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

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

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

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

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

CAUTION! Non-exposure to the Son will cause burning.

My life goes on in endless song
• Above earth's lamentations,
• I hear the real, though far-off hymn
• That hails a new creation.
•
• Through all the tumult and the strife
• I hear it's music ringing,
• It sounds an echo in my soul.
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• While though the tempest loudly roars,
• I hear the truth, it liveth.
• And though the darkness 'round me close,
• Songs in the night it giveth.
•
• No storm can shake my inmost calm,
• While to that rock I'm clinging.
• Since love is lord of heaven and earth
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• When tyrants tremble in their fear
• And hear their death knell ringing,
• When friends rejoice both far and near
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• In prison cell and dungeon vile
• Our thoughts to them are winging,
• When friends by shame are undefiled
• How can I keep from singing?
• Eva Cassidy, How Can I Keep From Singing


There is a net of love by which you can catch souls. - Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
     In Martin H. Manser's _The Westminister Collection
       of Christian Quotations_ [2001], "Evangelism")

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or
tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of
being unwanted, uncared for and
deserted by everybody.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      _The Observer_ [October 3, 1971]

If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither
praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      (In Martin H. Manser's _The Westminister Collection
       of Christian Quotations_ [2001], "Humility")

I see God in every human being.  When I wash the
leper's wounds I feel I am nursing the Lord himself.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      _Guardian_ [September 6, 1997], "Obituaries"

The dark night of the soul always gives way to the brightness of the noonday light of the presence of God. - R.C. Sproul

Men are idolaters, and want something to look at and kiss and hug, or throw themselves down before; they always did, they always will; and if you don't make it of wood, you must make it of words. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) _The Poet at the Breakfast Table_ [1872]

A sound mind in a sound body, is a short but full description of a happy state in this world. --John Locke (1632-1704) _Some Thoughts Concerning Education_ [1693], Section 1

Measure your growth in grace by your sensitiveness to sin. --Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) _Disciples Indeed_ [1955]

We have but a very few sins which we can observe and detect, compared
with those which are hidden to ourselves and unseen by our fellow
creatures. I doubt not it is true of all of us who are here, that in
every hour of our existence in which we are active, we commit tens of
thousands of unholinesses for which conscience has never reproved us,
because we have never seen them to be wrong, seeing we have not studied
God's laws as we ought to have done. .... Let all of us who know our
sins, offer this prayer after all our confessions: "Lord, I have
confessed as many as I know, but I must add an etcetera after them, and
say, 'Cleanse thou me from secret faults.'~ Rev. C. H. Spurgeon 1834-92, Sermon (No. 116) Delivered on Sabbath Morning, February 8, 1857, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

That which is infinite is as much above what is great as it is above what is small. Thus God, being infinitely great, He is as much above kings as He is above beggars; He is as much above the highest angel as He is above the meanest worm.- Jonathan Edwards

When an unskillful servant gathers many herbs, flowers, and
seeds in a garden, you gather them out that are useful, and
cast the rest out of sight. Christ deals so with our
performances. All the ingredients of self that are in them on
any account He takes away, and adds incense to what remains,
and presents it to God. This is the cause that the saints at
the last day, when they meet their own duties and performances,
they know them not, they are so changed from what they were
when they went out of their hand. "Lord, when saw we Thee naked
or hungry?" So God accepts a little, and Christ makes our
little a great deal.-John Owen (1616-1683), An Exposition upon Psalm CXXX [1668], in Works of John Owen, v. VI, New York: R. Carter amp Bros., 1851, p. 603

We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it.- George Mason, 1725 - 1792

A few years' experience will convince us that those things which at the time they happened we regarded as our greatest misfortunes have proved our greatest blessings.- George Mason, 1725 - 1792

When the same man, or set of men, holds the sword and the purse, there is an end of liberty.- George Mason, 1725 - 1792

Freedom of religion, you see, means much more than freedom of worship. Freedom of religion means you can practice your faith in public; you can educate your children in the faith, you can evangelize. Imagine that in any Muslim country today! Freedom of worship, however, is something less. It means you can worship how you please, so long as you keep it private. Citizens of the former Soviet Union could do that. And China has that law today.- Chuck Colson

The word of the Lord God of Hosts is not a plea or a request: it is a summons. ~ R. J. Rushdoony

