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Quotable Corner
"Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees every thing in the light of God's overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10). The cross-shaped yoke of Christ is, after all, an instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with him and learn the meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul." Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 263
"After a man is saved, God will continue His training efforts. 'Putting on Christ' and Christ 'being formed in us' and having 'the mind of Christ' certainly do not mean simply reading what Christ said and attempting to put it into practice. Rather they mean that a real Person, not something remote and abstruse, comes to you day after day and 'interfering with you very self' shapes you into a being with a life similar to God's own. The command to the Christian to be perfect is no hyperbole but precisely what Christ meant. He begins on earth a process that will be consummated in heaven, but it is a process and will not allow you successfully to play the hypocrite with your naked self. God will not allow you to take the attitude, 'I never expected to be a saint, I only wanted to be a decent ordinary Chap.' His plan is indeed to make you into a heavenly being. This may account for the rough time Christians go through, for He is turning every one of his children into 'a little Christ.' He is not like a trainer who teaches a horse to jump better; He is in the business of turning horses into winged creatures." Clyde Kilby, The Christian Word of C. S. Lewis, pp. 181-182.
"Wounded healers must forsake the prideful tendency to be defined only in terms of strengths and wholeness. They must will authenticity, especially where they're still weak and tempted. That liberates the witness of God's incredible sufficiency and makes real that sufficiency through others who mediate Christ's grace and truth." Andrew Comiskey, Pursuing Sexual Wholeness, p, 191
"The historical roots of the theory of evolution are quite complex. But apart from a newly awakened fascination with the "laws of history" (Herder, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche) there was, no doubt, another ingredient: the Industrial Revolution with its concept of advance by improved workability. The idea that in the vast factory of nature things which do not work well are discarded for things which work better arises out of the mood of the nineteenth century. The entire universe was made to fit the drab climate of Manchester. While the pic of Genesis, with its powerful poetic form, was rejected as "anthropomorphic," an evolutionist concept of how things came about is tinged with the ephemeral of the laboratory and the market place." Karl Stern, The Flight from Woman. p. 291
"When people are so self-convinced that the world needs their accomplishments more than their sanctity and prayer-depth, they never do face squarely the overwhelming figure of Christ and his message in life and word." Thomas Dubay, S. M., The Evidential Power of Beauty, p. 301
"Ministries which attack only the surface of sin and fail to ground spiritual growth in the believer's union with Christ produce either self-righteousness or despair, and both of these conditions are inimical to spiritual life." Richard F. Lovelace in "Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal"
"Every Christian experience is an experience of faith; that is, it is an experience of what we have not...We are not saved by the love we exercise, but by the love we trust." P. T. Forsyth in "Christian Perfection"
"The heart has reasons which reason knows nothing of." Blaise Pascal
"To believe in [Jesus Christ] and not to believe in what He believed, not to love what He loved and not to desire what He desired, is not to believe in Him." Alexander Schmemann in "Of Water & the Spirit"
"Because victory is his, therefore it is ours. If only we will not try to gain the victory but simply to maintain it, then we shall see the enemy utterly routed. We must not ask the Lord to enable US to overcome the enemy, nor even look to HIM to overcome, but praise him because he has already done so; he IS victor. It is all a matter of faith in him. If we believe the Lord, we shall not pray so much but rather we shall praise him more. The simpler and clearer our faith in him, the less we shall pray in such situations and the more we shall praise." Watchman Nee in "Sit, Walk, Stand."
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Tag Archives: prayer
Bringing Home the Faith (sixth installment)
Every morning, when I first wake up, I begin praying to God. I’m not even out of bed at this point. I’m not even thinking about what I’m supposed to be doing or accomplishing or hoping for in the day ahead. My first thoughts are directed to God, because I’ve learned that the way to start any day is to begin with prayer – to make hanging out with Him the first and most important part of every day. Continue reading
Bringing Home the Faith (fifth installment)
This prayer is a great example for how to construct your prayers so that you’re comfortable hanging out with God. When I started modeling my prayers on it I began to enjoy praying. I now want to pray throughout the day and, whenever I have a bit of free time, read from the Psalms, the prayers of King David.
To help you understand how to construct your prayers along the lines of the Lord’s Prayer, I’m going to divide it into four categories: praise, thanksgiving, confession and petition and give a brief description of each. Then I’ll say more about how I use these categories in my prayers. Continue reading
Bringing Home the Faith (fourth installment)
Prayer is one of those things that everyone agrees is important to do, like eating your vegetables or brushing your teeth before bedtime, yetmost of us don’t really think about prayer until we need something. Then, suddenly, we’re in full battle mode and we’re shooting off prayers left and right: “Dear God, please help me pass this test.” Or, “please don’t let me embarrass myself in front of the class tomorrow.” Or, “please make Grandma well again.”
Many people who pray in this way are like a small child tugging on his mamma’s sleeve, trying to get her attention while she’s talking on the phone: “May I have a cookie, please, please, please?” In a moment of need he is desperate to get God’s attention, but once the crisis has passed God is no longer on his mind.
Let me assure you that if you should end up praying like this, you will still have God’s attention. He is always alert and listening out for you, regardless of the quality of your prayers and the sincerity of your desire to be in contact with him. He is never tied up dealing with someone else’s problems and too busy for yours. In fact, he’s been right by your side all along, completely focused on you, just waiting for you to turn to him, to talk with him. But if prayer is only about tuning in when there’s something you want, or when you’re in trouble, you’re going to miss out on the power that comes from being in continual contact with God. Continue reading
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