Links & Quotes

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“Every time you prefer the pleasures of this world to the joys of heaven, you spit in the face of Christ; every time when to gain in your business, you do an unrighteous thing, you are like Judas selling Him for thirty pieces of silver; every time you make a false profession of religion, you give Him a traitor’s kiss; every word you have spoken against Him, every hard thought you have had of Him, has helped to complete your complicity with the great crowd which gathered around the Cross of Calvary, to mock and jeer the Lord of life and glory.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Unfortunately, seeking the Lord wholeheartedly does not exempt us from outside attack.” Read more from Jim Cymbala in his post about gaining victory.

Heart-breaking: “Babies born as early as 22 weeks may survive if they are treated. Sadly, a number of hospitals refuse to treat infants who are born before 24 weeks.” Read more about what you can do in this Live Action post.

Links & Quotes

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“The world has put a little letter before the word ‘musing,’ and these are the days, not for musing, but for a-musing. People will go anywhere for amusement; but to muse is a strange thing to them, and they think it dull and wearisome. … Now there is much virtue in musing, especially if we muse upon the best, the highest, and the noblest of subjects. If we muse upon the things of which we hear and read in sacred Scripture, we shall do wisely. It is well to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. A man who hears many sermons, is not necessarily well-instructed in the faith. We may read so many religious books, that we overload our brains, and they may be unable to work under the weight of the great mass of paper and printer’s ink. The man who reads but one book, and that book his Bible, and then muses much upon it, will be a better scholar in Christ’s school than he who merely reads hundreds of books, and muses not at all.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Patients do not serve their physicians. They trust them for good prescriptions. The Sermon on the Mount is our Doctor’s medical advice, not our Employer’s job description.” —John Piper

“Every time I open my Bible I will read it as the Word of ‘God, that cannot lie;’ and when I get a promise or a threatening, I will either rejoice or tremble because I know that these stand fast.” —Charles Spurgeon

I can use this: 25 habits to get a better night’s sleep.

Rev. Tim Dilena has an amazing reminder of God’s perfect timing in sending Jesus to earth—He Couldn’t Have Timed It Any Better.

“Given the Greek and Roman acceptance of homosexuality, it is difficult to overstate the courage and conviction required by the early Church to write and speak out on behalf of a biblical, sexual ethic.” Read more in the article When Christians Rejected Homosexuality.

Eric Metaxas shares some good news from Baltimore.

Links & Quotes

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“We must be much alone with God, if we would have a clear sense of His love! Let your cries cease, and your eyes will grow dim. Much in prayer, much in heaven; slow in prayer, slow in progress.” —Charles Spurgeon

“There is no doctrine [Hell] which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of Our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason. If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it. If the happiness of a creature lies in self-surrender, no one can make that surrender but himself (though many can help him to make it) and he may refuse. I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully ‘All will be saved.’ But my reason retorts, ‘Without their will, or with it?’ If I say ‘Without their will’ I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say ‘With their will,’ my reason replies ‘How if they will not give in?’” —C.S. Lewis

421chartrtaHere are 8 reasons why the Supreme Court should let the states decide their own marriage policy.

The Daily Signal has other good arguments for this marriage issue as well, including the infographic to the left.

“The nation that forgot God has never been allowed to endure.” —George Washington

“It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children, but it is our duty to leave liberty to them.” — John Dickinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence

Dr. Tim Elmore uses former NFL player Chris Borland as a case study for the benefits of long-term thinking. He writes, “When making a decision… (1) Choosing short-term benefits often leads to long-term consequences. (2) Choosing short-term consequences often leads to long-term benefits.”

Links & Quotes

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“We know that God’s being is perfect, His essence infinite, His dominion absolute, His power unlimited, and His glory transcendent.” —Charles Spurgeon

“A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished from its edges.” —Benjamin Franklin

“We will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from the ‘city which is to come’ (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of the ‘Jerusalem above’ (Galatians 4:26). Let’s live so that the natives will want to meet our King.” —John Piper

Anyone who works with kids (parents, teachers, coaches) should check out Mark Merrill’s list of 9 things not to say to children.

