beings are equal, but all cultures and religions are not. ... It is part of Muslim culture to oppress women. ... The culture of the Western Enlightenment is better.- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

The England admired throughout the world is the England that keeps open house.- J B Priestley quoted in We Are a Muslim, Please by Zaiba Malik

History shows us that the countries that have opened their doors have gained. - J B Priestley quoted in We Are a Muslim, Please by Zaiba Malik

Peace if possible, truth at all costs. ~Martin Luther

Let the man who would hear God speak read Holy Scripture ~Martin Luther

Free will is corrupted nature's deformed darling, the Pallas or beloved self-conception of darkened minds.~John Owen

Peace is but an illusion when Truth is scourged for the sake of it.~Joel Schaible

Grace is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the axe of justice, so corrupt that they cannot change their own natures, so averse to God that they cannot turn to Him, so blind that they cannot see Him, so deaf that they cannot hear Him, and so dead that He Himself must open their graves and lift them into resurrection. -G.S. Bishop

I believe that pluralistic secularism, in the long run, is a more deadly poison than straightforward persecution. - Francis Schaeffer

In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only-absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute. -Francis Schaeffer

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.- Max Luc

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.- Corrie Ten Boom, 1892 - 1987

Christ would have lived, and taught, and preached, and prophesied, and wrought miracles in vain, if he had not crowned all by dying for our sins as our substitute! His death was our life. His death was the payment of our debt to God. Without his death we should have been of all creatures most miserable.-J. C. Ryle

As I have said,countless sinners truly experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit when their notions about both are erratic and largely incorrect - J.I. Packer

Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched. - Francis Schaeffer

Christianity provides a unified answer for the whole of life. - Francis Schaeffer

Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship - and not as ends in themselves. - Francis Schaeffer

The inward area is the first place of loss of true Christian life, of true spirituality, and the outward sinful act is the result. - Francis Schaeffer

Welfare recipients come in all shapes and sizes. The honest ones sign on the dole, the dishonest ones do a non-job for the state.- Shaun Pilkington

There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice.- Ulysses S. Grant, 1822 - 1885

We are not our own, any more than what we possess is our own. We did not make ourselves; we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We cannot be our own masters. We are God's property by creation, by redemption, by regeneration.- John Henry Newman

Some of the roads most used lead nowhere.- Jewish proverb

Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched. -Francis Schaeffer

It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. - Harold Lewis is Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara,

I was with God and I was with the Devil. They
fought and God won. Mario Sepulveda (1970- ) (The second of 33 Chilean miners rescued after being trapped in the San Jose mine for 69 days.)
_CNN.COM_ [October 13, 2010],

There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving,
duty giving, and thanksgiving.
Grudge giving says, "I hate to." Duty giving says,
"I ought to." Thanksgiving says, "I want to." The
first comes from constraint, the second from a
sense of obligation, the third from a full heart.
Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving since
"the gift without the giver is bare." Something
more happens in duty giving but there is no song
in it. Thanksgiving is an open gate into the
love of God. - Robert N. Rodenmayer _Thanks Be To God_ [1960]

The saving power of the cross does not depend on
faith being added to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from
it - J.I. Packer.

Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. Chinese proverb

As Christians we accept one foundational truth - God - and everything else makes sense. An atheist denies God and has to accept incredible explanations for everything else. It takes more faith to deny God than to believe in Him. - John MacArthur

At last, here is Asia without the inferiority complex. - of Afghanistan, Robert Byron (1905 - 24 February 1941) British travel writer

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin.
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy's OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated.
You can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes,
UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher although we think
his good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.

We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behaviour that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds.
Steve Turner

How to Hide Jesus


There are people after Jesus.
They have seen the signs.
Quick, let's hide Him.
Let's think; carpenter,
fishermen's friend,
disturber of religious comfort.
Let's award Him a degree in theology,
a purple cassock
and a position of respect.
They'll never think of looking here.
Let's think;
His dialect may betray Him,
His tongue is of the masses.
Let's teach Him Latin
and seventeenth century English,
they'll never think of listening in.
Let's think;
humble,
Man of Sorrows,
nowhere to lay His head.
We'll build a house for Him,
somewhere away from the poor.
We'll fill it with brass and silence.
It's sure to throw them off.

