“There is a sacred art in being able to handle the shield of faith. Let me explain to you how that can be. You will handle it well if you are able to quote the promises of God against the attacks of your enemy.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant are more learned than their ears.” —William Shakespeare
“It is vain to expect any advantage from our profession of the truth, if we be not sincerely just and honest in our actions.” —Archbishop Sharpe
“Science is finally catching up with the truth and its findings are simple: porn is harmful. Did you know that porn can mess with your head, seriously rewiring the actual chemistry of your brain?” Read more in this Fight The New Drug’s post.
This is a periodic series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Your Thought Life DOES Matter
“Beware of saying, ‘Oh well, it doesn’t matter much what I think about in secret’; it does, for the opportunity will come when what you think about in secret will find expression and spurt out in an act. The Bible always speaks of sin as it appears in its final analysis. Jesus does not say, ‘You must not covet because it will lead to stealing’; He says, ‘You must not covet because it is stealing.’ He does not say, ‘You must not be angry with your brother because it will lead to murder’; He says, ‘You must not be angry with your brother because it is murder.’”
From Our Portrait In Genesis
This is why the Apostle Paul tells us to take all of our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). What you are thinking about ISdetermining who you will become in the future. Capture those negative, unbiblical thoughts and replace them with the truth found in God’s Word.
“So great is God’s love, and so powerful is His transforming glory, that He actually fills us beyond ourselves into a greater measure of Himself, as we partake of His Word and Spirit and meet Him in the increasing experience of His glory and love.” —T.M. Moore
“Almost all men are infected with the disease of desiring to obtain useless knowledge.” —John Calvin
“Prayer is God’s way of bringing our priorities into line with His.” —John Piper
“Christians are Christ’s body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them.” —C.S. Lewis
“As Christians, we are often called to attempt something small. We are called to simply buckle down and work hard at the mundane tasks God has set before us. The world calls us to be famous; Jesus calls us to be faithful.” —Murray Vassar
GREAT NEWS—Planned Parenthood announced “our Federation has decided … that any Planned Parenthood health center that is involved in donating tissue after an abortion for medical research” will accept “no reimbursements for its reasonable expenses.” This is a good start, but John Stonestreet says we still need to keep the heat on them, and I agree!
“Many persons today insist on coming into the church head first rather than heart first.”
“I am afraid that we in the church are making a great mistake by trying to make Christianity popular and pleasant. We have taken the Cross away and substituted cushions.”
“I wonder if the church has not failed this generation of young people by failing to make the Christian faith the thrilling, joyful, triumphant experience that it really is.”
“The greatest need in the church today is a spiritual revival that will drive her back to her knees and will cause her earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered.”
“There is a viewpoint prevailing in some areas of the church that its function is to change social structures, through political power and political pressure. In my opinion, this is not supported from the Bible. I think the biblical approach is to change men and men themselves will change society for the better.”
“I am convinced that if the church went back to its main task of preaching the Gospel and getting people converted to Christ it would have far more impact on the social structure of the nation than it can have in any other thing it could possibly do.”
“The question, then, isn’t, ‘when am I going to get promoted?’ No, I think the question is, ‘will I grab these openings to become someone who’s already doing work at a higher level?’” Read more from Seth Godin’s post.
“Faith is not a distant view but a warm embrace of Christ.” —John Calvin
“The honest truth is that I have seen God do more in people’s lives during ten minutes of real prayer than in ten of my sermons.” Read more of Jim Cymbala’s post The Day Jesus Got Mad.
“Success is a tale of obstacles overcome, and for every obstacle overcome, an excuse not used.” —Robert Brault
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.” —Goethe
“The good news of the Bible is that God is not at all disinclined to satisfy the hearts of those who hope in Him. Just the opposite: The very thing that can make us happiest is what God delights in with all His heart and with all His soul. With all His heart and with all His soul, God joins us in the pursuit of our everlasting joy because the consummation of that joy in Him redounds to the glory of His own infinite worth.” —John Piper
John Piper writes, “For those who know the truth of the gospel and who revel in the word of God concerning the all-satisfying glory of God, and who pray (Hallowed be Your name!) and dedicate everything to God, the sex of marriage and the pleasures of food are made holy—that is, they are set apart from the sinful use of the world and made pure and precious and beautiful by participation in the goodness of God.” Read more in his post Sex Belongs To Believers.
And because porn is a perversion of God’s perfect design, it has to be faked in order to be sold. Here are some excerpts from an article written by a man who directs and produces pornographic videos—
“Well guess what? The porn you see on your computer or TV screens aren’t an accurate reflection of what happens in real life. And I don’t just mean your life, I’m talking about the porn actors creating all that impossible sex you’re watching. You’re only seeing a small fraction of what really went on. …
“There’s the obvious grimace of pain on the actress’ face—because…it hurts. I usually edit out these ‘pain indicators,’ because at least for me, it’s distracting. It takes away from the fantasy and just reminds you that these are actors doing a job, and sometimes that job can be a pain. …
“Sex in porn is designed to look spontaneous, but nothing could be further from the truth. Especially when it comes to anal sex. Before a scene, female performers have a lot of advance prep, from doing several enemas, to reducing or eliminating food consumption anywhere between 4 to 12 hours before their call time. …
“They [the actresses] have learned to fake it. Directors ultimately don’t care as long as the performer has the ability to ‘act’ as if she’s enjoying everything she’s doing, which the successful ones do. We know that with good shooting and some creative editing, you’ll never be able to tell the difference.”
