Life is terminal; something will get you in the end.- Elliott Larson M.D.

Tolerance comes with age. I see no fault committed that I myself could not have committed at some time or other.-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How Can Such a Man Be Just Before God?
"Their righteousness is from Me!" Isaiah 54:17
The longer the Christian lives--the more he learns. And the more the Spirit teaches him--the more he loathes himself and renounces his own righteousness as filthy rags.
He hoped sensibly . . .
to grow in holiness,
to feel his corruptions subdued, and
to enjoy the presence of his God without interruption.
But instead of this:
he seems to grow more like Satan,
his corruption appears to get stronger and stronger, and
the depravity of his nature appears more and more dreadful!
He thinks himself to be a monster of iniquity, and wonders how God can possibly love him, or show any favor unto him.
Yet, this heart-felt experience . . .
endears God's free grace,
renders Christ unspeakably precious,
and the gift of righteousness invaluable!
How can such a man be just before God? Where is his righteousness to come from? Jehovah answers, "His righteousness is from Me!"
Jesus wrought it;
the Father imputes it to us;
the gospel reveals it; and
faith receives it, puts it on, and pleads it before God.
Precious Jesus! in You alone, I have righteousness and strength!
James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit"

Finally, a poem about the area where I live, Perivale, Middlesex now in the Borough of Ealing, London.

Gaily into Ruislip Gardens
Runs the red electric train,
With a thousand Ta's and Pardon's
Daintily alights Elaine;
Hurries down the concrete station
With a frown of concentration,
Out into the outskirt's edges
Where a few surviving hedges
Keep alive our lost Elysium - rural Middlesex again..

Well cut Windsmoor flapping lightly,
Jacqmar scarf of mauve and green
Hiding hair which, Friday nightly,
Delicately drowns in Drene;
Fair Elaine the bobby-soxer,
Fresh-complexioned with Innoxa,
Gains the garden - father's hobby -
Hangs her Windsmoor in the lobby,
Settles down to sandwich supper and the television screen.

Gentle Brent, I used to know you
Wandering Wembley-wards at will,
Now what change your waters show you
In the meadowlands you fill!
Recollect the elm-trees misty
And the footpaths climbing twisty
Under cedar-shaded palings,
Low laburnum-leaned-on railings
Out of Northolt on and upward to the heights of Harrow hill.

Parish of enormous hayfields
Perivale stood all alone,
And from Greenford scent of mayfields
Most enticingly was blown
Over market gardens tidy,
Taverns for the bona fide,
Cockney singers, cockney shooters,
Murray Poshes, Lupin Pooters,
Long in Kensal Green and Highgate silent under soot and stone.
John Betjeman, Middlesex,From "A Few Late Chrysanthemums" (1954) & "Collected Poems"


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

The saddest road to hell is the one that runs under the pulpit, past the
Bible, & through the middle of warnings & invitations. ~ J.C.Ryle:

TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (BORN IN HULL AUGUST 24th 1759, DIED IN LONDON JULY 29th 1833;) ...IN AN AGE AND COUNTRY FERTILE IN GREAT AND GOOD MEN, HE WAS AMONG THE FOREMOST OF THOSE WHO FIXED THE CHARACTER OF THEIR TIMES; BECAUSE TO HIGH AND VARIOUS TALENTS, TO WARM BENEVOLENCE, AND TO UNIVERSAL CANDOUR, HE ADDED THE ABIDING ELOQUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE. EMINENT AS HE WAS IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LABOUR, AND A LEADER IN EVERY WORK OF CHARITY, WHETHER TO RELIEVE THE TEMPORAL OR THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF HIS FELLOW-MEN, HIS NAME WILL EVER BE SPECIALLY IDENTIFIED WITH THOSE EXERTIONS WHICH, BY THE BLESSING OF GOD, REMOVED FROM ENGLAND THE GUILT OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, AND PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN EVERY COLONY OF THE EMPIRE: IN THE PROSECUTION OF THESE OBJECTS HE RELIED, NOT IN VAIN, ON GOD; BUT IN THE PROGRESS HE WAS CALLED TO ENDURE GREAT OBLOQUY AND GREAT OPPOSITION: HE OUTLIVED, HOWEVER, ALL ENMITY; AND IN THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS, WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE AND PUBLIC OBSERVATION TO THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY. YET HE DIED NOT UNNOTICED OR FORGOTTEN BY HIS COUNTRY: THE PEERS AND COMMONS OF ENGLAND, WITH THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND THE SPEAKER AT THEIR HEAD, IN SOLEMN PROCESSION FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE HOUSES, CARRIED HIM TO HIS FITTING PLACE AMONG THE MIGHTY DEAD AROUND, HERE TO REPOSE: TILL, THROUGH THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY REDEEMER AND SAVIOUR, (WHOM, IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS WRITINGS HE HAD DESIRED TO GLORIFY,) HE SHALL RISE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.- Westminster Abbey inscription

