"The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things." - Larry Crabb in Finding God

"If I could just get to the place in my life where all I wanted for my life was simply all that God wanted for my life, then all of my life, I would have all I wanted, and He would have all of me He wanted." - Dr. Tom Elliff

"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of life, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute... whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." - Michael Landon

"Certain it is that the reason there is so much shallow living, much talk, but little obedience, is that so few are prepared to be, like the pine on the hill-top, alone in the wind for God." - Amy Carmichael in Learning of God

"I am His by purchase and I am His be conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His. Once I was a slave but now I am a son; once I was dead but now I am alive; once I was darkness but now I am light in the Lord; once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan's bondman but now I am God's freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage but now I am under the Spirit of adoption that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person and the salvation of my soul." - Thomas Brooks

"When a man says the church seats are too hard and uncomfortable - then goes on Saturday to sit for hours in a drizzle watching 22 men push one another back and forth across a mud lot - who is he kidding?" - Anonymous

"When General Booth was asked what had been the secret of his success, he replied, "…from the day I got the poor of London on my heart and a vision of what Jesus Christ would do for them, I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth there was; and if anything has been achieved, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."

"This is an intensely religious nation, but people don't want the church saying anything about their wallets or their bedrooms. We want 'God Lite.' Everybody believes in God, in religious experiences, in life after death, and in justice. Nobody believes it has anything to do with the nuts and bolts of our lives." - Terry Mattingly (quoted in Christian Research Journal, Sum 1995)

"Bad decisions can alter your life." - Rick Hughes

"Where are our wounds? Is there nothing to fight for? How complacent are we about the world's causes, both great and small? Have we accepted with weak resignation that nothing can change, and that to try isn't worth the effort? Perhaps the call to comfort rings louder than the call to bear a cross…If the church is the body of Christ, as Paul claims, shouldn't it also have some wounds? Yet too often, churches avoid controversy. A pastor at mid-life wrote, "Wherever the Apostle Paul went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea." - Craig V. Anderson in the Christian Century (Jan. 29, 1992)

"We have to give ourselves wholeheartedly to God, and if we fail, we must give ourselves again. We all need daily forgiveness for our sins and failures. But what matters is whether we want to be faithful - faithful to the end of our lives. This means surrendering everything - our self-will, our hopes for personal happiness, our private property, even our weaknesses - and believing in God and in Christ. This is all that is asked of anyone. Jesus does not expect perfection, but he wants us to give ourselves wholeheartedly." - J. Heinrich Arnold in Discipleship: Living for Christ in the Daily Grind

"It is not for us to decide our own destinies. It is not for us to say we shall not be overwhelmed by certain storms. We do not know how hard the trial is yet to be. This, however, we can say. "Sink me if You will, or save me if You will, but whatever happens I will never drift. I will steer straight; I will keep my rudder true." - Anonymous

"A committee is a group of people who meet and decide that no one can do any thing!" - Anonymous

"I would rather be in this chair knowing Him, than on my feet without Him." - Joni

"Most churches are neck deep in talent and ankle deep in commitment." - Anonymous

"Challenging the young people not to become like a tumbleweed, which has been uprooted and becomes "a slave to the wind." Instead, he encouraged them to plant their "roots firmly in the things that matter" - living for Christ." - Grady Nutt

"Struggle is God's gift. Charismatic people are often the most vulnerable, and may collapse from sheer cockiness." - Anonymous

"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the action of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a dedicated minority." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Commitment

"What marks a 'healthy' church? Crucial to the answer is Mt. 18:20: 'For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst…' Christ Himself must be the central focus-not a pastor, gripping sermons, a strong missionary emphasis, exciting youth programs, compatible fellow members, or even agreeable doctrines, important as all these factors are. A fervent love for Christ and a heartfelt corporate worship of His Person must be the primary mark of a healthy church. It isn't primarily a matter of my need, my edification, my enjoyment, or my spiritual satisfaction, but of His worth in my eyes and the eyes of the church." - Dave Hunt (in The Berean Call, Feb. 1993)

"A Zulu proverb says that when a thorn pierces the foot, the whole body must bend over to pull it out. This kind of interdependence is a basic characteristic of the church." - Larry Miller, executive secretary of the Mennonite World Conference (quoted in Salt, Jul/Aug 1994)

"Church ministries fall into two categories - obligations, opportunities."