Matt Chandler says, “sex can be about the Gospel, if we’re mindful enough to make it so.” Read more of his post The ‘Good News’ About Sex.

Eric Metaxas shares an alarming statistic: An astonishing 70,000 children are kidnapped by gangs every year in China! Check out the worldview that contributes to this.

Some amazing pro-life news: doctors have discovered how to counteract the effects of RU-486 (the abortion-inducing drug) and save the lives of unborn babies!

[VIDEO] John Piper’s Look At The Book series is a great in-depth Bible study. Here is part 1 in this series about anxiety—

Links & Quotes

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“You cannot have seen much of the Savior, unless you desire to let others see Him. Your piety is a mere sham if it does not lead to practical service.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill

“Real security is in Heaven and thus earth affords only imitations.” —C.S. Lewis

“One thing I know, if you are free, then you are thinking about setting others free; and if you have no zeal for the emancipation of other men, you are a slave yourself. If you are free you hate all sorts of chains, all sorts of sin, and you will never willingly put on the fetters any more. You live each day, crying unto Him Who made you free at first, to hold you up that you fall not into the snare. If you are free, this is not the world for you; this is the land of slaves; this is the world of bondage. If you are free, your heart has gone to heaven, the land of the free. If you are free today, your spirit is longing for the time when you shall see the Great Liberator face to face.” —Charles Spurgeon

The Hubble Telescope is turning 25 years old. Here are some break-taking pictures that it has captured so far.

Seth Godin has a very intriguing question: What if you stopped doing what you are doing?

Antony Van Leeuwenhoek is the father of microbiology. Here is a very cool short biography about his work.

Parents and grandparents, Mark Merrill has a cool way to use technology to encourage your (grand)kids.

Links & Quotes

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“…It will not be possible to compound for my own sins by denouncing those of others. That is a very cheap sort of virtue; bullying other people’s vices. The easiest thing in all the world is to be constantly denouncing popular faults; but to wring the neck of one of my own bosom sins is a harder work by far, and a much better sign of conversion. To be earnest against the sin of others may be praiseworthy, but it is no sign of grace in the heart; for natural men have been some of the greatest leaders in this matter. To loathe my own sin, to humble myself on account of my own personal faults, and to endeavor in the sight of God to renounce every false way, is a work of something more than human nature. … Unless you hate especially the besetting sin which is most congenial to your own nature, you need to be converted.” —Charles Spurgeon

“I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.” —C.S. Lewis

The valuable role of godly women: It’s Time For Women To Go To War.

Married couples need to remember this: Kids Aren’t The Priority. Marriage Is.

Parents, here are the 5 best gifts you can give your children.

For you science buffs, and for those interested in facts to use when debating Creation versus evolution, check out Myths Dressed As Science.

And here’s another great piece: Why Evolutionary Ethics Fails To Account For Objective Morality.

“We do not really believe in God unless we believe He is the God of the impossible!” —David Wilkerson

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Today is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday (born April 13, 1743). Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial are these fitting words from the author of the Declaration of Independence: “I have sworn, upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

“God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.” —C.S. Lewis

“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” —Charles Spurgeon

A very interesting look at demographics in this post: What will world religions look like in 2050?

“But certainly that expression of seeking the Lord, is very commonly used to signify something more; it implies that God Himself is the great good desired and sought after; that the blessings pursued are God’s gracious presence, the blessed manifestations of Him, union and intercourse with Him; or, in short, God’s manifestations and communications of Himself by His Holy Spirit.” —Jonathan Edwards

Links & Quotes

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“Prayer for your enemies (Matthew 5:44) is one of the deepest forms of love, because it means that you have to really want that something good happen to them. You might do nice things for your enemy without any genuine desire that things go well with them. But prayer for them is in the presence of God Who knows your heart, and prayer is interceding with God on their behalf.” —John Piper

“The only thing one can usually change in one’s situation is oneself. And yet one can’t change that either—only ask Our Lord to do so….” —C.S. Lewis

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” —C.S. Lewis

“The world is not looking for more doctrinal proof of the reality of God! It is not looking for greater proof of the resurrection or better arguments about creation. The world is looking for Christians who can stand up to every crisis, fear, trouble and difficulty and remain calm and at rest in the midst of it all. The world needs to see God’s children trusting wholly in their Lord.” —David Wilkerson

“I would then that the quickening Spirit would come down upon me, and upon you, upon every one of us in abundance, to create men valiant for truth and mighty for the Lord.” —Charles Spurgeon

I know I have said this before, but I love the infographics and study tools from the folks at The Overview Bible Project. Here is a sample of their overview of Deuteronomy.

