‎"I wish that I could as easily find out the truth as I can refute false things" - Cicero. "I am the truth" - Christ - from David Andrew Robertson

Death is but a passage out of a prison into a palace.-John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Islam is the biggest danger threatening our country and the free West. We have too much mass-immigration from Islamic countries and too many hate palaces – call them mosques, I believe – and immigrants are still overrepresented in the crime numbers. Enough is enough. (...) I speak the truth concerning Islam and the enormous dangers of this violent totalitarian ideology. (...) Truth is that the islamisation of the Netherlands must be stopped. That is not inciting hatred, as the judge as a matter of fact also finds, but standing up for the Netherlands and our own culture and freedom, where islam does not belong. Islam and freedom do not go together. Those are the facts, that is the truth. - Geert Wilders, interviewed by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, 1 August 2011:

When many share in the joy, individuals also feel
a richer delight. They kindle excitement among
themselves and are inflamed by one another. - Augustine (354-430) _Confessions_ [397-401]; Book VIII, Number 4

I had no motive for my wickedness except wickedness
itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved the
self-destruction, I loved my fall, not the object
for which I had fallen but my fall itself. My
depraved soul leaped down from your firmament
to ruin. I was seeking not to gain anything by
shameful means, but shame for its own sake. - Augustine (354-430) _Confessions_ [397-401]; Book II, Number 4

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them. - Moshe Ben-David, quoted at
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2011/08/spenditol.html

You . . . may think wisdom comes with age.
Believe me, . . . age often comes alone.
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (1924-2006) _Letters To A Young Doubter_ [2005], Chapter 2

The ruling motif in Calvinism is, "In the beginning God..." (Gen. 1:1). -Joel Beeke

A city is [not] fortunate when its walls are standing, while its morals are in ruins. - Augustine (354-430) _The City Of God_ [415], Book I

I myself was exceedingly astonished as I anxiously
reflected how long a time had elapsed since the
nineteenth year of my life, when I began to burn
with a zeal for wisdom, planning that when I had
found it I would abandon all the empty hopes and
lying follies of hollow ambitions.
And here I was already thirty, and still mucking
about in the same mire in a state of indecision,
avid to enjoy present fugitive delights which were
dispersing my concentration, while I was saying:
"Tomorrow I shall find it; see, it will become
perfectly clear, and I shall have no more
doubts. . . ." - Augustine (354-430) _Confessions_ [397-401]; Book VI, Number 11

... take away your gown, and you dare not preach; take away your book, and you cannot preach; and take away your rich income, and you won't preach; while the only way to stop me is by cutting my tongue out. - Joseph Spoor 1813-69, Primitive Methodist preacher in North Yorkshire to an Anglican incumbent who objected to open air preaching in his parish.

'''those with bipolar disorder can exude personal magnetism during their manic episodes.- Peter Aldhous, Crossing the borderline: Fixing personality disorders, New Scientist,26 August 2011

As a typical adolescent, I was aware of two things about myself, though doubtless I could not have articulated them in these terms then. First, if there was a God, I was estranged from him. I tried to find him, but he seemed to be enveloped in a fog I could not penetrate. Secondly, I was defeated. I knew the kind of person I was, and also the kind of person I longed to be. Between the ideal and the reality there was a great gulf fixed. I had high ideals but a weak will. . . . [W]hat brought me to Christ was this sense of defeat and of estrangement, and the astonishing news that the historic Christ offered to meet the very needs of which I was conscious.- John Stott

In every rank, or great or small,
'Tis industry supports us all.- John Gay, Man, Cat, Dog, and Fly (l. 63)

At his most characteristic, medieval man was not a dreamer nor a wander. He was an organizer, a codifier, a builder of systems. He wanted ‘a place for everything and everything in the right place.’ Distinction, definition, tabulation were his delight. Though full of turbulent activities, he was equally full of the impulse to formalize them. War was (in intention) formalized by the art of heraldry and the rules of chivalry; sexual passion (in intention), by an elaborate code of love. Highly original and soaring philosophical speculation squeezes itself into a rigid dialectical pattern copied from Aristotle. Studies like Law and Moral Theology, which demand the ordering of every diverse particulars, especially flourish. - - - There was nothing which medieval people like better, or did better, than sorting out and tiding up. Of all modern inventions I suspect that they would most have admired the card index.- C S Lewis, Discard Image