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All;
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh;
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid:
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again.
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me:
For I am His and He is mine,
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death:
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand,
Till He returns or calls me home:
Here in the power of Christ I stand
Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

--------

O Church arise, and put your armour on
Hear the call of Christ our Captain.
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given
With shield of faith, and belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
An army bold, whose battle cry is Love
Reaching out to those in darkness

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valour.
When faced with trials on every side
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died
An inheritance of nations.

Come see the cross where love and mercy meet,
As the Son of God is stricken;
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet
For the Conqueror has risen!
And as the stone is rolled away
And Christ emerges from the grave,
This victory march continues till the day
Every eye and heart shall see Him.

So, spirit come, put strength in every stride,
Give grace for every hurdle,
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful.
As saints of old still line the way,
Retelling triumphs of His grace,
We hear their call, and hunger for the day
When with Christ we stand in glory.
Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Conscience is a most important part of our inward man, and plays a most prominent part in our spiritual history. It cannot save us. It never yet led any one to Christ. It is blind, and liable to be misled. It is lame and powerless, and cannot guide us to heaven. Yet conscience is not to be despised. It is the minister's best friend, when he stands up to rebuke sin from the pulpit. It is the mother's best friend, when she tries to restrain her children from evil and quicken them to good. It is the teacher's best friend, when he presses home on boys and girls their moral duties. Happy is he who never stifles his conscience, but strives to keep it tender! Still happier is he who prays to have it enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and sprinkled with Christ's blood.~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 2, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 71, 72.

The Holy Spirit [is] the source of spiritual unity! He is
the Fount of all true joy! ... We as missionaries need the
fullness of this joy. Without it our work will be a burden to
us, and we shall toil on with the hearts of slaves; and the
hearts of slaves are never strong.-Griffith John (1831-1912), "The Holy Spirit in Connection with our Work", in Records of the General Conference of the Protestant Missionaries ofChina, Shanghai: Presbyterian Mission Press, 1878, p. 36,38

I'm glad you've figured out free will or whatever. It's great to be able to figure it out but dangerous to put too much faith in your figuring.=- Flannery O'Connor

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. - Plato

What is the secret for managing frustrations?
- Do not resist them. Accept frustrations, but do not overreact or explode in anger.
- Do not resent them. Do not intensify the frustration by internalizing your anger.
- Do not resign to them. Refuse to indulge in self-pity simply because of an unexpected obstacle.
- Reduce them. Treat the frustration as significant, but put it into proper perspective. Regard it simply as a minor setback, a part of living, rather than as a major calamity.
The Bible teaches that one of the byproducts of wisdom is patience. We need to view our circumstances from God's perspective. When I am in tune with God, I remember He has everything under control, even though I do not. As Galatians 5:22 tells us, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience….- Rick Warren , Little Frustrations Can Lead to Big Problems

Everything which threatens to give us anxiety—is to be taken at once to God. Nothing is too great to carry to Him. Does not He bear up all worlds? Does not He rule over all the affairs of the universe? Is there any matter in our life, however great it may seem to us—too hard for Him to manage? Is any perplexity too difficult for Him to resolve? Is any human despair too dark for Him to illumine with hope? Is there any tangle or confusion out of which He cannot extricate us?
Nothing is too small to carry to Him. Is He not our Father, and is He not sincerely interested in whatever concerns us? There is not one of the countless things which fly like specks of dust all through our daily life, tendiång to vex and fret us—that we may not take to God.
The Scriptures prescribe a cure for anxious care. The divine philosophy for peaceful living says: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:6-7
Refer every disturbing thing to Him—that He may bear the burden of it. "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you!" Psalms 55:22. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you!" 1 Peter 5:7 - -J. R. Miller, "Counsel and Help" 1907frustratins, an