There are people after Jesus.
Quick, let's hide Him.
Steve Turner

Faith is the channel of salvation, not the fountain and source of it. -– C.H. Spurgeo

I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them.- Charles Darwin

There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. -Mark Twain

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible. - George Washington

To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selections, seems, I confess, absurd in the highest degree.-Charles Darwin

Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such fine graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory.- Charles Darwin

We profess that we know God, but by works we deny Him; for
beatitude doth not consist in the knowledge of divine things,
but in a divine life, for the devils know them better than man.- Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618), The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt., v. II, Oxford: The University press, 1829, p. 32

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 - 43 BC

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

Ecclesia semper reformanda est ("he church must always be reforming) - Jodocus van Lodenstein, Dutch Puritan

Remember the rights of the savage, as we call him. Remember that the happiness of his humble home, remember that the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows, is as inviolable in the eye of Almighty God as can be your own. Those hill tribes had committed no real offence against us. We, in the pursuit of our political objects, chose to establish military positions in their country. If they resisted, would not you have done the same? ... The meaning of the burning of the village is, that the women and the children were driven forth to perish in the snows of winter ... Is that not a fact – for such, I fear, it must be reckoned to be – which does appeal to your hearts as women ... which does rouse in you a sentiment of horror and grief, to think that the name of England, under no political necessity, but for a war as frivolous as ever was waged in the history of man, should be associated with consequences such as these?- William Ewart Gladstone:on the Second Afghan War

Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes us as a judge.-King Stanislas I

We see in the risen Christ the end for which man was made,
and the assurance that the end is within reach.- Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901), The Revelation of the Risen Lord, London: Macmillan, 1881, p. xiv

Not praying is a clear proof that a person is not yet a
true Christian. They cannot really feel their sins. They cannot
love God. They cannot feel themselves a debtor to Christ. They
cannot long after holiness. They cannot desire heaven. They
have yet to be born again. They have yet to be made a new
creature. They may boast confidently of election, grace, faith,
hope and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may
rest assured it is all vain talk if they do not pray. - J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), A Call to Prayer, published in the 1850's as a pamphlet, p. 1

Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do. - Joseph Sobran

I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot. I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition! -Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

Derrida was, in short, the mad axeman of Western philosophy. He tried to hack apart the very basis of our thought - language, reason and the attempt to tell big stories about how we became as we are. Johann Hari

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.-John Muir, 1838 - 1914

It is always interesting to see people in dead earnest, from whatever cause, and earthquakes make everybody earnest.-John Muir, 1838 - 1914

The keystone of Kuyper's reasoning is that all the spheres of life are independent of each other. The state is the highest, to be sure, because it "protects the individual and defines the mutual lawful relations of the visible spheres of life,"yet the states sovereignty only extends over and does not penetrate into these spheres. The sovereignty of the state is a sovereignty derived from the only real, that is to say, divine sovereignty. And just as the state has receied its sovereignty from God, all spheres possess their sovereignty by the grace of God. Science to is such a sphere. it is free from the state, because the state cannot determine what is scientific. it is likewise free from the church. The church may never rule science by telling it what it has to think. And although there is a danger here that the church may suffer damage from science, it must recognize its limits. A church that remain spiritually alert will actually have nothing to fear from science. It can in fact eve confidently urge "that science, without ever becoming a slave, maintain the sovereignty that belongs to it in its own house and grounds and flourish by the grace of God."- Van Deursen, The Distinctive Character of the Free University in Amsterdam 1880-2005 on Kuyper's inaugural address (pp. 20-21):

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. Corrie Ten Boom

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
Scott Krippane (from CD Wild Imagination)

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books, than a king without the desire to read. Thomas Babington Macauley

But if vengeance is God's, I want to be His instrument.-Jerry B. Jenkins (1949- ) _The Last Operative_ [2010], Chapter 6

