"The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states." - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian independence leader and advocate of non-violence (1869-1948)
"There is a false boldness for Christ that only comes from pride. A man may rashly expose himself to the world's dislike and even deliberately provoke its displeasure, and yet to do so out of pride.... True boldness for Christ transcends all, it is indifference to the displeasure of either friends or foes. Boldness enables Christians to forsake all rather than Christ, and to prefer to offend all rather than to offend Him." - Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections
"Peter Cartwright lived in the nineteenth century, and was a circuit-riding preacher. He had a reputation for boldness. On a Sunday morning, Cartwright received word that President Andrew Jackson would be in the congregation. And he was warned about the need for diplomacy. When he stood to preach, he said, 'I understand that Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks.' Then, he followed with this salvo: 'Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn't repent!' The shocked congregation nearly had apoplexy! After the service, Jackson went straight to the preacher and said, 'Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.' True words to honest hearts are never shocking.
O God, may my next sermon be as bold and my congregation as receptive! May our lives be full of the boldness of the Spirit."- Dan Yeary, The Word, North Phoenix Baptist Church, Dec. 22, 1993Spurgeon never missed an opportunity to fearlessly declare God's truth. Once, after preaching an unpopular message, he was approached by a friend who said, 'I hear you are in hot water.' Spurgeon replied, 'Oh, no. It is the other fellows who are in hot water. I am the stoker, the man who makes the water boil.'
"The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states." - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian independence leader and advocate of non-violence (1869-1948)
"There is a false boldness for Christ that only comes from pride. A man may rashly expose himself to the world's dislike and even deliberately provoke its displeasure, and yet to do so out of pride.... True boldness for Christ transcends all, it is indifference to the displeasure of either friends or foes. Boldness enables Christians to forsake all rather than Christ, and to prefer to offend all rather than to offend Him." - Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections
"Peter Cartwright lived in the nineteenth century, and was a circuit-riding preacher. He had a reputation for boldness. On a Sunday morning, Cartwright received word that President Andrew Jackson would be in the congregation. And he was warned about the need for diplomacy. When he stood to preach, he said, 'I understand that Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks.' Then, he followed with this salvo: 'Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn't repent!' The shocked congregation nearly had apoplexy! After the service, Jackson went straight to the preacher and said, 'Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.' True words to honest hearts are never shocking.
O God, may my next sermon be as bold and my congregation as receptive! May our lives be full of the boldness of the Spirit."- Dan Yeary, The Word, North Phoenix Baptist Church, Dec. 22, 1993Spurgeon never missed an opportunity to fearlessly declare God's truth. Once, after preaching an unpopular message, he was approached by a friend who said, 'I hear you are in hot water.' Spurgeon replied, 'Oh, no. It is the other fellows who are in hot water. I am the stoker, the man who makes the water boil.'
Bondage
"People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do the difficult thing. No one is going to make a change that involves pain if they think they can avoid it. A manager's job is to help people have a vision of their potential. A great disservice is done when we don't help them understand they have most of the responsibility for their lives." - Roger Porter
"A big wave, like change itself, moves so fast, that if you wait too long it will pass you by and leave you struggling in the backwash." - Robert Kriegel & Louis Patler
"We must drop the idea that change comes slowly. It does ordinarily in part because we think it does. Today's changes must come fast: and we must adjust our mental habits, so that we can accept comfortably the idea of stopping one thing and beginning another overnight. We must discard the idea that past routine, past ways of doing things are probably the best ways. On the contrary, we must assume that there is probably a better way to do almost everything. We must stop assuming that a thing which has never been done before probably cannot be done at all." - Donald M. Nelson
"There are only two constants in this world: change and Jesus Christ." - Lyle Schaller