In Britain, for centuries, moral conduct has arisen from the Judaeo-Christian vision of the Bible and, specifically, the Ten Commandments. It is true, of course, that non-believers can be moral, even more so than believers, but this is usually within the context of an existing tradition. What made Britain great was a sense of responsibility, of accountability to one another and, ultimately, of having to answer to God, the very source of our existence. It is the loss of this framework that has led to the darkness we have all been experiencing. Instead of finding numerous excuses and denying the real origin of our problems, we should make the recovery of such a framework central to the task of the moral and spiritual regeneration that everybody now thinks is necessary.- Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali Conservative Home website

Thank you for being rash enough to marry me, foolish enough to stay with me, and loving me in a way I thought I'd never be loved.-Winston Churchill to Clementine when he was about to enter the office of First Lord of the Admiralty just after Britain had finally declared war on Germany--at least, anyway, as shown in the BBC/HBO movie "The Gathering Storm."

Without the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, we will either despise afflictions or collapse under them and God's purpose in sending them to us will be defeated..Sin will either harden us so that we treat it with contempt, or else cast us into despair and so we neglect the gracious means that God has graciously provided us with to defeat it. Without the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, the comforts of our loved ones will separate us from God and the loss of them will turn our hearts to stone. Without the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, the poverty of the church will overwhelm us and the prosperity of the church will not concern us. Without the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, we shall not have wisdom in our work, nor peace in any trial, nor will we have joy and comfort in life, nor light in death. How sad, then, is the condition of those who know nothing of the Spirit as a Comforter.- John Owen in Communion with God

Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise Physician prescribes because we need them; and He proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Let us trust in His skill and thank Him for his prescription. - John Newton

He God loves whom he pleaseth, and as unto what end he pleaseth. -John Owen

Sometimes truth is lost first in a church, and then holiness and sometimes the decay or hatred of holiness is the cause of the loss of truth. But if either is rejected, the other will not abide. - John Owen

Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. - John Owen

There is no broader way to apostasy than to reject God’s sovereignty in all things concerning the revelation of himself and our obedience, refusing to ‘bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’. From the refusal to submit to God’s sovereignty over all things, including our eternal salvation, arose Pelagianism, Arminianism and every present-day heresy - John Owen

On the two natures in the Person of Christ, "Here must the whole church fall down and worship the Author of this wonderful contrivance; and, captivating their understandings unto the obedience of faith, humbly adore what they cannot comprehend." - John Owen, "The Glory of Christ," in Works, 1:311

The person who understands the evil in his own heart is the only person who is useful. ~ John Owen

He who prays as he ought will endeavor to live as he prays. This none can do who doth not with diligence keep his heart unto the things he hath prayed about. To pray earnestly and live carelessly is to proclaim that a man is not spiritually minded in his prayer. John Owen

Moreover, be not contented to have right notions of the love of Christ in your minds, unless you can attain a gracious taste of it in your hearts; no more than you would be to see a feast or banquet richly prepared, and partake of nothing of it unto your refreshment. It is of that nature that we may have a spiritual sensation of it in our minds; whence it is compared by the spouse to apples and flagons of wine. We may taste that the Lord is gracious; and if we find not a relish of it in our hearts, we... shall not long retain the notion of it in our minds. Christ is the meat, the bread, the food of our souls. Nothing is in him of a higher spiritual nourishment than his love, which we should always desire." - John Owen

Conviction should actually grow throughout our Christian lives. In fact, one sign of spiritual growth is an increased awareness of our sinfulness.
~Jerry Bridges

I love God's symmetry of trouble and mercy. Troubles for every day (Matt. 6:34). Mercies for every morning (Lam. 3:23). - John Piper

