"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all
And sweetest in the gale is heard.
- Emily Dickenson
When hope dies, the killing begins. Hopelessness and brutality are just two sides of the same coin."
- Jurgen Moltmann"One of the most important distinctions I have learned in the course of reflection on Jewish history is the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the faith that, together, we can make things better. Optimism is a passive virtue; hope, an active one. It takes no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to have hope."
- Jonathan Sacks"Within the embrace of Christ’s wounds lies our only refuge, and our hope of glory only on the other side."
- Deborah Smith Douglas
Hope
More One-Liners
Be ye fishers of men. You catch them – He’ll clean them. Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous. Don’t put a question mark where God put a period. Don’t wait for 6 strong men to take you to church. Forbidden fruits create many jams . God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the
Classic Writers on Faith and Prayer (Part 3)
by Paul L. King www.praymag.com, January/February 2005 A. W. Tozer (Christian and Missionary Alliance) Faith Beyond Reason. Christian Publications, 1989. Jesus, Author of Our Faith. Christian Publications, 1988. Mrs. Charles Cowman (Methodist) Streams in the Desert. Zondervan, 1925, 1972. Springs in the Valley. World Wide Publications, 1968. R. A. Torrey (Congregational) The Power of Prayer.
Winning the War (Part 2)
Know Your Enemy “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.” Ephesians 6:10 Obey Your Commander “And My People who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn
The Road Less Traveled
With the recent passing of Adrian Rogers, the Christian landscape lost a sequoia tree of towering influence. He will be remembered as a pastor par-excellence, and as a pulpiteer who spoke with accuracy balanced with grace. He was charming, witty, and down-to-earth. What always amazed me was the fact he was so easily accessible. I
Worship Music and the Senior Pastor
QUESTION: If you were a senior pastor would you have anything to say about the songs and chorus selection of the worship team? ANSWER: You bet! I’d have lots to say. In fact I believe the senior pastor should be the final judge of which songs we sing and which we don’t. Not just to
Why Would Anyone Want to Be Normal?
What is normal? “The norm” these days seems to have taken some strange turns. To quote an old car commercial, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Everything seems to be changing. What used to be wrong is now right. Things that once made us blush are “normal” conversation. Matters that were never discussed from pulpits,
Elijah: The Glory of Separation (Part 2)
As you and I go through this life, we have to maintain separation. Why? To glorify God. Elijah emphasized the glory of separation. Elijah, the servant of God, had separated himself from the sins of the nations around him. He challenged the priest of Baal to a contest. He said, in effect, “Whichever god answers
Time
The official website for Time Magazine. I often find articles in Time I can use for illustrations, especially in the area of culture wars, ethics issues, etc. www.time.com 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.
The Four A’s in Joshua
by Vance Havner There’s Ai. I ask you, do you have an Ai in your life, a place of defeat where the Canaanites have gotten the better of you? The there’s an alas, the alas of desperation. Have you come to that point? Because if you have, there’s some hope for you. Then there’s an
“With us, there’s a saying: La esperanza muere ultima. Hope dies last. You can’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you lose everything.”
--Jessie de la Cruz“A true Christian should have but one fear—lest he should not hope enough.”
--Walter Elliot“There are none in the humanly “down” position so low that they cannot be lifted up by entering God’s order, and none in the humanly “up” position so high that they can disregard God’s point of view on their lives. The barren, the widow, the orphan, the eunuch, the alien, all models of human hopelessness, are fruitful and secure in God’s care.”
--Dallas Willard“Hope without patience results in the illusion of optimism or, more terrifying, the desperation of fanaticism. The hope necessary to initiate us into the adventure must be schooled by patience if the adventure is to be sustained. Through patience, we learn to continue to hope, even though our hope seems to offer little chance of fulfillment. . . . Yet patience equally requires hope, for without hope, patience to easily accepts the world and the self for what it is, rather than what it can or should be.”
--Stanley Hauerwas“The differences between black folk and white folk are not blood or color, and the ties that bind us are deeper than those that separate us. The common road of hope, which we all traveled, has brought us into a stronger kinship than any words, laws, or legal claims.”
--Richard Wright
Hope
One-Liners
Don’t let your worries get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case. Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited – until you try to sit in their pews. Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live