There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland. There is King James, the head of the commonwealth, and there is Jesus Christ, the King of the Church, whose subject King James VI is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king nor a lord nor a head, but a member. Sir, those whom Christ hath called and commanded to watch over His church have power and authority from Him to govern His spiritual kingdom both jointly and severally, and which no Christian king should control or discharge, but fortify and assist, otherwise they are not faithful subjects of Christ and members of His church. Sir, when you were in your swaddling clothes, Christ Jesus reigned freely in this land in spite of all His enemies. His officers and ministers convened and assembled for the ruling and welfare of His church, which was ever for your welfare, defence, preservation, when those same enemies were seeking your destruction and cutting off. - Andrew Melville to King James VI of Scotland

12% of all paper used in the UK is used by the government - Douglas MacWilliams, heard on BBC Radio 4's Today 30. 10. 10.

The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing - fake that and you've got it made - Groucho Marx

That [the future] is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings

The great cause of neglecting the Scriptures is not want of time, but want of heart, some idol taking the place of Christ. - Robert Chapman

We must remember that our experience of union with God, our
feeling of His presence, is altogether accidental and
secondary. It is only a side effect of His actual presence in
our souls, and gives no sure indication of that presence in any
case. For God Himself is above all apprehensions and ideas and
sensations, however spiritual, that can ever be experienced by
the spirit of man in this life. - Thomas Merton (1915-1968), No Man is an Island, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1955; reprint,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 225

Do not trust your memory, it is a net full of holes; the most beautiful prizes slip through it. - Georges Duhamel

It is commonly observed that a sudden wealth, like a prize drawn in a lottery or a large bequest to a poor family, does not permanently enrich.- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.- Theodore Roosevelt, 1858 - 1919

I can forgive Alfred Nobel for having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize. - George Bernard Shaw, 1856 - 1950

The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car, a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little.- Ben Sweetland

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.- John Petit-Senn, 1792 - 1870

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger.- Basil, 329 - 379

Found a little patched-up inn in the village of Bulson.... Proprietor had nothing but potatoes; but what a feast he laid before me. Served them in five different courses: potato soup, potato fricassee, potatoes creamed, potato salad, and finished with potato pie. It may be because I had not eaten for 36 hours, but that meal seems about the best I ever had. - Douglas MacArthur, 1880 - 1964, in his World War I diary

It is no small honour that God for our sake has so magnificently adorned the world, in order that we may not only be spectators of this beauteous theatre, but also enjoy the multiplied abundance and variety of good things which are presented to us in it. - John Calvin, 1509 - 1564

They burned his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighbouring brook running close by. Thus the brook conveyed his ashes to the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas and they into the main ocean. And so the ashes of Wycliffe are symbolic of his doctrine, which is now spread throughout the world.- Thomas Fuller: The Church History of Britain (1655)

I am weak; Satan is mighty; God is almighty.-Unknown

The superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past, in order to strengthen his character thereby.-John Milton, 1608 - 1674

A faithful friend is a strong defense; And he that hath found him hath found a treasure. - Louisa May Alcott, 1832 - 1888

To be sensible of our corruption and abhor our own transgressions is the first symptom of spiritual health.-J. C. Ryle

Keep your lamp burning, and let God place it where He will.-Unknown


Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps as few know their own strength. It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold, which the owner knows not of.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745


When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745


Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745


Positiveness is a good quality for preachers and orators, because he that would obtrude his thoughts and reasons upon a multitude, will convince others the more, as he appears convinced himself.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745


The latter part of a wise man's life is taken up in curing the follies, prejudices, and false opinions he had contracted in the former.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745


The power of fortune is confessed only by the miserable; for the happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.-Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.- Mother Teresa

We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.-A. W. Tozer

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.- Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626

Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.- Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626

Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.- Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626

Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.-- Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626

Virtue is like a rich stone: best plain set.- Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626


-----------------------------
Question reality. Question authority.
-----------------------------

When God gives a promise, He always tries our faith. Just as the roots of trees take firmer hold when they are contending with the wind, so faith takes a firmer hold when it struggles with adverse appearances.-Robert Murray McCheyne, Comfort in Sorrow, Christian Focus, 2002, p. 40,

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong- for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
I would be friend of all- the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift.
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up- and laugh- and love- and lift.
Howard Arnold Walter

The English Established Church... will more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles than on 1/39 of its income. - Karl Marx, Capital