"The hymn-writer wrote, 'Change is all around I see.' Change and decay are enemies that most people fear…when we are young, change is a treat; but as we grow older, change becomes a threat. But when Jesus Christ is in control of your life, you need never fear change or decay…When you are part of eternity, the decay of the material only hastens the perfecting of the spiritual, if you walk by faith in Christ." - Warren W. Wiersbe, His Name is Wonderful
Change
"There are so many young Spurgeons, but so few of them grow up." - anonymous
"A character is like an acrostic or Alexandrine stanza, read it forward, backward or across, it still spells the same thing." - Emerson
"We know that the premise of privatization is flawed because who we are in public is determined by what we have learned and cherished in private. …But it is a mindless philosophy that assumes that one's private beliefs have nothing to do with public office. Does it make sense to entrust those who are immoral in private with the power to determine the nation's moral issues and, indeed, its destiny? One of the most dangerous and terrifying trends in America today is the disregard for character as a central necessity in a leader's credentials. The duplicitous soul of a leader can only make a nation more sophisticated in evil." - Christian apologist, Dr. Ravi Zacharias
"The main ingredient of good leadership is good character. This is because leadership involves conduct, and conduct is determined by values. You may call these values by many names. "Ethics," "morality," and "integrity" come to mind, but this much is clear: Values are what make us who we are." - General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Imprimis, March 1998, page 5
"The minister's shortcomings simply cannot be concealed. Even the most trivial soon get known…However trifling their offenses, these little things seem great to others, since everyone measures sin, not by the size of the offense, but by the standing of the sinner." - John Chrysostom (347-407)
"He who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exemplify the highest things." - Gregory the Great (540-604)
"Prayer, meditation, and temptation make a minister." - Martin Luther
"Those whom the Lord has destined for this great office he previously provides with the armor which is requisite for the discharge of it, that they may not come empty and unprepared." - John Calvin
"I go out to preach with two propositions in mind. First, every person ought to give his life to Christ. Second, whether or not anyone else gives him his life, I will give him mine." - Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
"No man can for any considerable time wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one." - Nathaniel Hawthorne
"We cannot measure spiritual force by rules of philosophy or definitions of theology any more than by a carpenter's rule or chemist's scales. It is 'with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.' And yet, the character of a man's thoughts has much to do with success or failure in the spiritual life. He is influenced by what he thinks." - T. Henry Howard in Fuel for Sacred Flame
"The supreme test of goodness is not in the greater but in the smaller incidents of our character and practice; not what we are when standing in the searchlight of public scrutiny, but when we reach the firelight flicker of our homes; not what we are when some clarion-call rings through the air, summoning us to fight for life and liberty, but our attitude when we are called to sentry-duty in the grey morning, when the watch-fire is burning low. It is impossible to be our best at the supreme moment if character is corroded and eaten into by daily inconsistency, unfaithfulness, and besetting sin." - F. B. Meyer in Our Daily Walk
"Being discipled toward godliness isn't accomplished in a ten-week class; it is accomplished by spending time with a godly individual-walking with him, feeling his heartbeat, hearing him speak, and seeing him pray." - John MacArthur, Jr.
"You can no more blame your circumstances for your character than you can the mirror for your looks!" - anonymous
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Character is what you possess when you leave, but reputation is what you have when you arrive." - anonymous
"Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids." - anonymous
"We're living in a generation weary of words but hungry for reality. The world wants to know how to cope with tragic situations. It watches like a hawk, looking for people who take God seriously. There is nothing more potent than a Christian in a crisis situation using divine resources." - anonymous
"No man should be pitied because every day of his life he faces a hard, stubborn problem. It is the man who has no problems to solve, no hardships to face, who is to be pitied. He has nothing in his life which will strengthen and form his character, nothing to call out his latent powers and deepen and widen his hold on life." - Booker T. Washington (Quoted in Lifeline, Apr. 1996, page 1)
"The church has lost much of its authority to address the slide into the moral morass because some of our leaders have produced lives that make them candidates for talk shows. I think we need a new revolution. Our world is trying to outsin the devil himself, and we're flocking to the latest spiritual circus!"