Oh, sinner, do not wonder that it is so bad with you—but rather wonder that it is no worse!—Thomas Watson

It is only when we want to take our lives out of the Father’s hands and have them under our own control that we find ourselves gripped with anxiety. The secret of freedom from anxiety is freedom from ourselves & abandonment of our own plans. But that spirit emerges in our lives only when our minds are filled with the knowledge that our Father can be trusted implicitly to supply everything we need. - Sinclair Ferguson

Evangelism and social concern are like the two wings of a
bird. Without an intimate association of the two, the church
cannot hope to grow over the long term.-Thomas Houston, former president, World Vision International, in a private communication from World Vision

We all live in a televised goldfish bowl. Kingman Brewster, Jr, 1919 - 1988

While the spoken word can travel faster, you can't take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader. Kingman Brewster, Jr, 1919 - 1988

Perhaps the most fundamental value of a liberal education is that it makes life more interesting. It allows you to think things which do not occur to the less learned ... it makes it less likely that you will be bored with life. Kingman Brewster, Jr, 1919 - 1988

Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.- Kingman Brewster, Jr, 1919 - 1988

li

The guidance of the Spirit is generally by gentle suggestions or drawings, and not in violent pushes; and it requires great childlikeness of heart to be faithful to it. The secret of being made willing lies in a definite giving up of our will. As soon as we put our will on to God's side, He immediately takes possession of it and begins to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.-Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), Christian's Secret of a Holy Life, M. E. Dieter, ed., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan 1994, p. 134

The proof of who we are in Christ isn't how many folks have come to the Lord through us. It isn't how much we've contributed to the Lord's work. It isn't how sweetly we've sung his praises. It is, pure and simple, how we have loved each other. -Gayle Roper

Whenever pain is so borne as to be prevented from breeding bitterness or any other evil fruit, a contribution is made to rescuing God's creation from the devil's grip.-Leonard Hodgson

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein - Jackson Brown Jr.

It's clear that most children suffer too much mother and too little father. - Gloria Steinem

Nothing is more provoking, when we are arguing against a man with reasons and explanations, and taking all pains to convince him, than to discover at last that he will not understand, that we have to do with his will. To convince a man, you must appeal to his self-interest, his desires, his will.- Arthur Shopenhauer

For 45 yrs, SA had an ethnic bloc of a million votes for a race-obsessed, top-down, corrupt authoritarian Party that called all the shots, & everybody screamed "minority rule". So we changed & now have had 15 years of an ethnic bloc of 10 million votes for a race-obsessed, top-down, ultra-corrupt authoritarian Party that calls all the shots, & everybody shrugs. It's now "the majority" so that's okay. - Denis Beckett

I am proud to acknowledge that I am a liberal...who adheres to old-fashioned liberal values such as the rule of law, universal franchise, free elections, a free press, free association, guaranteed civil rights and an independent judiciary. - Helen Suzman

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. — Philip K. Dick, How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later.

Question reality. Question authority.- GTJW, T-shirt

Read the scripture, not only as an history, but as a love-letter sent to you from God which may affect your hearts.- Thomas Watson

I wish you could convince yourself that God is often nearer to us, and more effectually present with us, in sickness than in health. -Brother Lawrence

We are in the habit of saying that Christ saved us by dying for us on the Cross. In an important sense, this is true. We never could have been saved, if He had not died for us. But we are actually saved by our relation to a living, loving, personal Savior—into whose hands we commit all the interests of our lives; and who becomes our friend, our helper, our keeper, our burden bearer—our all in all. Christian faith is not merely laying our sins on the Lamb of God and trusting to His one great sacrifice; it is the laying of ourselves on the living, loving heart of one whose friendship becomes thenceforward the sweetest joy of our lives!
"The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20 - J. R. Miller, A Living, Loving, Personal Savior
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25 Jul 10

Whatever be our conception of the universe we must, it is
obvious, start somehow; we must begin with something; and the
something with which we begin, from the very fact that we do
begin with it, must itself be without explanation, since, if
something else were invoked to explain it, then the "something
else" must needs be logically prior to that which it is invoked
to explain. Thus the "something" being explained by a logically
prior "something else" could not have been ultimate.-C. E. M. Joad (1891-1953), God and Evil, New York: Harper, 1943, p. 87

Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.- Joyce Carol Oates

Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make famous.- Joyce Carol Oates