A genuine Christian dreads sin. He will not say,
"Is it not a little one?" for he knows that a little
sin is like a small dose of a very potent poison.
It is sufficient to destroy our peace and comfort. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) _Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_, Volume 12 [1866]

Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion- it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.- Billy Graham

Sacrifice? I never made a sacrifice. It is no sacrifice to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, it is the highest privilege any man or woman could ever ask for. -- David Livingstone

No man can break any of the Ten Commandments. He can only break himself against them.- G. K. Chesterton

Long before I believed Theology to be true, I had already
decided that the popular scientific picture at any rate was
false. One absolutely central inconsistency ruins it... The
whole picture professes to depend on inferences from observed
facts. Unless inference is valid, the whole picture disappears.
Unless we can be sure that reality in the remotest nebula or
the remotest part obeys the thought-laws of the human scientist
here and now in his laboratory--in other words, unless Reason
is an absolute--all is in ruins. Yet those who ask me to
believe this world-picture also ask me to believe that Reason
is simply the unforeseen and unintended by-product of mindless
matter at one stage of its endless and aimless becoming. Here
is flat contradiction. They ask me at the same moment to accept
a conclusion and to discredit the only testimony on which that
conclusion can be based. The difficulty is to me a fatal one;
and the fact that when you put it to many scientists, far from
having an answer, they seem not even to understand what the
difficulty is, assures me that I have not found a mare's nest
but detected a radical disease in their whole mode of thought
from the very beginning. The man who has once understood the
situation is compelled henceforth to regard the scientific
cosmology as being, in principle, a myth--though no doubt a
great many true particulars have been worked into it.- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "Is Theology Poetry?", in They Asked for a Paper, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, p.162

Ye choirs of New Jerusalem,
Your sweetest notes employ,
The Paschal victory to hymn
In songs of holy joy!

For Judah's Lion burst his chains
And crushed the serpent's head;
Christ cries aloud through death's domains
To wake the imprisoned dead.

Triumphant in his glory now,
To him all power is given;
To him in one communion bow
All saints in earth and heaven.

All glory to the Father be,
All glory to the Son,
All glory to the Spirit be
While endless ages run.
Fulbert of Chartres (11th century), tr. Robert Campbell
(1814-1868), Songs of Praise, enl. ed., Ralph Vaughan
Williams, et al., ed., Oxford University Press, 1931,p. 44

Cheerfulness is health; its opposite, melancholy, is disease. - Thomas C. Haliburton, 1796 - 1865

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.- Thomas Jefferson, 1743 - 1826

Graham J Weeks M.R.Pharm.S
http://christianquoter.blogspot.com/ My blog
http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk 10201 quotes 654 topics 2452 authors
http://christiansquoting-dailyquotes.blogspot.com/ Daily quotes
http://iuhuru.com/category/columnists/graham-weeks/ - my weekly column
http://grahamslaughs.blogspot.com/ - humour only
http://www.ipc-ealing.co.uk/ Our church
-----------------------------
Question reality. Question authority.
-----------------------------

That Churches flourish most richly when the government allows them to live from their
own strength on the voluntary principle. And that therefore neither the
Caesaropapy of the Czar of Russia; nor the subjection of the State to the
Church, taught by Rome nor the “Cuius regio eius religio” of the
Lutheran jurists; nor the irreligious neutral standpoint of the French
revolution; but that only the system of a free Church, in a free State,
may be honored from a Calvinistic standpoint. The sovereignty of the State and the sovereignty of the Church exist
side by side, and they mutually limit each other. - Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism

God's plan will continue on God's schedule.-A. W. Tozer

"Being in anguish--He prayed more fervently." Luke 22:44
We see the Master at prayer in Gethsemane. It was here that He prepared for His Cross. We should notice that His refuge in His exceeding sorrow--was prayer; and that, as the sorrow deepened--the refuge still was prayer. Prayer is the only refuge in sorrow. The lesson from the garden prayer is that we should take all the hard things, the anguishes, the insufferable pains, the bitter griefs of our lives--to God in prayer. We may be sure, too, that God will answer. If He does not relieve us of the suffering, He will strengthen us so that we can keep it, and still go on trusting and singing. "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7- J. R. Miller, "Counsel and Help" 1907