All communications of supplies and relief, in the beginnings, increasings, actings of any grace whaterver from him, are by the Spirit, by whom he alone works in and upon believers. From him we have our mortification. He is exalted, and made a Prince and a Saviour , to give repentance unto us and for our repentance our mortification is no small portion. - John Owen

Let our hearts admit, "I am poor and weak. Satan is too subtle, too cunning, too powerful; he watches constantly for advantages over my soul. The world presses in upon me with all sorts of pressures, pleas, and pretences. My own corruption is violent, tumultuous, enticing, and entangling... Therefore, on God alone will I rely for my keeping. I will continually look to Him." - John Owen

"\For being once touched by the love of Christ, receiving therein an impression of secret ineffable virtue, they [believers] will ever be in motion, and restless, until they come unto him, and behold his glory.- John Owen, "The Glory of Christ," in Works, 1:286

If this fear [of the Lord] is not experienced in the study of the Word, it will not display itself in any other facet of life. ~John Owen

Faith gives us justification before God, access unto him, and acceptance with him; and therewithal gives joy and rejoicing unto the soul. ~John Owen

It is also our duty to "grow in grace" (2 Peter 3:18), to be "perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1) by "renewing the inward man day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16). We cannot do this without daily mortifying sin. Sin sets its strength against every act of holiness and against every step of faith. Thus in spite of the mortification exhibited in the Cross of Christ. For each and every sin, we must apply its efficacy by our daily mortification of the flesh.The Holy Spirit is the only sufficient means for the work of mortification. All other ways are futile without Him. Vows, fastings, and other efforts of spiritual discipline means little if the Holy Spirit is not present. - John Owen Triumph Over Temptation

Fill your affections with the cross of Christ that there may be no room for sin. - John Owen

There is no broader way to apostasy than to reject God's sovereignty in all things concerning the revelation of himself and our obedience... — John Owen

He who finds no fault in himself needs a second opinion. -Suzy Evans

Riches

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,- Proverbs 30:8

I like rich people. I like the way they live. I like the way I live
when I'm with them. - Uncle Max in The Sound of Music

The wretchedness of being rich is that you live with rich people. To
suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave as
the rich behave, is like supposing that we could drink all day and
stay sober. - Logan Pearsall Smith

Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich. - Samuel Johnson

Few rich men own their own property; the property owns them. - Robert Ingersoll, speech, New York, Oct. 29, 1896

Every man thinks God is on his side. The rich and powerful know he is. -Jean Anouilh, 1910 -- 1987, French playwright

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have
always objected to being governed at all. -G. K. Chesterton, 1874 -- 1936, A Miscellany of Men, 1912

The Lord does not think much of riches, and
therefore, he usually gives them to the
ungodly as men give bones to dogs. -Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) _Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_, Volume 34 [1888]

Don't dwell on who let you down, cherish those who hold you up. - Unknown

The usual rule is that the more we really know, the more
conscious we are of the littleness of our knowledge. -Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) _Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_, Volume 23 [1877]

If you would be known and not know, vegetate in a village. If you
would know and not be known, live in a city. -Charles Caleb Colton

The root problem, however, is not a matter of economics but theology and ethics. The loss of faith in God led to a new and profoundly distorted faith in the state as the savior of the world. The loss in an ethic of life led to a disrespect for the truth of freedom itself, which is the ethical foundation of the market economy. Freedom can be a visible thing but its roots are in an invisible theological outlook that affirms that the universe and mankind have a transcendent origin and purpose. Let us turn to God and pray for conversion away from false faiths toward eternal truths.-Robert A. Sirico http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-18-number-2/mistaken-faiths-our-age

Blessed are you who are not easily offended at what others post, for you shall not be continually irritated - unk

He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool - shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child - teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep - wake him.
He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a wise man - follow him.
- Old proverb, also attributed to Confucius

The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.- 1 Corinthians 8:2

For we know in part .. but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.- 1Cor13
Maranatha!