The blow you can't see coming is the blow that knocks you out.- Joyce Carol Oates

Art does the same things dreams do. We have a hunger for dreams and art fulfills that hunger. So much of real life is a disappointment. That's why we have art.- Joyce Carol Oates

I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card ... and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.- Joyce Carol Oates

We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.- Joyce Carol Oates

First they ignored us, then they laughed at us, then they fought us - then we won. - Mahatma Gandhi

God takes men's hearty desires and will, instead of the
deed, where they have not power to fulfill them; but He never
took the bare deed instead of the will.-Richard Baxter (1615-1691), Directions and Persuasions to a Sound Conversion, in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. VIII, London: J. Duncan, 1830, p. 174

A religion that is small enough for our understanding would not be big enough for our needs.-Corrie ten Boom

It has been long and justly remarked, that folly has ever sought alliance with beauty.- Frances Burney, 1752 - 1840

A little alarm now and then keeps life from stagnation.- Frances Burney, 1752 - 1840

But if the young are never tired of erring in conduct, neither are the older in erring of judgment.- Frances Burney, 1752 - 1840

How little has situation to do with happiness.- Frances Burney, 1752 - 1840

The mind naturally accommodates itself, even to the most ridiculous improprieties, if they occur frequently.- Frances Burney, 1752 - 1840

22 Jul 10

Islam entered Europe twice and left it... Perhaps
the next conquest, Allah willing, will be by means of
preaching and ideology. The conquest need not
necessarily be by the sword... Perhaps we will
conquer these lands without armies. We want an
army of preachers and teachers who will present
Islam in all languages and in all dialects. – Yusuf
al-Qaradawi, a popular Sunni Muslim cleric, head of
the European Council for Fatwa and Research

Language has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone, and the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.
- Paul Johannes Tillich, 1886 - 1965

If you can't stand solitude, perhaps others find you boring as well.
- Mark Twain, 1835 - 1910

We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins.
- George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men don't think there's a lot they don't know. Women do. Women want to learn. Men think, "I know what I'm doing, just show me somebody naked." - Jerry Seinfield

Graham J Weeks M.R.Pharm.S
http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk 10201 quotes 654 topics 2452 authors
http://www.ipc-ealing.co.uk/ Our church
http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/Christiansquoting Daily quotes
http://christianquoter.blogspot.com/ My blog
http://iuhuru.com/category/columnists/graham-weeks/ - my weekly column
-

21 Jul 10

While the local church is not the total body of Christ, it
must be seen to be [that body's] particular expression in its
worship, ministry, and mission. It has authority to preach the
gospel and administer the sacraments, but does not possess that
authority in isolation, only as part of the total catholic
Church. The authority of the local church can never, therefore,
be absolute or autonomous, for, if it [asserts such authority],
it denies that it is a part of the larger body and confuses the
Church of God with its particular expression in the local
church. It therefore requires a structure which allows it to
act with the authority of the Church of God, because it must be
Christ to its local community--while, at the same time,
demonstrating that it possesses such authority only because it
is part of the total Church of God whose authority is derived
from its organic relationship with Christ, its Head.-lan P. M. Cundy (b. 1945), "The Church as Community", in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 36

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.- Benjamin Franklin, 1706 - 1790

Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. - David Lloyd George, 1863 - 1945

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope. - Maya Angelou

20 Jul 10

Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.
- Stevie Wonder

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
- Stevie Wonder

My mother would cry about my blindness and the hopelessness of my ever seeing, but I told her I wasn't sad. I believed God had something for me to do.
- Stevie Wonder

Ya gots to work with what you gots to work with.
- Stevie Wonder

19 Jul 10

Each morning is a new beginning of our life. Each day is a finished whole. The present day marks the boundary of our cares and concerns. It is long enough to find God or lose Him, to keep faith or fall into disgrace.- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906 - 1945

Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.-C. S. Lewis

16 Jul 10

No eye has seen and no ear has heard
and no mind has ever conceived
the glorious things that you have prepared
for everyone who has believed.
You brought us near and you called us your own,
and made us joint heirs with your Son.
How high and how wide,
how deep and how long,
how sweet and how strong is your love;
how lavish your grace, how faithful your ways,
how great is your love, O, Lord?