Thou are preparing joy for me and me for joy;
I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy;
Give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of.
Measure out to me my times and degrees of joy,
at my work, business, duties.
If I weep at night, give me joy in the morning.
Let me rest in the thought of thy love,
pardon for sin, my title to heaven,
my future unspotted state. - A Bennett, Valley of Vision)

A Lottery is a Taxation,
Upon all the Fools in Creation;
And Heav’n be praised,
It is easily raised,
Credulity’s always in Fashion:
For, Folly’s a Fund,
Will Never Lose Ground,
While Fools are so rife in the Nation.
Henry Fielding, "The Lottery", 1731

A good upbringing means not that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice it when someone else does.- Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, 1860 - 1904

It's when we start working together that the real healing takes place, ... It's when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood.- David Hume, 1711 - 1776

He who distributes the milk of human kindness cannot help but spill a little on himself.- James Matthew Barrie, 1860 - 1937

God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.- Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813-1843), The Life and Remains, Letters, Lectures, and Poems of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, Andrew Alexander Bonar, New York: R. Carter, 1866, p. 168

Somehow liberals have been unable to acquire from life what conservatives seem to be endowed with at birth: namely, a healthy skepticism of the powers of government agencies to do good.- Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1927 - 2003

The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.- Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1927 - 2003

"Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)
O what a melting consideration is this! That . . .
out of His agony, comes our victory;
out of His condemnation, comes our justification;
out of His pain, comes our ease;
out of His stripes, comes our healing;
out of His gall and vinegar, comes our honey;
out of His curse, comes our blessing;
out of His crown of thorns, comes our crown of glory;
out of His death, comes our life! - John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life" 1671

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.- Eugene McCarthy, 1916 - 2005




-----------------------------

There came a gentle tapping ‘let me in!’
I opened and beheld a very little sin.
He entered with apologies and scarcely raised his eyes
As if abashed to contemplate tempting one so wise.
I found myself amused at this and set out to explore
This little cunning sin I’d let inside my door.
I petted him and teased him and gave him bread and wine,
Grew fond of him, then adopted him, this little sin of mine.
He twined around my heartstrings and grew so very dear
I loved him and assured myself he was too small to fear.
He soon spied out my weakness and therein was the rub,
He built himself a treadmill, my weakness at the hub.
With every revolution my darling little sin
Enlarged himself and multiplied over and over again.
At last he stooped and lifted me and placed me on his knee,
Now he is my besetting sin and makes a pet of me.
-- credited to Irene Holsted

The best Christian is still a poor Christian - R.B. Kuiper

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God- Martin Luther

The Kingdom must be advanced not merely extensively, but also intensively. The Church must seek to conquer not merely every man for Christ, but also the whole of man - Greg Bahnsen

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. -John Wesley

It always seems inexplicable to me that those who claim free will so
very boldly for man should not also allow some free will to God. Why
should not Jesus Christ have the right to choose His own bride?" - Charles H. Spurgeon

Sin is a disposition of self-love that obeys every
temptation to its own lordship. Sin is literally
self-centered rule, a disposition that rules the
life apart from God. -Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

The trouble with trouble is it starts out as fun. ~Naomi Judd 1946-

What sinners remember best is that they were happy while sinning. - C. S. Lewis

An enemy is a danger, but the danger is not what he can do to you. It is what he makes you do. If he fills you with envy, malice, hatred and all uncharitableness, he has done you real harm. But you can prevent that. Pray for him. If you say you cannot trust him, then watch and pray. But you cannot hate a man you pray for. - E. S. Waterhouse

Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it. -
George Washington, 1732 - 1799

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.- George Washington, 1732 - 1799