Illustration-11-1024x566Another great Bible study resource is the work of former cold case detective J. Warner Wallace. Here is a cool article and infographic on the authorship of the Gospel of Mark.

Jim Cymbala says, “The Scriptures are not so much the goal as they are an arrow that points us to the life-changing Christ.” Read more in his post The Limits Of Teaching.

Rosaria Butterfield wrote, “Unbelievers don’t ‘struggle’ with same-sex attraction. I didn’t….” Read more in her post The Dead End Of Sexual Sin.

GREAT NEWS: Kansas passes the nation’s first ban on abortion by dismemberment.

The Crushing Weight Of Sin

CrossAs we remember Christ’s awful and glorious work on Calvary this Good Friday, I am reminded of these sobering words from a Charles Spurgeon sermon—

“See Him; like a cart pressed down with sheaves He goes through the streets of Jerusalem. Well may you weep, daughters of Jerusalem, though He bids you dry your tears; they hoot Him as He walks along bowed beneath the load of His own Cross which was the emblem of your sin and mine. They have brought Him to Golgotha. They throw Him on His back, they stretch out His hands and His feet. The accursed iron penetrates the tenderest part of His body, where most the nerves do congregate. They lift up the Cross. O bleeding Savior, Thy time of woe has come! They dash it into the socket with rough hands; the nails are tearing through His hands and feet. He hangs in extremity, for God has forsaken Him; His enemies persecute and take Him, for there is none to deliver Him. They mock His nakedness; they point at His agonies. They look and stare upon Him with ribald jests; they insult His griefs, and make puns upon His prayers. He is now indeed a worm and no man, crushed till you can think scarcely that there is divinity within. The fever gets hold upon Him. His tongue is dried up like a potsherd, and He cries, ‘I thirst!’ Vinegar is all they yield Him; the sun refuses to shine, and the thick midnight darkness of that awful mid-day is a fitting emblem of the tenfold midnight of His soul. Out of that thick horror He cries ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ Then, indeed, was He pressed down! O there was never sorrow like unto His sorrow. All human griefs found a reservoir in His heart, and all the punishment of human guilt spent itself upon His body and His soul. O shall sin ever be a trifle to us? Shall I ever laugh at that which made Him groan?”

May I never treat my sin which took Christ to the Cross as a trifling, laughing, inconsequential matter. May I always strive to live holy, and to live eternally grateful for the price Jesus paid for my sin!

Links & Quotes

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“We may ignore but can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” —C.S. Lewis

“It has been the Cross which has revealed to good men that their goodness has not been good enough.” ―Johann Hieronymus Schroeder

“God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love.” ―C.S. Lewis

“Your tribulations will yet yield you music.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Imagine the scene at the Cross. Soldiers huddled in a circle, dice-throwing—casting lots for the possessions of Christ. Common soldiers witnessing the world’s most uncommon event. To them He is just another criminal; the Cross is forgotten. It makes me think of us. The religious. Those who claim heritage at the Cross. All of us. The strict…the loose…the simple…Spirit-filled…evangelical. All of us! We’re not so unlike these soldiers. We too, play games at the foot of the Cross. We compete for members. We scramble for status. Competition. Selfishness. Personal gain. It’s all there. We major in the trivial, we split into little huddles. Another name. Another doctrine. So close to the Cross but so far from the Christ. ‘May they all be one,’ Jesus prayed. One. Not one in groups of two thousand. One church. One faith. One Lord. No hierarchies. No traditions. Just Christ.” —Max Lucado

“If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by his nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] What are atheists stealing from God? …