He who tells it, knows it not, He who knows it, tells it not!- unk, and all too often true of Christians and the gospel.

If you always enjoy sermons, the minister is not
a good steward. He is not acting wisely who
deals out nothing but sweets. -Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)_Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_, Volume 35 [1889]

Too many Grandmothers make the baby thin. - Bulgarian proverb. (This is referring to the fact that if everyone fusses and no-one takes resposibility the job will not get done)

Does the world satisfy thee? Then thou hast thy reward and portion in this life; make much of it, for thou shalt know no other joy. - Charles Spurgeon

I endeavour to keep all Shibboleths, and forms and terms of
distinction out of sight, as we keep knives and razors out of
the way of children; and if my hearers had not some other means
of information, I think they would not know from me that there
are such creatures as Arminians and Calvinists in the world.
But we [would] talk a good deal about Christ.-John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter quoted in John Newton: a biography, Bernard Martin, Heinemann, 1950,
p. 275

My dear friend,
I am very sorry about your accident--but I am thankful that you were not hurt. Such catastrophes, as this may properly be called, have often been attended with dislocated or broken bones, a fractured skull, or instant death--so frail is man!
Often, when he thinks himself safe, and is dreaming of his own importance, as if he were a necessary part in the complicated movements of Divine Providence--he falls like grass before the scythe! And not by the hands of a giant, or the fangs of a tiger--but the smallest trifle is sufficient to destroy him!
For example--how many loose stones do we see in the road; it seems no great matter where they lie. Yet any one of them, by changing the direction of a wheel--is sufficient to confound all the plans of this mighty creature! One stone stumbles him down; he falls with his head upon another--in that very moment all his future plans perish! But the Lord gave His angels charge over you; therefore you fell unhurt, and are still alive to praise and serve Him.
I see so much of the uncertainty of life, and how little I can either foresee or prevent what the next moment may bring forth--that I would be a very great coward--afraid not only of riding in a coach--but of walking across a room--if I was not in some degree enabled to confide in the Lord's protection! "Hold me up--and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117- Letters of John Newton

Gossip involves saying behind a person's back what you would never say to his or her face. Flattery means saying to a person's face what you would never say behind his or her back.- R. Kent Hughes

"I know your mom is asking about evolution," he said. "It's a theory that's out there and it's got some gaps in it. In Texas, we teach creationism and evolution because I feel you're smart enough to figure out which one is right."--Rick Perry http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/08/18/perry-questioned-evolution-and-creationism-new-hampshire-says-texas-teaches-both#ixzz1VRPl5j9E

We took tea, by Boswell's desire; and I eat one bun, I
think, that I might not be seen to fast ostentatiously.
When I find that so much of my life has stolen unprofitably
away, and that I can descry by retrospection scarcely a few
single days properly and vigorously employed, why do I yet try
to resolve again? I try, because reformation is necessary and
despair is criminal. I try, in humble hope of the help of God.-Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Prayers and Meditations,London: Verner, Hood, and Sharpe, 1806, Good Friday,April 14, 1775, p. 114-115

Dig the well before you are thirsty.- Chinese Proverb

Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or remove it. He came to fill it with His Presence.- Paul Claudel

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not
pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for power equal to your tasks.
= Phillips Brooks, 1835 - 1893

It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of
life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you.
- Phillips Brooks, 1835 - 1893

Let us beware of losing our enthusiasms. Let us ever glory in
something, and strive to retain our admiration for all that
would ennoble, and our interest in all that would enrich and beautify our life.- Phillips Brooks, 1835 - 1893

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is
made in the small ones.-Phillips Brooks, 1835 - 1893

Tthere are two kinds of leaders: those who keep their wits about them, and those who keep their half-wits about them.- unk

‎What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.—John Ruskin

A word to the wise isn't necessary...it's the stupid ones that need the advice. ~Bill Cosby

Sky News reporter and Clapham resident Mark Stone recorded the events (looting) on video and can be heard bravely confronting the woman and a friend in the high street. He told them: "I live here and I'm just astounded with what you are doing." The woman replied: "We're getting our taxes back." - Mirror, 9 August 2011