The best and sweetest things in life are things you cannot buy;
The music of the birds at dawn, the rainbow in the sky.
The dazzling magic of the stars, the miracle of light.
The precious gifts of health and strength, of hearing, speech and sight.
The peace of mind that crowns a busy life of work well done.
A faith in God that deepens as you face the setting sun,
The boon of love, the joy of friendship. As years go by,
You find the greatest blessings are the things you cannot buy. -Patience Strong

Being happy with God now means:
Loving as he loves,
Helping as he helps,
Giving as he gives,
Serving as he serves,
Rescuing as he rescues,
Being with him twenty-four hours,
Touching him in his distressing disguise.- Mother Teresa

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that one is loved; loved for oneself, or better yet, loved despite oneself.- Victor Hugo, 1802 - 1885

The attempt by man to impose his word on God's Universe, and to replace God's order with a man-made system, is sin, insanity and death- R. J. Ryushdoony

History has never been dominated by majorities, but only by dedicated minorities who stand unconditionally on their faith -Rousas John Rushdoony

When we disobey God we defy His authority and despise His holiness. BUT WHE WE FAIL TO TRUST GOD WE DOUBT HIS SOVEREIGNTY AND QUESTION HIS GOODNESS.-Jerry Bridges

To know God is to know him as Lord and therefore to pursue knowledge of him in a godly way. As we come to know God, we recognize that he initiates our knowledge, that his Word is the ultimate authority for our knowledge, and that in knowing God we come into a personal relationship with him. Theology is the application of Scripture to all areas of human life. Exegetical, biblical, and systematic theology look at the whole Bible from various perspectives -John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord, pg. 72

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.- Marcus Tullius Cicero

He that knows nothing will believe anything. —Thomas Fuller

If there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; if there is no understanding, there is no knowledge. —The Talmud

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance — it is the illusion of knowledge. —Daniel Boorstin

A fact merely marks the place where we have agreed to let investigation cease. —Bliss Carmen

Strange how much you've got to know before you know how little you know. —Duncan Scott

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.- Charles Darwin

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.- Galileo Galilei, 1564 - 1642

Wine is sunlight, held together by water.- Galileo Galilei, 1564 - 1642

God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.- J. H. Jowett

It is true that [people] are praying for a worldwide
revival. But it would be more timely, and more scriptural, for
prayer to be made to the Lord of the harvest, that He would
raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and
faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring
about a revival.- A. W. Pink (1886-1952), Eternal Punishment, Swengel, Pa. : Bible Truth Depot, 1951, Introduction

He has hedged me in and put me where I am. He has Placed me, Not Misplaced me. He knows exactly where I am and how to care for me.-Joni, A Lifetime of Wisdom

Let Christ stay throughout the meal. Don't dismiss Him with the blessing.-Unknown

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead . . . I charge you!" 2 Timothy 4:1
Life is very serious! We are always standing before God who is our Judge. Our commonest days--are judgment days.
We should learn to do everything "in the presence of God". This makes every word and act serious.
If only we were more conscious of God and of eternity--we would live better!- J. R. Miller, "Paul's Message for Today" 1904

Fix your affections upon the things that are above, and this will enable you to mortify sin. Heavenly things are blessed and suitable objects--God Himself, in His beauty and glory; the Lord Jesus Christ, who is 'altogether lovely,' the 'chief of ten thousand'; grace and glory; and the blessed promises of the gospel.
Were our affections filled, taken up, and possessed with these things, as it is our duty that they should be--and it is our happiness when they are--what access could sin, with its painted pleasures, with its sugared poisons, with its envenomed baits, have into our souls? How should we loathe all sin's proposals, and say unto them, "Away with you, you abominable thing!" For what are the vain, transitory pleasures of sin--in comparison to the heavenly glories which are proposed unto us?-John Owen

The church is the great lost and found department.- Robert Short

Graham J Weeks M.R.Pharm.S
http://christianquoter.blogspot.com/ My blog
http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk 10201 quotes 654 topics 2452 authors
http://christiansquoting-dailyquotes.blogspot.com/ Daily quotes
http://iuhuru.com/category/columnists/graham-weeks/ - my weekly column
http://grahamslaughs.blogspot.com/ - humour only
http://www.ipc-ealing.co.uk/ Our church
-----------------------------
Question reality. Question authority.
-----------------------------