Objects of mercy who should have known wrath,
we’re filled with unspeakable joy;
riches of wisdom; unsearchable wealth,
and the wonder of knowing your voice.
You are our treasure and our great reward,
our hope and our glorious King.
How high and how wide,
how deep and how long,
how sweet and how strong is your love;
how lavish your grace, how faithful your ways,
how great is your love, O, Lord?
Mark Altrogge © 1990 Integrity's Hosanna! Music/People of Destiny Int./Adm. by Kingsway's Thankyou Music.

Don't be content with doing only your duty. Do more than your duty. It's the horse that finishes a neck ahead that wins the race- Andrew Carnegie

A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it. - Dwight L. Moody

Where do you tall a Muslim to start reading?

Last night I met with T an illegal immigrant for six years and now detained awaiting deportation. He asked me for a bible in Hausa and one was given to him. Where do you tell a Muslim to start reading? I suggested Genesis, Psalms and Matthew. What do you think?

Quotes

Why is it that we can't get a child to read the Bible at home, but when in prison they will!

Either the Bible will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you away from the Bible!

Before you complain, read the Book.

Just as the Holy Spirit came upon the womb of Mary, so He came upon the brain of a Moses, a David, an Isaiah, a Paul, a John and the rest of the writers of the divine library. The power of the Highest overshadowed them, therefore that holy thing which was born of their minds is called the Holy Bible, the word of God. The writing of Luke will, of course, have the vocabulary of Luke and the work of Paul will bear the stamp of Paul s mind. However, this is only in the same manner that the Lord Jesus might have had eyes like his mother s or hair that was the same color and texture as hers. He did not inherit her sins because the Holy Spirit has come upon her. If we ask, how could this be, the answer is God says so. And the writings of men of the Book did not inherit the errors of their carnal minds because their writings were conceived by the Holy Spirit and born out of their personalities without partaking of their fallen nature. If we ask, how could this be, again the answer is God says so. -- DONALD GREY BARNHOUSE,

More at http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk/page2.html#Bible

Happy Birthday to my favourite Frenchman, b. 11 Jul. 1509

Nature as the architect of the universe, he suppresses the name of God.- John Calvin

Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols. John Calvin

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.... John Calvin (1509-1564)

Ambition is the mother of all Heresies...Almost all corruptions of doctrine flow from the pride of men. - John Calvin (Acts 20:30)
Assuredly there is but one way in which to achieve what is not merely difficult but utterly against human nature: to love those who hate us, to repay their evil deeds with benefits, to return blessings for reproaches. It is that we remember not to consider men's evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them.- John Calvin

At this day, the earth sustains on her bosom many monster minds, minds which are not afraid to employ the seed of Deity deposited in human nature as a means of suppressing the name of God. Can anything be more detestable than this madness in man, who, finding God a hundred times both in his body and his soul, makes his excellence in this respect a pretext for denying that there is a God? He will not say that chance has made him different from the brutes; but, substituting Nature as the architect of the universe, he suppresses the name of God.- John Calvin

more at http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk/quotes_by_author_c.htm

10 Jul 10

Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty. - John Calvin

The nearer to God--the more we discover our depravity, the more we loathe
ourselves, and the more precious does the person and work of Jesus
become! - James Smith

Fix my thoughts, my hopes, and my desires, upon heaven and
heavenly things; teach me to despise the world, to repent me
deeply for my sins; give me holy purposes of amendment, and
[spiritual] strength and assistances to perform faithfully
whatsoever I shall intend piously. Enrich my understanding with
an eternal treasure of Divine Truths, that I may know thy will:
and thou, who workest in us to will and to do of Thy good
pleasure, teach me to obey all Thy commandments, to believe all
Thy revelations, and make me partaker of all Thy gracious
promises.-Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Living [1650], in The
Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. III, London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1847, p. 34

9 Jul 10

For the same justice and equity that warrants declining tyrants by unjust violence by flight, will warrant resistance, when flight will not do it- Alexander Shields, The life and death of James Renwick (Edinburgh, 1724), p. 197.

Always the same! It is this which gives such value to the Gospels in which our Lord's history is told. We are not reading there the life and sayings of one fickle and changeable like ourselves—but the life and sayings of a Redeemer who is now what He was then. We tell you confidently that all that love and gentleness and compassion and long-suffering and tenderheartedness which you may there see in your Lord and Savior's character, are placed before you that you may understand the character of Him from whom alone we receive forgiveness and to whom alone your prayer must be made, and we say this because we know He is the same yesterday, today, and forever~ J.C. Ryle
The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Unchanging Christ”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 156.