"I'm tired of hearing about 'anointing.' I'm tired of hearing about how 'inspired' a new preacher is, or what new spiritual manifestation is coming down from heaven. Instead I want to see character. I want to see men who have made the hard moral decisions and thus have embodied the excellence of the Christian faith. I want to hear about people who have made every effort to add to their faith goodness…" - Gary Thomas (in World, Apr. 8, 1995)
Character
"We have no more right to use Scripture dishonestly for a noble cause than the cults do for ignoble causes." - Author unknown
"It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. It is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It's better to stand alone with the truth than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie." - Dr. Adrian Rogers (quoted in The Berean Call, Dec. 1996, page 3)
"There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent us from falling into error: first, the volume of the Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of the creation, which expresses His power." - Sir Francis Bacon, Answers in Genesis, Feb. 1995
"The supplanting of sound values by the world's methods of popularity and success may be clouding the influence of the Bible upon our writing. This is a difficult problem. Christian writing needs the note of contemporaneity, but never at the expense of truth." - Frank E. Gaebelein, Feb. 4, 1957
"Robert E. Lee: the Bible was to him the book of books - 'a book,' he wrote, 'which supplies the place of all others, and... cannot be replaced by any other.' He received various copies of the Bible, both for himself and for the college, but the one he used was a pocket edition he had carried with him in all his campaigning since he had been a lieutenant colonel in the United States army. He was interested deeply in the work of Bible societies and served as president of the Rockbridge organization. Even for the circulation of small religious newspapers he was willing to make a personal effort."
"Thus far it is easy to proceed in analyzing Lee's religion in after-war days. Beyond this it is not possible to go. Simple as was his soul, he had 'meat to eat that ye know not of."
"The difference between what you believe and what you almost believe is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." - Mark Twain
"Backsliders begin with dusty Bibles and end up with filthy garments. Oh, what a price true believers pay for the neglect of Scripture! We need grace to be made and kept Bible readers, Bible lovers, Bible searchers, and Bible livers." - Charles H. Spurgeon, quoted in News & Views, Jan-Mar 1996, page 5
"Most people are bothered by those Scripture passages which they cannot understand. But for me, the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand." - Mark Twain
"The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is that it has stood so much bad preaching." - A. T. Robertson
"The Bible will never be a dry book to those who use it as a source of 'living water.'" - author unknown
"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." - Jerome
"Pause at every verse of Scripture and shake, as it were, every bough of it, that if possible some fruit at least may drop down." - Martin Luther
"Reading Bible stories to children is never an innocent act. It is useless to pretend that the bible is simply another collection of tales, that Abraham, Noah and Moses are only another group of heroes, different from but equal to Achilles, Rama or Thor. One proof is that nursery school classes are replete with Jacobs and Joshuas, but now that the sixties are over one would be hard pressed to find a tiny Alcibiades or Krishna in the sandbox. We in the West are formed by or against the stories of the Bible, and when we read them to our children we are really saying, 'This is how you and I inhabit the world.'" - May Gordon in the New York Times Book Review, Nov. 8, 1987
"Many people treat the Bible like a drunk treats a lightpost; for support, not illumination." - author unknown
"He does not pick and choose; he allows ever part of the Bible to speak to him. He is not impatient. He takes time to read it; he does not rush to a few favorite psalms and use them as a kind of hypnotic when he cannot sleep at night; he allows the whole Word to examine him and search him.'" - Lloyd-Jones
"The Bible is a fountain where martyrs have cooled their faces
Is a pillow where saints have rested their heads
Is bread that never stales
Is milk that never spoils." - R. G. Lee"Satan is subtle and he began our downfall by first questioning the Word of God and then denying it. The basis of Satan's attack against the Christian faith is an attack upon the infallibility of the Bible." - W. A. Criswell
"Ninety-three percent of Americans own a copy of the bible or other Scriptures, yet only 42% can name just five of the Ten Commandments." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"The Bible is like a lion. When you have a lion, you don't have to defend him. Just turn him loose; he'll defend himself." - Billy Graham
"The Bible is not a book for our convenience. Commitment is written across its pages from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21." - Chuck Swindoll
"We must adjust ourselves to the Bible - never the Bible to ourselves." - author unknown
Bible
Sir Winston Churchill once irritated Lady Astor to the point that she angrily retorted, 'If I were your wife, I would give you arsenic to drink.' Churchill calmly responded, 'And if I were your husband, I would gladly drink it.
