Links & Quotes

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“No man can murder his brother who has not first murdered God in himself.” —Oswald Chambers

“We love our neighbors when, like Jesus, we seek them out to love them (cf. Luke 19:1-10). Jesus did not wait for lost or hurting people to find their way to Him. He went looking for them. He learned the names of many of them, and used their names freely. He took the initiative in making certain contacts, some of which He repeated many times during His earthly sojourn. Jesus started conversations with people and was doubtless a good listener. And He prayed often for others, seeking their wellbeing before the Father. We can know that we love our neighbors when, like Jesus, we go seeking them, in order to touch them with His love.” —T.M. Moore

“The Word of God is our only hope. The good news of God’s promises and the warnings of His judgment are sharp enough and living enough and active enough to penetrate to the bottom of my heart and show me that the lies of sin are indeed lies. Abortion will not create a wonderful future for me. Neither will cheating, or dressing provocatively, or throwing away my sexual purity, or keeping quiet about dishonesty at work, or divorce, or vengeance. And what rescues me from this deception is the Word of God.” —John Piper

“If you spend too much time looking for your next big break, you’ll be stealing your opportunity to do your best work. Which is the the most important break of all.” —Seth Godin

“God’s definition of promotion isn’t a move up the ladder, it is a move toward your call. Don’t let someone ‘promote’ you out of your call!” —Max Lucado

“In the parable of Matthew 18:23-27 did the king overlook his servant’s sin? Did he wink at his debt and merely excuse it? No, not at all. The fact is, by forgiving him, the king placed upon this man a weighty responsibility, a responsibility even greater than the burden of his debt. Indeed, this servant now owed his master more than ever. How? He was responsible to forgive and love others, just as the king had done for him.” —David Wilkerson

If you don’t think Planned Parenthood’s business of abortion is a huge money-maker for them, why are they spending $20 million in 2016 to elect pro-abortion candidates?

For Detroit Red Wings fan, here is a nice mini-biography of Mr. Hockey: Gordie Howe.

[VIDEO] Barbabas Piper and Bobby Conway on the difference between knowing and believing

Links & Quotes

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“Scripture is about God, God is love, therefore, if you want to learn the Scriptures, look to learn love.” —T.M. Moore

“It is remarkable that the persons in positions of power who wrote most of Israel’s Wisdom Literature did not present the poor as immoral or second-class, but as neighbors in need of mercy. On the other hand, there is never an indication that the needy are necessarily more pious; after all, poverty was never presented as an ideal of Israelite society (Deuteronomy 15:4).” —Archeological Study Bible

“Where would you have been but for grace? To repeat the old saying of John Bradford, when he saw a cartful of men going off to Tyburn to be hanged, ‘There goes John Bradford but for the grace of God.’ When you see the swearer in the street, or the drunkard rolling home at night, there are you, there am I, but for the grace of God. Who am I? What should I have been if the Lord, in mercy, had not stopped me in my mad career?” —Charles Spurgeon

[VIDEO] I hadn’t thought of it this way before, but John Maxwell says there is a healthy and unhealthy way of being defensive—

Links & Quotes

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“O Lord, keep me strong in the sense of Thy call.” —Thomas Boston, Scottish Presbyterian pastor

“You have remained true to God under the great tests, now be alert over the least things.” —Oswald Chambers

“Mighty events turn on a straw.” —Thomas Carlyle

“God is love, but God is also just, as severely just as if He had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if He had no justice. To gain a just view of the character of God you must perceive all His attributes as infinitely developed; justice must have its infinity acknowledged as much as mercy.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Pleasures demean, disappoint, and destroy us when they are merely fleeting, fleshly, and foolish. The pleasure we ultimately seek, and for which we were created, can only be found in one place, in fellowship and communion with the Lord of heaven and earth.” —T.M. Moore

John Piper has some very insightful words in the wake of the tragedy in Paris—France: A Fabric Torn.

Jim Cymbala reminds us, “There are no trendy shortcuts, no hocus-pocus mantras that can defeat satan.” Read more in No Hocus-Pocus.