Repentance is not a merely intellectual change of mind or mere grief, still less doing penance, but a radical transformation of the entire person, a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action and including overtones of grief, which result in (spiritual) fruit. - D.A. Carson

The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Book that informs us of the identity of the real, historical Jesus. Scripture works hard to set forth the real Christ. The creeds are merely attempts to preserve this biblical portrait and to protect it from distortions. When a person says, “All I need to know is Jesus – doctrine isn’t important,” we should immediately ask in reply, “Who is Jesus?” The moment a person begins to answer that question; the person is inescapably involved with doctrine.- R.C. Sproul, The Spirit of Revival by Archie Parrish, Introduction, Copyright 2000, Crossway Books

Great men are great sinners, and Rush is a great, great man. = from a friend of RJR

Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder- GKC

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship. - E. M. Forster, 1879 - 1970

The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak.- Robert A. Heinlein, 1907 - 1988

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.
Words: George Croly, Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship (London: 1854).

God's love for sinners is wonderful, but
his patience with ill-natured saints is a
still deeper mystery. -Henry Drummond

Looting is shopping with violence, - David Starkey, BBC Newsnight, 13 8.11

Jacob was a cheater. Peter had a temper. David had an affair. Noah got drunk. Jonah ran from God. Paul was a murderer. Gideon was insecure. Miriam was a gossiper. Martha was a worrier. Thomas was a doubter. Sara was impatient. Elijah was moody. Moses stuttered. Zaccheus was short. Abraham was old, and Lazarus was dead! Now what's YOUR excuse? Can God use you or not? God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the CALLED! - Unk

Embracing the Reformed Faith means that a fundamental shift in the way you view the world must take place. Once reformed, you must forswear the compromise of evangelicalism, the apathy of pietism and the apostasy of liberalism. It is time to think like, act like and fight like Protestants. If you want to bring honor to your King, nothing else will do. ~ Jeff Ziegler

Our Lord Jesus Christ's dominion over the devil should be a cheering thought to all true Christians. Without it, indeed, we might well despair of salvation. To feel that we have ever near us an invisible spiritual enemy, laboring night and day to compass our destruction, would be enough to crush our every hope, if we did not know a Friend and Protector. Blessed be God! The Gospel reveals such a One. The Lord Jesus is stronger than that "strong man armed," who is ever warring against our souls. The Lord Jesus is able to deliver us from the devil. He proved his power over him frequently when upon earth. He triumphed over him gloriously on the cross. He will never let him pluck any of His sheep out of His hand. He will one day bruise him under our feet, and bind him in the prison of hell. (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 20:1, 2). Happy are they who hear Christ's voice and follow Him! Satan may vex them, but he cannot really hurt them! He may bruise their heel, but he cannot destroy their souls. They shall be "more than conquerors" through Him who loved them (Rom 8:37).~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 269. {Luke 8:26-36}

Gratitude to God makes even a temporal blessing a taste of heaven.- William Romaine

I am sparkling, you are unusually talkative, he is drunk.

The pessimist thinks the glass is half empty, the optimist thinks the glass is half full, the pharmacist knows the glass is the wrong size.

The first effect of the inner liberation brought about by.the
biblical [Reformed] message, however, should be that we fully recognize that good Christians may be bad scientists, poor' exegetes and silly people. The' saints', in the biblical sense, are far from perfect. It is one of the human weaknesses, certainly not encouraged by the Bible, to crave for quasi-infallible authorities besides God and thus to take up the unnecessary burden of defending these authorities as if the kingdom of God was at stake. Everyone is really, Romish' at heart. Few people are ready to bear the full responsibility of freedom; they either lapse into licence or yearn for some authority besides God (a philosophical or political system, the State, the Party, the
ecclesiastical hierarchy). The obstacle to attaining real freedom is,
that we are not contented with God alone, but want other gods beside
Him.- Hooykaas

Now if thou compare deed to deed, there is difference
betwixt washing of dishes, and preaching of the word of God;
but as touching to please God, none at all: for neither that
nor this pleaseth, but as far forth as God hath chosen a man,
hath put his Spirit in him, and purified his heart by faith and
trust in Christ.Let every man therefore wait on the office wherein Christ
hath put him, and therein serve his brethren.-William Tyndale (1492?-1536), "Parable of the Wicked Mammon" [1527], in Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions, Cambridge: The University Press, 1848, p. 102

In Britain, everything is policed except crime. - Mark Steyn, After America.