Professor Richard Dawkins has become the self-appointed infallible prophet of the sharia of biological evolution. - archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/

The founders of the world's religions say, "Do! Do! Do!" but Christ says, "Done! It is finished!"-Steve Kumar

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once and a while, or the light won't come in.-Alan Alda

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The back side of a tapestry appears to be a mystery of tangle and confusion--but there is a beautiful picture on the other side. Just so--we are looking at our lives, largely on the back side. We cannot see the Master's plan--until 'afterwards'.-J. R. Miller, Miller's Year Book--a Year's Daily Readings

The second coming of Christ shall be utterly unlike the first.
He came the first time . . .in weakness,a tender infant,born of a poor woman in the manger at Bethlehem, unnoticed, unhonored, and scarcely known.
He shall come the second time in royal dignity, with the armies of heaven around Him, to be known, recognized and feared, by all the tribes of the earth!
He came the first time to suffer - to bear our sins, to be reckoned a curse,to be despised, rejected, unjustly condemned and slain.
He shall come the second time- to put down every enemy beneath His feet,to take the kingdom of this world for His inheritance,to rule them with righteousness, to judge all men and to reign forevermore!- J. C. Ryle

We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about.- R. C. Sproul

I know well there is no comfort for this pain of parting: the wound always remains, but one learns to bear the pain, and learns to thank God for what He gave, for the beautiful memories of the past, and the yet more beautiful hope for the future.-Max Muller

I am born for God only. Christ is nearer to me than father,
or mother, or sister,--a near relation, a more affectionate
friend; and I rejoice to follow Him, and to love Him. Blessed
Jesus! thou art all I want--a forerunner to me in all I ever
shall go through, as a Christian, a minister, or a missionary.-Henry Martyn (1781-1812), Life and letters of the Rev.Henry Martyn, B.D., with John Sargent, London:Seeley, Jackson & Halliday, 1862, p. 140

Fear not the knife that God wields, for his hand is sure.-Francois Fenelon

How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.- Benjamin Franklin, 1706 - 1790

For some years now I have read through the Bible twice
every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and
every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these
branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it
means. -Martin Luther (1483-1546), Preface to the Prophets [1532], in What Luther Says: an anthology, v. I, Ewald Martin Plass, ed., Concordia Pub. House, 1959, p. 83

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are
distant and which is animated only by Faith and Hope, will glide by
degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by
external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary
influence of example."
-- Samuel Johnson: Milton (Lives of the Poets)

A church family will help keep you from backsliding.
None of us are immune to temptation. Given the
right situation, you and I are capable of any sin.
God knows this, so he has assigned us as individuals
the responsibility of keeping each other on track.
The Bible says, "Encourage one another daily . . .
so that none of you may be hardened by sin's
deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13).
--Rick Warren (1954- )
_The Purpose Driven Life_ [2002], Chapter 17

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.-Benjamin Disraeli, 1804 - 1881

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.-Benjamin Disraeli, 1804 - 1881

No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home.-Benjamin Disraeli, 1804 - 1881

There is no use for the incantation that Islam is a religion of peace. The incantation is false; Islam, like other religions, is theologically a religion of war and a religion of peace. In our time, it is a religion in distress, fought over, hijacked at times, by a militant breed at war with the modern world. -FOUAD AJAMI

Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries
of poverty, sickness, of captivity, would, without
this comfort, be insupportable. --Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) _The Rambler_ [1750-1752], Number 67

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us. - Henri Matisse, 1869 - 1954

Sometimes one has simply to endure a period of depression for what it may hold of illumination if one can live through it, attentive to what it exposes or demands.
- May Sarton, 1912 - 1995

Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. - Thomas Aquinas, 1225 - 1274

The person who takes the banal and ordinary and illuminates it in a new way can terrify. We do not want our ideas changed. - Frank Herbert