Arguments
"If you're not convinced, you can't be convincing. To be confused is to be ignorant of God's Word." - Anonymous
Assurance
Martin Luther in one of his moods of depression felt as if Satan himself was closing in upon him. It seemed as if he was whispering in his ear, 'Martin, do you feel your sins are forgiven?' Suddenly Luther rose to his feet and shouted, 'No, I don't but I know they are because God says so in His Word!' (1 John 5:13)
"My friend, you can get rid of doubts if you'll follow God's way. First, believe on Christ with your heart. Second, confess Him. Third, don't be ashamed of Him. Fourth, go to work for Him." - D. L. Moody
Assurance of Salvation
While in a distant city, a distinguished businessman walked out of a restaurant and was immediately propositioned by a prostitute. The man inquired as to the cost for this venture. 'Fifty dollars,' she replied. He responded, 'Is that all? You mean to tell me that Jesus Christ placed such an incredibly high value on you so as to die on the cross for you, and you value yourself at only $50? You grossly underestimate your value.' She heard the gospel and gave her heart to Christ. How much is a soul worth in the eyes of Jesus? So much did Christ love us and desire to atone for our sins that He made the payment with his life. - Dr. David Sylvester, Denton, Texas, 1994
Atonement
"Whiners produce when they feel like it. Winners produce when they don't feel like it." - John Maxwell, Leadership, Summer 1995
"Many people quench the Spirit by being down in the mouth rather than rejoicing, by planning rather than praying, by murmuring rather than giving thanks, and by worrying instead of trusting in him who is faithful." - Cameron Townsend, Founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators
"There may be times when you will be sorry about something you said; sorry that you stayed too late, or sorry that you went so early; sorry that you won something, or lost; but all your life, you'll never be sorry you were kind." - Anonymous
"It is much easier to fix blame than to fix problems." - Kathleen Parker in the Orlando Sentinel
"What we see as we go through life always depends upon where we stand to look. Many a man who tries to talk as if he were standing on a mountain, shows by what he says that he is up to his eyes in the mud." - Billy Sunday in a sermon, 'Under the Sun,' from The Real Billy Sunday
"If successful, don't crow; if defeated, don't croak." - Samuel Chadwick (quoted in Interest, Jul/Aug 1994)
"The real danger in our situation lies in the fact that so many people see clearly what they are revolting from and so few see at all what they are revolting to." - Henry Emerson Fosdick
"From Pennsylvania State University comes confirmation of what you always suspected. People take longer to vacate a parking space when they know someone is waiting. Sociologist Barry Ruback and colleagues observed 200 departing drivers in a mall parking lot. When no one was waiting for them to leave, the drivers took an average of 26 seconds to back out of their spots. Bring a hovering driver on the scene, and that time increases to 31 seconds. Honk a horn and you're going to wait an excruciating 43 seconds. Ruback relates this behavior to our territorial instinct to defend our space. Sounds like pure contrariness to us!" - Health, September 1997
Attitude
In Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg tell this story:
"A newly promoted colonel had moved into a makeshift office during the Gulf War. He was just getting unpacked when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a private with a toolbox coming his way.
Wanting to seem important, he grabbed the phone: 'Yes, General Schwarzkopf. Of course, I think that's an excellent plan.' He continued: 'You've got my support on it. Thanks for checking with me. Let's touch base again soon, Norm, Goodbye.'
'And what can I do for you?' He asked the private.
'Uhhh, I'm just here to hook up your phone.'" - Ron Willoughby, Augusta, GA
Authenticity
"A college professor sometime ago through a study of national statistics, discovered that the average depth of rivers in America is two and one-half feet. Yet he drowned the next year trying to wade across the Mississippi River. Accepting the average may be dangerous."
"'I am about an average Christian' declared one church member. Yet in defending his mediocre manner of Christian living, he made the mistake of thinking that 'average' and 'normal' mean the same thing. They do not."
"When a person is average, he is just as near the bottom as he is the top. In this light, an average Christian is subnormal while our Lord redeems us for a nobler kind of living. The average church member attends one service each week - some weeks."
"If churches were open for the average member, they would operate only on a part time basis."
"To be only an average Christian - is both subnormal and dangerous."
Average
"When you turn your back on God, any way you go is a wrong direction." - Anonymous
"Backsliding starts when kneebending stops." - Anonymous
"Jesus healed a crippled man, then said, '…take up thy bed and walk.' In other words, make no provisions for a relapse. In what ways can we make no such provision? Change your atmosphere, change your attitude, and change your activity…these were all educed from the story. I point out that the little phrase, '…and walk,' is another cure for backsliding. By walking, the once crippled man could leave the place of helplessness, the place of self-pity, and the place of sympathy." - Jess Moody
Backsliding