I am eclectic; you are eccentric; he is barking mad. -unknown

It's better to step on toes than walk on eggs. - The Sanity Inspector, alt.quotations, thread "Eggs or Eggshells?" 16 Sep. 1999

Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass
through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the
post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he
liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel
abroad or leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of
official permission. He could exchange his money for any other
currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any
country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For
that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without
permit and without informing the police. Unlike the countries of the
European continent, the state did not require its citizens to perform
military service. An Englishman could enlist, if he chose, in the
regular army, the navy, or the territorials. He could also ignore, if
he chose, the demands of national defence. Substantial householders
were occasionally called on for jury service. Otherwise, only those
helped the state who wished to do so. The Englishman paid taxes on a
modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913-14, or rather less than 8
per cent. of the national income. The state intervened to prevent the
citizen from eating adulterated food or contracting certain infectious
diseases. It imposed safety rules in factories, and prevented women,
and adult males in some industries, from working excessive hours. The
state saw to it that children received education up to the age of 13.
Since 1 January 1909, it provided a meagre pension for the needy over
the age of 70. Since 1911, it helped to insure certain classes of
workers against sickness and unemployment. This tendency towards more
state action was increasing. Expenditure on the social services had
roughly doubled since the Liberals took office in 1905. Still, broadly
speaking, the state acted only to help those who could not help
themselves. It left the adult citizen alone. - AJP Taylor, English History, 1914-1945

Now if thou compare deed to deed, there is difference
betwixt washing of dishes, and preaching of the word of God;
but as touching to please God, none at all: for neither that
nor this pleaseth, but as far forth as God hath chosen a man,
hath put his Spirit in him, and purified his heart by faith and
trust in Christ.Let every man therefore wait on the office wherein Christ
hath put him, and therein serve his brethren.-William Tyndale (1492?-1536), "Parable of the Wicked Mammon" [1527], in Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions, Cambridge: The University Press, 1848, p. 102

Gratitude to God makes even a temporal blessing a taste of heaven.- William Romaine

Embracing the Reformed Faith means that a fundamental shift in the way you view the world must take place. Once reformed, you must forswear the compromise of evangelicalism, the apathy of pietism and the apostasy of liberalism. It is time to think like, act like and fight like Protestants. If you want to bring honor to your King, nothing else will do. ~ Jeff Ziegler

To the one who delights in the sovereignty of God the clouds not only have a 'silver lining' but they are silvern all through, the darkness only serving to offset the light! ~ A.W. Pink

Our Lord Jesus Christ's dominion over the devil should be a cheering thought to all true Christians. Without it, indeed, we might well despair of salvation. To feel that we have ever near us an invisible spiritual enemy, laboring night and day to compass our destruction, would be enough to crush our every hope, if we did not know a Friend and Protector. Blessed be God! The Gospel reveals such a One. The Lord Jesus is stronger than that "strong man armed," who is ever warring against our souls. The Lord Jesus is able to deliver us from the devil. He proved his power over him frequently when upon earth. He triumphed over him gloriously on the cross. He will never let him pluck any of His sheep out of His hand. He will one day bruise him under our feet, and bind him in the prison of hell. (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 20:1, 2). Happy are they who hear Christ's voice and follow Him! Satan may vex them, but he cannot really hurt them! He may bruise their heel, but he cannot destroy their souls. They shall be "more than conquerors" through Him who loved them (Rom 8:37).~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 269. {Luke 8:26-36}

Revelation 21 and 22 present heaven as the opposite of hell. Hell is separation from the gracious presence of God; heaven, living in that presence. Hell involves terrible pain; heaven, unceasing joy. Hell means the darkness of banishment from God’s glory; heaven, basking in its light. Hell consists of everlasting rejection by God; heaven, being His son or daughter forever. Hell entails the second death; heaven, eternal life.-Robert A. Peterson. Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment, P&R Publishers, 1995, p. 220.