Parents, teachers, and anyone who works with youth will appreciate this counsel from Tim Elmore: 5 ways to cure the “cool kid” curse.

[VIDEO] What does the Quran teach about Jesus?—

[VIDEO] Pastor Dave Barringer is in Israel, and this real-time observation is quite eye-opening—

Links & Quotes

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“Don’t dare to be different, dare to be yourself—if that doesn’t make you different then something is wrong.” —Laura Baker

“Real joy is to be found in the presence of God, with Jesus Christ, secure and loved forever and ever (Psalm 16:11). Knowing the presence of God is the unique privilege of all who have made the Kingdom turn. God never changes in His love for us, and Jesus Christ holds us fast forever, regardless of the outward circumstances of our lives. The result of experiencing this is joy.” —T.M. Moore

“We can do nothing unless by a supernatural grace of God. It is God who gives the will. It is God who gives the power.” —John Calvin

“How singularly does God, in political events, prepare men’s minds for the particular phase which His church assumes! … I cannot go into the question now, but every Christian student of history knows that the circumstances of the outward world have ever been arranged by God so as to prepare the way for the advance of His great cause.” —Charles Spurgeon

“There is no such thing as genuine knowledge of God that does not show itself in obedience to His Word and will.” —Sinclair B. Ferguson

Eric Metaxas reminds us why Darwinism cannot explain religion. Check out Saber-tooth Psychology.

New emails continue to show the tragedy that Benghazi is. Hold our leaders accountable!

Tim Elmore explains how leading and following must go hand-in-hand.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell challenges us to enrich other people’s lives—

Thursdays With Oswald—Passionate, Devoted, Absorbed

Oswald ChambersThis 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.

Passionate, Devoted, Absorbed

     Christian experience does not mean we have thought through the way God works in human lives by His grace, or that we are able to state theologically that God gives the Holy Ghost to them that ask Him—that may be Christian thinking, but it is not Christian experience. Christian experience is living through all this by the marvelous power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost working in me does not produce wonderful experiences that make people say “What a wonderful life that man lives”; the Holy Ghost working in me makes me a passionate, devoted, absorbed lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

From Our Place Of Help

Too many people are trying to “figure out” Christianity. But let me ask this: can you figure out why you fell in love? You probably can’t give the hows and whys of your love for someone else, but you know you are in love nonetheless. 

The Holy Spirit isn’t given to a Christian so that he can come up with good theology, or even so he can have an experience. The Holy Spirit is given to make Jesus realGod has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

This is why Jesus wants us to receive His Spirit, because the Spirit would make Jesus known to us (John 14:16-17) … make Him real to us (John 14:25-26) … make us into a passionate, devoted, absorbed lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Have you received the Holy Spirit? If not, you can—How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13).

Links & Quotes

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“The Cross is the supreme moment in Time and Eternity, and it is the concentrated essence of the very nature of the Divine love. … The Self-expenditure of God for His enemies in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, becomes the great bridge over the gulf of sin whereby human love may cross over and be embraced by the Divine love, the love that never fails.” —Oswald Chambers

“Paul stresses that in our sufferings the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace is magnified [2 Corinthians 12:9-10]. If we rely on Him in our calamity and He sustains our ‘rejoicing in hope,’ then He is shown to be the all-satisfying God of grace and strength that He is.” —John Piper

“The true believer has also a loving spirit as the result of Jesus’ grace. He loves God, therefore he loves God’s people and God’s creatures, and having this loving spirit he has next a zealous spirit, and so he spends and is spent for God, and this begets in him a heavenly spirit and so he tries to live in heaven and to make earth a heaven to his fellow-men, believing that he shall soon have a heaven for himself and for them too on the other side of the stream.” —Charles Spurgeon

This Sunday is the International Day Of Prayer (IDOP) for persecuted Christians around the world. Please remember to pray for our brothers and sisters, or join me on Sunday morning.

