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Sunday 12 February 2012

Not to all men, not to any man always does God give
complete abundance. To all men sometimes, to some men in long
stretches of their lives, come the abasement times,--times of
poverty, times of ignorance, times of friendlessness, times of
distrust and doubt; but God does not mean that these times
should be like great barren stretches and blanks in our lives
only to be travelled over for the sake of what lies beyond. To
him who, like Paul, knows how to be abased, they have their own
rich value. They do for him their own good work. To have our
desire set on nothing absolutely except character, to be glad
that God should lead us into any land where there is character
to win,--this is the only real explanation of life. He that has
it may be more than reconciled to living. He may do more than
triumph over his abasements. He may make close friendships with
them, so that he shall part from them with sorrow when he is
called to go to the right hand of God where there is no more
abasement, nothing but fulness forevermore.- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Light of the World, and Other Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1904, p. 175


There is only one thing for a man to do who is married to a woman who enjoys spending money, and that is enjoy earning it. - Ogden Nash, 1902 - 1971

Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935

Saturday 11 February 2012

Jesus’ preaching about hell is part of His gracious ministry to a lost world. It is His way of showing unbelievers their need of Him. They, in turn, inevitably make one of two responses. Some display ingratitude for His warnings and reject Him. Others, however, gratefully own Him as the One who alone can rescue them. Instead of experiencing the wrath their sins deserve, they will taste the sweet victory won by His death and resurrection.- Robert A. Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment, P&R Publishers, 1995, p.50.

What is meant by calling the writings of Moses and the
Prophets [the] "Old Testament"? Do they not set forth the
covenant of grace? The doctrine of justification by faith: does
not Paul in his Epistle to the Romans prove it from Genesis
(case of Abraham) and from the Psalms (case of David, Ps. 32)?
Where is the doctrine of substitution and the vicarious
sufferings of the messiah set forth more clearly than in
Leviticus and in the 53rd of Isaiah? The term "Old Testament"
leads people to fancy it is an antiquated book; whereas, in
many respects, it is newer than the New Testament, referring
more fully to the age of glory and blessedness on the earth
which is still before us.-Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 140