Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). If Jesus is committed to the church, should we be any less committed to it?-Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway, 2000, p. 145.
Let it be a settled resolution with us to "keep our hearts with all diligence," all the days of our lives. (Prov. 4:23.) Even after renewal they are weak. Even after putting on the new man they are deceitful. Let us never forget that our chief danger is from within. The world and the devil combined, cannot do us so much harm as our own hearts will, if we do not watch and pray. Happy is he who remembers daily the words of Solomon, "One who trusts in himself is a fool." (Prov. 28:26.)~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 178, 179.
No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? - Elbert Hubbard, 1856 - 1915
The happiest moments of my life have a been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.- Thomas Jefferson, 1743 - 1826
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.- George Bernard Shaw, 1856 - 1950
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Cold words freeze people and hot words scorch them, and bitter words make them bitter, and wrathful words make them wrathful. Kind words also produce their image on men's souls; and a beautiful image it is. They smooth, and quiet, and comfort the hearer.- Blaise Pascal
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.- Baltasar Gracian, 1601 - 1656
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change, - Robert F. Kennedy, 1925 - 1968
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.- Baltasar Gracian, 1601 - 1656
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change, - Robert F. Kennedy, 1925 - 1968
Thursday, 21 April 2011
There are many people living in the midst of unattractive circumstances, amid hardships, toil, and disease, whose daily life breathes out most gently music that blesses others about them.- J. F. Millar
The world will not be converted when Christ returns. It will be found in the same condition that it was in the day of the flood. When the flood came, men were found "eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage," absorbed in their worldly pursuits, and utterly regardless of Noah's repeated warnings. They saw no likelihood of a flood. They would not believe there was any danger. But at last the flood came suddenly and "took them all away." All that were not with Noah in the ark were drowned. They were all swept away to their last account, unpardoned, unconverted, and unprepared to meet God. And our Lord says, "so will be the coming of the Son of Man." ~ J.C. RyleExpository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 326, 327.
Rather than denying problems, focus inventively, intentionally on what solutions might look or feel like. Our mind is meant to generate ideas that help us escape circumstantial traps - if we trust it to do so.- Marsha Sinetar
Inventors and geniuses have almost always been looked on as no better than fools at the beginning of their career, and very frequently at the end of it also.- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821 - 1881
Lord, I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing! - Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745
The world will not be converted when Christ returns. It will be found in the same condition that it was in the day of the flood. When the flood came, men were found "eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage," absorbed in their worldly pursuits, and utterly regardless of Noah's repeated warnings. They saw no likelihood of a flood. They would not believe there was any danger. But at last the flood came suddenly and "took them all away." All that were not with Noah in the ark were drowned. They were all swept away to their last account, unpardoned, unconverted, and unprepared to meet God. And our Lord says, "so will be the coming of the Son of Man." ~ J.C. RyleExpository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 326, 327.
Rather than denying problems, focus inventively, intentionally on what solutions might look or feel like. Our mind is meant to generate ideas that help us escape circumstantial traps - if we trust it to do so.- Marsha Sinetar
Inventors and geniuses have almost always been looked on as no better than fools at the beginning of their career, and very frequently at the end of it also.- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821 - 1881
Lord, I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing! - Jonathan Swift, 1667 - 1745
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
God is always with us, why should we not always be with God?- William Ullathorne
Wherever we may be, or whatever our circumstances, the Lord Jesus sees them. Alone, or in company--in sickness or in health--by sea or by land--in perils in the city--in perils in the wilderness--the same eye which saw the disciples tossed on the lake, is ever looking at us. We are never beyond the reach of His care. Our way is never hidden from Him. He knows the path that we take, and is still able to help. He may not come to our aid at the time we like best, but He will never allow us utterly to fail. He who walked upon the water never changes. He will always come at the right time to uphold His people. Though He tarry, let us wait patiently. Jesus sees us, and will not forsake us.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 131.
Wherever we may be, or whatever our circumstances, the Lord Jesus sees them. Alone, or in company--in sickness or in health--by sea or by land--in perils in the city--in perils in the wilderness--the same eye which saw the disciples tossed on the lake, is ever looking at us. We are never beyond the reach of His care. Our way is never hidden from Him. He knows the path that we take, and is still able to help. He may not come to our aid at the time we like best, but He will never allow us utterly to fail. He who walked upon the water never changes. He will always come at the right time to uphold His people. Though He tarry, let us wait patiently. Jesus sees us, and will not forsake us.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 131.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
What other people think of me is becoming less and less important; what they think of Jesus because of me is critical.- Cliff Richard
When thoughts enter my mind uninvited, I do my best not to let them get comfortable there.-Unknown
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 (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School
Work, 1921, I.v.4, p. 60
When thoughts enter my mind uninvited, I do my best not to let them get comfortable there.-Unknown
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 (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School
Work, 1921, I.v.4, p. 60
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.-Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.-Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968
Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.- Franklin Pierce Adams, 1881 - 1960
We are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in his presence in a very different sense.-Teresa of Avila
The great painter boasted that he mixed all his colours with brains, and the great saint may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks.- G. K. Chesterton
We are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in his presence in a very different sense.-Teresa of Avila
The great painter boasted that he mixed all his colours with brains, and the great saint may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks.- G. K. Chesterton
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