Many people give in to the temptation of pornography while staying in hotels. Josh McDowell give us 10 tips for staying porn-free while traveling.

J. Warner Wallace discusses why the appearance of complex design in biology is a problem for atheists and naturalists.

“America is witnessing a ‘capitalistic Christianity.’ The goal is no longer spiritual growth, but expansion in numbers, property, finances.” Read more from David Wilkerson’s post Capitalistic Christianity.

Links & Quotes

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“Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.” —J. Campbell White

“When we are confronted with temptation, we need to remember that others are looking at us, taking their cues from us. If we take sin into our souls it will affect not only us, but them as well. The demands of neighbor-love should help us to resist temptation and, thus, continue our pursuit of the righteousness of God’s Kingdom in our lives.” —T.M. Moore

“The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.” —C.S. Lewis

“Do little things as if they were great, because of the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ who dwells in thee: and do great things as if they were little and easy, because of His omnipotence.” —Blaise Pascal

“In light of Revelation 1-3, every believer must ask himself: ‘Have my good works—my Bible studies and my service—robbed me of time with Jesus? Do I still hunger for Him as I once did? Or have I lost something?’” —David Wilkerson

Can you feel the heartache? “Watching porn with my husband did the complete opposite of ‘spice things up.’”

[VIDEO] How does the Bible get passed down?

Thursdays With Oswald—Seeing The Light In The Darkness

Oswald ChambersThis 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.

Thursdays With Oswald—Seeing The Light In The Darkness

   Oh, the unspeakable benediction of the ‘treasures of darkness’! But for the night in the natural world we should know nothing of moon or stars, or of all the incommunicable thoughtfulness of the midnight. So spiritually it is not the days of sunshine and splendor and liberty and light that leave their lasting and indelible effect upon the soul but those nights of the Spirit in which, shadowed by God’s hand, hidden in the dark cleft of some rock in a weary land, He lets the splendors of the outskirts of Himself pass before our eyes. It is such moments as these that insulate the soul from all worldliness and keep it in an ‘other-worldliness’ while carrying on work for the Lord and communion with Him in this present evil world. ‘Even the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee’ [Psalm 139:12].

From The Place Of Help

I know from my life, there has been a ‘light’ God has revealed to me in some really, really dark places, that I wouldn’t have seen in any other way.

If your life is in a dark place right now, hang on to this: God sees you, God loves you, and God wants to show you something. Someday you will look back on this and be grateful for what God has revealed in the darkness.

Links & Quotes

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“Seeking the Kingdom is not an easy road; Jesus did not exaggerate when He used the term ‘violence’ to describe the progress of the Kingdom in this world. Like the Sharks and the Jets in Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, the citizens of the Kingdom of God are engaged in a turf war of cosmic proportions with the citizens of this world and the dark forces that shape their worldview and way of life.” —T.M. Moore

“This vain world is no friend to the principle of the work of grace. If you were of the world the world would love its own, but as you are not of the world but of a heavenly race, you may expect to be treated as an alien and foreigner, no, as a hated and detested foe. All sorts of snares and traps will be laid for you; those who sought to entangle the Master in His speech will not be more lenient towards you.” —Charles Spurgeon

“We do the work, but God works in us the doing of the works.” —Augustine

“One stumble does not define or break a person. Though you failed, God’s love does not.” Read more from Max Lucado’s post: God’s Love Never Fails.

Dr. Ben Carson has a great question for those who support abortion.

The importance of local elections: Ask not who’s running for president, ask who’s running for your local school board.

Eric Metaxas challenges us to see ourselves how God sees us: Wart Hogs and White Robes.

Parents, check this out: You can’t build heaven here.

Links & Quotes

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“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!

Live Action notes a common misconception that the pro-life movement is a religious movement. Here are 4 non-religious reasons to be pro-life.

MORE GREAT NEWSHyatt Hotels are also removing pornography pay-per-view!

[VIDEO] Alan Shlemon gives us insight on how to talk to Muslims about the crucifixion of Jesus.