Have you ever noticed that to the Left, political ideology is a
religion, while to the rest of us, religion is the antidote to their
political ideology?
The bedrock of the Left's political philosophy is the principle that the state is dominant over man. That forms the basis for Marxism, Socialism, Nazism, or any of the other -isms proven over the past century to be a failure. Religion, particularly Christianity, teaches that only God is superior to man.
Therefore, the Left cannot accept religion and must denigrate those who do. In the alternative, they must substitute allegiance to and worship at the altar of a statist ideology with particular emphasis on unfettered abortion rights, with the same fervor and belief as do those who believe in the direct relationship between God and man.
The United States, founded on the tenet that the state serves the citizen, whose rights come from God, has become the most successful nation in the history of mankind. In order for the Left to change the United States into a socialist paradise, they must overthrow the founding principle of the country. - Steve McCann, Have You Ever Noticed?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/have_you_ever_noticed.html

God's omnipotence means [His] power to do all that is not
intrinsically impossible. You may attribute miracles to Him,
but not nonsense. This is no limit to His power. If you choose
to say, "God can give a creature free will and at the same time
withhold free will from it," you have not succeeded in saying
anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not
suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the
two other words "God can." It remains true that all things are
possible with God: the intrinsic impossibilities are not things
but nonentities. It is no more possible for God than for the
weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two mutually
exclusive alternatives--not because His power meets an
obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.-C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan, 1944, p. 16

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.- François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), 1694 - 1778

Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.-François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), 1694 - 1778

Civility is so easy that it's a wonder we don't have more of it - Harry Truman

Your home can be a place for dying or living, for wilting or blooming, for anxiety or peace, for discouragement or affirmation, for criticism or approval, for profane disregard or reverence, for suspicion or trust, for blame or forgiveness, for alienation or closeness, for violation or respect, for carelessness or caring. By your daily choices, you will make your home what you want it to be.- Carole Sanderson Streeter

We grasp for truth and lose it till it comes to us by love.-Madeleine L'Engle

Nothing but glory will make tight and fast our leaking and rifty vessels.
- Samuel Rutherford

"Your Father--who sees in secret." Matthew 6:6
Can anyone hide himself from the Lord in secret places? Can I, under any circumstances, escape His notice? Impossible!The eye of God has been fixed upon me every second of this day; it is now at this moment fixed fully upon me. But it is my Father's eye! My Father sees in secret! He sees my needs--and my woes. He sees every secret working of my foes--and will save me from them. He sees every secret influence which is likely to injure me--and will prevent it. He sees . . . the secret workings of my heart, my hidden thoughts, my unuttered desires, my soul conflicts, my private temptations. But He sees also my secret sins! Every evil thought, every improper action, every unfitting word--passes under His eye!Solemn consideration this!May it make me cautious. May it preserve me. . . from yielding to temptation, from nourishing sinful thoughts, and from acting inconsistent with my profession. My heavenly Father sees me! He sees me at this moment! He sees me
every moment! He sees my most secret motives, thoughts, and purposes!He who thus sees me--hates every sin with an infinite hatred!- James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit", My Father's Eye!

It is a mistake to think that some of our impulses--say mother love or patriotism--are good, and others, like sex or the fighting instinct, are bad. All we mean is that the occasions on which the fighting instinct or the sexual desire need to be restrained are rather more frequent than those for restraining mother love or patriotism. But there are situations in which it is the duty of a married man to encourage his sexual impulse and of a soldier to encourage the fighting instinct. There are also occasions on which a mother's love for her own children or a man's love for his own country have to be suppressed or they will lead to unfairness towards other people's children or countries.- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The view of evil implied by Marxism, expressed by Shaw and maintained by modern psychotherapy, which regards it as the by-product of circumstances which circumstances can, therefore, alter and even eliminate—has come to seem to me intolerably shallow, and the contrary view of it as endemic in man—more particularly in its Christian form, the doctrine of original sin—to express a deep and essential insight into human nature. - C. E. M. Joad (1891-1953), The Recovery of Belief [1952]

It was because we rejected the doctrine of original sin that we on the left were always being disappointed - disappointed by the failure of true socialism to arrive, by the behavior of nations and politicians, and above all by the recurrent fact of war. C. E. M. Joad (1891-1953), The Recovery of Belief [1952]

Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; and only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it -Joseph Joubert: 1754 - 1824

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

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?"