Quotes 9 Aug

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.- John Piper says,

“Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting. No one should believe that the war that we are waging is the war of the Islamic State [Isis]. It is the war of all Muslims, but the Islamic State is spearheading it. It is the war of Muslims against infidels. Oh Muslims, go to war everywhere.” So says Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an audio message attributed to him (Hayden Smith, ‘I’ (15 May 2015).

'Allah says...I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, maim them in every limb! Thus we punished them because they defied Allah and His apostle [Muhammad]. He that defies Allah and His apostle shall be sternly punished' (Sura 8: 12, Dawood tr).

Do not be concerned overmuch who is with you or against
you, but work and plan that God may be with you in all
that you do.  Keep a clean conscience, and God will
mightily defend you; for whoever enjoys the protection
of God cannot be harmed by the malice of man.
     --Thomas A' Kempis (1380-1471)
      _The Imitation Of Christ_ [c. 1420]; Book 2, Chapter 2

PRAYER the Churches banquet, Angels age,
        Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
        The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth ;

Engine against th’ Almightie, sinner's towre,
        Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
        The six daies world-transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear ;

Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
        Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
        Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,

        Church-bels beyond the stars heard, the souls bloud,
        The land of spices, something understood.
Herbert, George. The Poetical Works of George Herbert.
New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1857. 61-62.