“Authority never comes from you, but from God through you, therefore let God introduce or withhold as He chooses.” —Oswald Chambers
“The best of men are men at best; and, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, and the power of divine grace, hell itself does not contain greater monsters than you and I might become.” —Charles Spurgeon
“The Bible is the grand repository … It is the complete system of divine truth, to which nothing can be added, and from which nothing can be taken, with impunity. Every attempt to disguise or soften any branch of this truth, in order to accommodate it to the prevailing taste around us, either to avoid the displeasure, or to court the favor, of our fellow mortals, must be an affront to the majesty of God, and an act of treachery to men.” —John Newton
“Seeking the Kingdom of God is not a matter of doing first things first. Seeking the Kingdom is not just the first thing on the Christian’s daily to-do list. Seeking the Kingdom is a first things always proposition, so that whatever is on our to-do list on any given day, seeking the Kingdom is the first things pursuit which defines and directs everything else we do.” —T.M. Moore
Eric Metaxas said, “Children are being sexually abused in Afghanistan, and our soldiers are being told to turn a blind eye. That’s got to stop.” Read more in his commentary Their Custom, Our Complicity.
In the style of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, Burk Parsons writes a letter to pastors.
John Maxwell says, “Most teams don’t naturally get better on their own. Left alone, they don’t grow, improve, or reach championship caliber. Instead, they tend to wind down.” Read more in 4 leadership styles that trigger peak performance.
“There are some things which I feel I might do, as far as I am concerned, which I believe I might do without suffering any personal hurt, but which I would not do for your sakes and which I dare not do for the sake of many who would take license from my example to do a great deal more than I would do, and would make me the horse on which they would put the saddle of their sin. … The ill example of a Christian is ten times worse than that of one who is not a Christian, for if I see a sinner commit sin, his example is poison, but it is labelled. The inconsistent life of a Christian is unlabelled poison, and I am very likely to be injured by it.” —Charles Spurgeon
“There are a thousand passages, and a thousand testimonies, all bearing on the one Cross, the one propitiation, the one Lamb of God, the one blood, the one sacrifice. Any one of these testimonies in the hand of the Holy Spirit can pour in gladness into the soul. … Gloom dishonors God; joy honors Him. It speaks well of Him, and shows man what a God of goodness and grace He is.” —Horatius Bonar
“True servants of God demand to see for all church ordinances and doctrines the express authority of the church’s only Teacher and Lord. They remember that the Lord Jesus bade the apostles to teach believers to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded them. The Holy Spirit revealed much of precious truth and holy precept by the apostles, and to His teaching we would give earnest heed; but when men cite the authority of fathers, and councils, and bishops, we give place for subjection, no, not for an hour. They may quote Irenaeus or Cyprian, Augustine or Chrysostom; they may remind us of the dogmas of Luther or Calvin; they may find authority in Simeon, or Wesley, or Gill. We will listen to the opinions of these great men with the respect they deserve as men, but having so done, we deny that we have anything to do with these men as authorities in the church of God, for there nothing has authority, but ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts.’” —Charles Spurgeon
“Beyond simply confronting cultural abuse and misuse, Christians must make a conscientious effort to restore culture so that it serves as a means and end to the glory of God by demonstrating the love He intends all people to know. … Principally, as we’ve seen, God intends to bring His glory to light through those He has redeemed and come to indwell by His Spirit. Thus, in every aspect of our lives, and in all our cultural activities, we must be diligent to allow the glory of God to show through in us, so that the love God has for humankind and the world can be plainly seen by all.” —T.M. Moore
[VIDEO] J. Warner Wallace talks about the best explanation for moral laws—
“It is true that we must be personally bold and afraid of no man but courageous as we contend for the truth. If we are simply nice, concerned, genuinely curious, attentive, supportive, and affirming, we may win a hearing with suffering people, but we will never lead them to life. Grace means courage and clarity. But it is just as true that our boldness must be brokenhearted boldness, that our courage must be a contrite and lowly courage, and that we must be tender contenders for the truth. If we are brash and harsh and cocky and clever, we may win a hearing with angry and pugnacious people, but we will drive away those who suffer. Paul makes it so clear that we are laid low and given comfort ‘so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God’ (2 Corinthians 1:4). Those we counsel must feel that we are utterly dependent in our lives on the merciful comfort of God to make it through our days.” —John Piper
Craig T. Owens 