Sin with the multitude, and your responsibility and guilt are as great and as truly personal, as if you alone had done the wrong.-Tryon Edwards

For greatness after all, in spite of its name, appears to be not so much a certain size as a certain quality in human lives. It may be present in lives whose range is very small.-Phillips Brooks - Sermons (1879)

No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.- Phillips Brooks

Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process.-Phillips Brooks

In the midst of financial crisis, Pope Benedict made a statement that immediately hit the headlines. He said "with the collapse of big banks we see that money disappears, is nothing and all these things that appear real are in fact of secondary importance." He further warned against attempting to build one's life "only on things that are visible, such as success, career, money... The only solid reality is the word of God."- Acton Institute:

We assume then, that subject to the 1688/9 Bill of Rights, that a sword is a suitable weapon for Protestants viz: Subjects’ Arms.
That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law.- from a friend responding to me saying I had a sword to protect my household from intruders

The most difficult lie I ever contended with is this Life is a story about me.

Truth is never determined by looking at God's Word and asking, 'What does this mean to me?' Whenever I hear someone talk like that, I'm inclined to ask, 'What did the Bible mean before you existed? What does God mean by what He says?' Those are the proper questions to be asking.~John MacArthur

Such of the Moors as have long beards, display them with a mixture of pride and satisfaction, as denoting an Arab ancestry. Of this number was Ali himself; but among the generality of the people, the hair is short and bushy, and universally black. And here I may be permitted to observe, that if any one circumstance excited among them favourable thoughts towards my own person, it was my beard; which was now grown to an enormous length, and was always beheld with approbation or envy. I believe in my conscience, they thought it too good a beard for a Christian.- Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1799

The Victory of the WORD will show itself in the World PRIOR to His Second Advent- John Calvin

The devil’s cleverest ruse is to make men believe that he does not exist. Or to give us the false impression that he is a silly old character in a red suit with little horns and a forked tail. Or to convince us that his devilish powers are so overwhelming that we are helpless to resist. - Philip Graham Ryken

Waste no more time debating what a good man should be. Be one." -- Marcus Aurelius

Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully.- Phillips Brooks

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.

O Caledonia! stern and, wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child!
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires! what mortal hand
Can e'er untie the filial band,
That knits me to thy rugged strand!
Still, as I view each well-known scene,
Think what is now, and what hath been,
Seems as, to me of all bereft,
Sole friends thy woods and streams were left;
And thus I love them better still
Even in extremity of ill.
By Yarrow's streams still let me stray,
Though none should guide my feeble way.,
Still feel the breeze down Ettrick break,
Although it chill my wither'd cheek;
Still lay my head by Teviot Stone,
Though there, forgotten and alone,
The Bard may draw his parting groan.
"Lay of the Last Minstrel" by Sir Walter Scott , Canto Sixth, verses I and II.

What the Arminian wants to do is to arouse man’s activity; what we want to do is kill it once and for all, to show him that he is lost and ruined, and that his activities are not now at all equal to the work of conversion; that he must look upward. They seek to make the man stand up; we seek to bring him down, and make him feel that he lies in the hand of God, and that his business is to submit himself to God, and cry aloud ‘Lord save, or we perish!' ~ Charles Spurgeon

The glory of God and love for Christ should be the primary motives for everything we say, do, and think, which includes what we wear. - Jeff Pollard

How quickly passes away the glory of this world.-Thomas Kempis

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him
only to serve. That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world
behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom. - Thomas A. Kempis

A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity.- John Marie Vianney

The Cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us.- John Stott"