"While the calendar says it is 1996, we are living in the 21st century. The calendar simply has not kept up with the culture. And in terms of the mission and ministry opportunities before the church, the 21st century is going to be more like the first century than most of the 2,000 intervening years." - NetFax, Apr. 15, 1996 (pg. 1)

"A church is no stronger than its fellowship and no bigger than its visitation." - anonymous

"God never intended His church to be a refrigerator in which to preserve perishable piety. He intended it to be an incubator in which to hatch the faithful." - anonymous

"Someone suggested that in most communities the Christian movement is there to negotiate peace with the devil and God and just keep everything quiet. They represent, for the most part, a gentle God, who has a soft word to say against this world of sin. And yet, the facts are, we represent a hostile God who is totally opposed to this world's system, and who is not open to negotiate for no peace with the devil. He's not gentle toward evil." - E.V. Hill

"Anyone can love the ideal church. The challenge is to love the real church." - Bishop Joseph McKinney

"I am not content to believe that it was the plan of God that the church should begin in a flame of fire and end up in a fizzle of faithlessness. Jesus Christ is the same today! He is the Unchanging Overcomer in us and through our obedience to Him we become habitual overcomers!" - Jack Taylor

"To the extent that the church has touched others with the exciting good news, to that degree it has been blessed with the abundance of God. And to the degree the church has busied itself about other things to the exclusion of this great work, it has become little more than a secular force for good…if that." - George Fuller

"One who ignores the church is like a man who builds a house without windows and then blames God because he has to live in the dark! - anonymous

"I believe more profoundly in the church every hour that I live. A man can make his testimony go further through the church than through any independent movements. He can make his money, his testimony, and all his work go further. He can do more constructive work through the church than any other way in the world. That is my deepest conviction. I have watched all kinds of independent movements, and my conviction steadily deepens that a Christian is doing the wisest thing possible when he links his life with the church." - G. W. Truett

"The means and end of building the household of faith are distinctively ordained by God and not discovered through sociological analysis or psychological profiles. The latest trends and popular expectations do not change the church's agenda or alter its course. The Church remains focused on eternal truths. It is sustained not by numbers or worldly recognition - which may in fact be detrimental to its effectiveness - but by the Word and the Spirit of God. - Douglas D. Webster, in Selling Jesus: What's Wrong with Marketing the Church"

"I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The church our blest Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.
I love Thy church, O God:
Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye,
And graven on Thy hand.
For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend;
To her my cares and toils be giv'n,
Till toils and cares shall end."

- Timothy Dwight (1752-1817)

"What would my church be if all the members were just like me?" - anonymous

"The church does not exist to ask what needs doing to keep the world running smoothly and then to motivate our people to go do it. The Church is not to be judged by how useful we are as a 'supportive institution' and our clergy as members of a 'helping profession.' The Church has its own reason for being, hid within its own mandate and not found in the world." - Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon in Resident Aliens

"In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise." - Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the U.S. Senate (quoted in The Awesome Power of Shared Beliefs, Word, 1995)

"The church is like the ark. You wouldn't be able to stand the stink inside if it weren't for the storm outside." Neil Anderson at the Global Conference on Prayer Evangelism (Nov 1995)

"The Church of God apart from the Person of Christ is a useless structure. However ornate it may be in its organization, however perfect in all its arrangements, however rich and increased with goods, if the Church is not revealing the Person, lifting Him to the height where all men can see Him, then the Church becomes an impertinence and a sham, a blasphemy and a fraud, and the sooner the world is rid of it, the better." - G. Campbell Morgan in Giant Steps

"Jesus Christ has called His church to set a standard, not to gain a following. If in setting that standard, the church does gain a following, all the better. If, however, the church fails to set the standard and then gains a following, it will be to her detriment." - Joseph Webb, in Till Death Do Us Part? 1992

"I look at the 350,000 religious congregations in this country - with an average membership of roughly 100 people each - and I think of what those 35 million Christians could accomplish. The potential is awesome. We have five times more churches than post offices and 35 times more churches than McDonald's restaurants. The church is clearly the most sustainable local organization, yet I hear so little about the role the church and its members can play in the process of reconciling and healing lives." - Dr. Virgil Gulker

"We'd have a hard time coming up with a topic that creates more bitterness and strife in the church than the doctrine of the church. Isn't that cozy?" - Pastor Steve Schlissel, in Chalcedon Report, Jan 1997, page 7

"It is surprising how easily we can see the place of the church community in terms of social reform in some directions but not in others. The Church stands usually against liquor and the liquor 'interests,' that is, the business of liquor. The church community is always against organized vice, against narcotics. In the past the Church as such took a stand against slavery and felt called upon to speak out against child labor even when such speaking hurt profits. We accept these victories over injustice in former days as assumptions of the position of the Church in our own day; it is harder to see in our contemporary scene just what it is that the Church is called upon to do." - Addison Leitch, Oct. 15, 1956

"If you are too busy or too tired to attend worship services regularly, you are just too busy to die; but you will anyway." - anonymous

Church

There is plenty of room for cultural diversity in the world, but not within a single country. A Tower of Babel has not culture. One cannot be a Christian one day, a pagan the next and a Muslim the day after. A hodgepodge of cultural and religious values provides no basis for law-except the raw power of the pre-Christian past. All Americans have a huge stake in Christianity. Whether or not we are individually believers in Christ, we are beneficiaries of the moral doctrine that has curbed the power and protected the weak." -Paul Craig Roberts (December 29, 1999)