Short summary of every Jewish holiday:
They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat.

Did you hear about the bum who walked up to a Jewish mother on the street and said,
"Lady, I haven't eaten in three days." "Force yourself," she replied.

Q: What's the difference between a Rottweiler and a Jewish mother?
A: Eventually, the Rottweiler lets go.

8 Jul 10

My God and my Lord, my hope and the joy of my heart, speak
unto my soul and tell me whether this is the joy of which thou
tellest us through thy Son: Ask and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full (John 16:24). For I have found a joy that is
full, and more than full. For when heart, and mind, and soul,
and all the man, are full of that joy, joy beyond measure will
still remain. Hence, not all of that joy shall enter into those
who rejoice; but they who rejoice shall wholly enter into that
joy.- Anselm (1033-1109), Discourse on the Existence of God, Chicago: The Opencourt Publishing Co, 1903, p. 33


A man called his mother in Florida, "Mom, how are you?"
"Not too good," said the mother. "I've been very weak."
The son said, "Why are you so weak?"
She said, "Because I haven't eaten in 38 days."
The son said, "That's terrible. Why haven't you eaten in 38
days?"
The mother answered, "Because I didn't want my mouth to
be filled with food if you should call."

A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he has a part in the play. She asks, "What part is it?"

The boy says, "I play the part of the Jewish husband."
"The mother scowls and says, "Go back and tell the teacher you want a speaking part."

Q: Where does a Jewish husband hide money from his wife?
A: Under the vacuum cleaner.

Q: Howmany Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: (Sigh) "Don't bother. I'll sit in the dark. I don't want to be a nuisance to
anybody."

I am always content with what happens, for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.-Epictetus

Christianity is like electricity. It cannot enter a person unless it can pass through.- Richard Raines

Breaking News: Police on the north side of town this morning came across 2 teenagers. One was drinking battery acid and the other eating fireworks.They charged one and let the other off.

Q: Why don't Jewish mothers drink?
A: Alcohol interferes with their suffering.

Q: Have you seen the newest Jewish-American-Princess horror movie?
A: It's called, 'Debbie Does Dishes'.

Q: Why do Jewish mothers make great parole officers?
A: They never let anyone finish a sentence!

6 Jul 10

Christianity is more than a doctrine. It is Christ Himself, living in those whom He has united to Himself in One Mystical Body.-Thomas Merton

You only have freedom of speech when you are offending the "moral right. Heaven forbid you offend the left! - Renee Bush

A doctor held a stethoscope up to a man's chest. The man asks, "Doc, how do I stand?". The doctor says, "That's what puzzles me!"

Patient: "I have a ringing in my ears."
Doctor: "Don't answer!"

There is a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from medical school.

5 Jul 10

The nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart.—C.H. Spurgeon

Christ saves His people, not in their sins but from them.—C.H. Spurgeon

The Doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill so the doctor gave him another six months.

The Doctor called Mrs. Cohen saying, "Mrs. Cohen, your check came back. "
Mrs. Cohen answered, "So did my arthritis!"

Doctor: "You'll live to be 60!"
Patient: "I am 60!"
Doctor: "See! What did I tell you?"

Jul 4 2010

If I had lived in New England in 1776 which side would I have been on.' is a subject I plan to address later today on my other blog, DV, but for now...

I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

Someone stole all my credit cards but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends
less than my wife did.

We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.

My wife and I went to a hotel where we got a waterbed. My wife called it the Dead Sea .

She was at the beauty shop for two hours. That was only for the estimate. She got a mudpack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.

3 Jul 10

The longer I live the clearer does it appear that John Calvin’s system is the nearest to perfection.~Charles Spurgeon

Anything that hurts the home is a curse and ought to be hunted down.. ~ Spurgeon

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

2 Jul 10

The fewer the words, the better the prayer.-Martin Luther

For anything good in our children we take no credit. it is by the grace of God. For anything bad we take no blame. it is their responsibility.- The rule of child rearing from parents who had eight.

I have lived, sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men! And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? —We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that, ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe, that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall be become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages…

I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.-Benjamin Franklin in Timothy Pitkin, A Political and Civil History of the United States of America, vol. 2 (New Haven, CT: Hezekiah House, 1828), 246.