True preaching cannot leave men unconcerned: it will either arouse them to repentance and to godly action, or it will arouse them to ungodly hostility as they see themselves in the light of God’s Word. ~R.J. Rushdoony

We should take care not to make the intellect our god, it has ofcourse, powerful muscles, but no personality - Albert Einstein

If I wager for and God is — infinite gain;
If I wager for and God is not — no loss.
If I wager against and God is — infinite loss;
If I wager against and God is not — neither loss nor gain. -Blaise Pascal

Whatever makes us feel superior to other people, whatever tempts us to convey a sense of superiority, that is the gravity of our sinful nature, not grace. -- Phillip Yancey

How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me! - Elizabeth of Hungary

I wish I could lose myself and never find myself except in God! - John Vianney

If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire" - Catherine of Siena.

Do not try to please everybody. Try to please God, the angels and the saints - they are your public. - John Vianney

Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.-John Bosco

The one who discovers history becomes Catholic. ~ John Henry Newman (but not necessarily Roman- GJW)

Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him, but have glorified themselves. --Blaise Pascal

A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.-Jean Rostand

Sirrah, ye are God's silly vassal; there are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland: there is king James, the head of the commonwealth; and there is Christ Jesus, the king of the Church, whose subject James the Sixth is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king, not a lord, not a head, but a member. Andrew Melville to James VI ( who was IMO the worst ever export from the northern kingom.)

Only the good die young, which explains the average age of Congressmen.
-Unknown

These then are the marks of the ideal Church – love, suffering, holiness, sound doctrine, genuineness, evangelism and humility. They are what Christ desires to find in His churches as He walks among them. ~ John Stott

So if we are going to fight with an eye towards winning, we've got to have a postmillennial faith. Now you can go to heaven without it, but you'll do better in this world and in the world to come, if you stand in terms of the fact that we are to bring everything into captivity to Christ. ~ R. J. Rushdoony

What is to hinder them [government officials] from
creating a perpetual debt? The laws of nature, I
answer. The earth belongs to the living, not to
the dead. The will and power of man expire with
his life, by nature's law. . . . We may consider
each generation as a distinct nation, with a right,
by the will of its majority, to bind themselves,
but none to bind the succeeding generation, more
than the inhabitants of another country.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826) Letter to John W. Eppes [24 June 1813].

What is your only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I am not my own but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.- Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 1
 
If Christ tarries until the year 10,000 to return, Gentlemen, then WE will be the Early Church.  —D. Elton Trueblood
 
God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist. -Augustine

If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.-Carolyn Janson

The grace of God makes us honest with ourselves.
We must be humorous enough to see the shallow
tricks we all have, no matter what our profession
of Christianity. We are so altogether perverse
that God almighty had to come and save us! --Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) _Not Knowing Whither_ [1934]

It is the duty of every Christian family to worship God in the exercises of praise, reading the Scriptures, and prayer, in the morning and evening of every day. And the heads of families should enjoin and require the regular attendance of all the members. - Testimony of the Reformed Presybterian Church of Scotland, 1866, p. 224

A few months ago, the Home Secretary Theresa May said that it was insufficient to focus on the murderers; attention must be paid to the ideology. She told us that in addition to combating violent extremism, the Government will tackle ‘extremist philosophies’ by looking closely at ‘the values’ of the organisat
ions themselves. Mrs May said: “There’s an ideology out there that we need to challenge and when we first came in as a government one of the things we were very clear about here at the Home Office was we needed to look at extremism, not just violent extremism.” The assertion is that violent extremism is incubated within the ideology of non-violent extremism.
Indeed it is.
And so ‘the viper in our midst’ is not simply the serpent, but the serpentine religio-political philosophy which meanders through society, twisting and turning, meandering and beguiling, spinning its spell and weaving its contorted and perverted message into the foundations of our culture.
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. - http:/www.archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/

In left-wing circles it is always always felt that there is something
slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to
snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet
puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true, that
almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to
attention during 'God save the King' than of stealing from a poor box.
-- George Orwell