"The nation's problems are not the result of too much religion practiced too fervently, but of too little religion practiced infrequently." -Cal Thomas

"Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." -Francis of Assisi

"Christianity can be condensed into these words: submit, commit, transmit." -Wilberforce

"If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion." - Elbert Hubbard

"To refer to oneself as a black Christian, white Christian, Mexican Christian, or Chinese Christian is technically incorrect. Our Christianity should never be modified by our culture. Our Christianity should modify our culture. We must see ourselves as Christian blacks, Christian whites, Christian Mexicans, or Christian Chinese. The Bible teaches…that we are Christians who may happen to be black, white, brown, or yellow. If anything changes, it is to be our cultural orientation, not our Christianity." -Tony Evans in 'Good News", November/December 1996

"Let's study the doctrines and be serious about it and look at the Bible not so much for what God is going to give us with a magic wand as for what we're going to be able to do as members of the Kingdom of God to serve that Kingdom." - Anonymous

"Many Christians feel more comfortable with the idea that apart from Christ they can do nothing, than they do with the other side of that coin: that they can do all things through Him who strengthens them. "I can do nothing" lets me off the hook; "I can do all things" makes me wonder why I'm not doing anything. It's easier to piddle around wondering whether it's God's will that you rent this apartment or that one, than it is to face up to God's ultimate will for you: that you become conformed to the image of His Son." - John Boykin in The Gospel of Coincidence

"So much so-called "testimony" today is really autobiography and even sometimes thinly disguised self-advertisement, that we need to regain a proper biblical perspective. All true testimony is testimony to Jesus Christ, as he stands on trial before the world." - John Stott in Authentic Christianity

"Press attention has been to stereotype all Christians as flamboyant frauds. Current caricature of Christian leaders is unfair and untrue." - Charles Colson

"A woodpecker tapped with his beak against the stem of a tree just as lightning struck the tree and destroyed it. He flew away and said, "I didn't know there was so much power in my beak!" When we bring the Gospel there is a danger that we will think or say, "I have done a good job." Don't be a silly woodpecker. Know where your strength comes from. It is only the Holy Spirit who can make a message good and fruitful." - Corrie Ten Boom in Each New Day

"The distinctive messages of the world's various religions and philosophies have been epitomized as follows. Greece said, "Be wise, know yourself." Rome said, "Be strong, acquit yourself." Confucianism says, "Be superior; correct yourself." Shintoism says, "Be loyal; suppress yourself." Buddhism says, "Be disillusioned; annihilate yourself." Hinduism says, "Be absorbed; merge yourself." Mohammedanism says, "Be submissive; yield yourself." Judaism says, "Be holy, conform yourself." Modern psychology says, "Be self-confident; fulfill yourself." Modern materialism says, "Be acquisitive, enjoy yourself." Modern Communism says, "Be collective, secure yourself." But in characteristic contrast to all these, Christianity says, "BE CHRISTLIKE; GIVE YOURSELF FOR OTHERS." JESUS IS LORD!" - J. Sidlow Baxter

"Church has to be more than warming pews and occupying pulpits. God intended it to be a corporate reflection of what life in Christ is all about. Until this happens, we should not wonder that the world hardly notices us. Until we reflect the real, spontaneous, authentic life in Christ, we will be little more than saints frozen in time." - Joseph M. Stowell

"Too much of our orthodoxy is correct and sound, but like words without a tune, it does not glow and burn; it does not stir the heart; it has lost its hallelujah. One man with a genuine glowing experience with God is worth a library full of arguments." - Vance Havner

"You cannot have Christian principles without Christ." - D.L. Sayers

"Christians are in an awkward intermediate stage in Western culture: having once been culturally established, they are not yet clearly disestablished. This helps make liberalism attractive, since it keeps people vaguely related to the church. Through translation, we attempt to show that Christians are really interested in what interests "the best" in our culture. We translate Christian eschatological hopes into Marxist revolutionary ones, or we translate salvation into self-fulfillment. Our bishops speak out on "important issues," showing society that the church cares about the same things society cares about -- and in the same way. We keep people interested in the church even though they no longer worship its God." - William H. Willimon in The Christian Century, Jan. 28, 1987

"I spent sometime today with a fellow I admire very much. He doesn't drink alcoholic beverages, nor use tobacco in any form. I never heard him gossip or tell a lie. He doesn't patronize the road houses, or theaters or dance halls. I can't recall him ever resorting to cursing or blasphemy, profanity or obscenity. I never heard of him cheating another in a business deal. By some folks' standards we could call him a "good Christian." But I think you ought to know that I have been describing my dog. Which is all to say that being a "good Christian" involves infinitely more than having a list of things one does not do. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ..." (Rom. 13:14) is the scriptural admonition." - J. Douthitt

Christianity

"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, 1993

Spurgeon 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, 1993

Spurgeon 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