Links & Quotes

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“We all have the sneaking idea that we are the favorites of God—‘It’s alright for me to do this, God will understand.’ If I as a child of God commit sin, I will be as sternly dealt with as if I were not His child.” ―Oswald Chambers

“I did not think that I had done anything when I hear them [his congregation] applauding, but when I saw them weeping.” —Augustine

“God uses our struggles for His glory!” Read more from Max Lucado in his post A Season Of Suffering.

“Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hair-shirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of?” ―C.S. Lewis

“You can blame your unhappiness on poor health, being misunderstood, or having an uncaring mate, boss or friend. In fact, you can blame it on anything you choose. But the truth is that there is no excuse for a Christian to live as a slave to the devil.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post The Lack Of Victory.

Pastor Dave Barringer shares 7 prayers you may be the answer for.

Great question, great post: What Keeps Us From Having Deeper Friendships?

Instant Gratification

JumpStart Your Leadership (book review)

JumpStart Your LeadershipJohn Maxwell always gives his readers a treasure-trove of helpful thoughts for personal growth! I would highly recommend anyone to grab any one of his books and dive in. But a good place to start may be JumpStart Your Leadership.

This book is setup as a 90-day journey of leadership growth. Whether someone is just beginning in a leadership position, or has been in a position of leadership for quite some time, this is a tremendous resource. Each day has a quote, a short teaching point from John Maxwell, and then a page to respond to the question of the day. After three months, I am confident you will feel your leadership surging forward.

Small book, big dividends. Get this book and get growing!

I am a Center Street book reviewer.

Links & Quotes

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“O I would beloved, that the Holy Spirit would make you feel the promise as being spoken to you; out of this vast assembly forget the rest and only think of yourself, for the promises are unto you, meant for you. O grasp them. It is ill to get into a way of reading Scripture for the whole church, read it for yourselves, and specially hear the Master say to you, ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.’” —Charles Spurgeon

“Freedom from greed comes from faith in God’s future grace.” —John Piper

John Piper has a great reminder in his post What God Can Do In Five Seconds.

Seth Godin suggests another story for “failure” in his post Failure Imagined (24 Variations).

History buffs will love this―The Real Story Of George Washington’s Christmas Attack At Trenton.

“My grand point in preaching is to break the hard heart, and to heal the broken one” —John Newton

[VIDEO] John Maxwell and Nick Vujicic on the uniqueness that is you―

Links & Quotes

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“Another point is that on that view you would have to regard the accounts of the Man as being legends. Now, as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing. They are not artistic enough to be legends. From an imaginative point of view they are clumsy, they don’t work up to things properly. Most of the life of Jesus is totally unknown to us, as is the life of anyone else who lived at that time, and no people building up a legend would allow that to be so. Apart from bits of the Platonic dialogues, there are no conversations that I know of in ancient literature like the Fourth Gospel. There is nothing, even in modern literature, until about a hundred years ago when the realistic novel came into existence. In the story of the woman taken in adultery we are told Christ bent down and scribbled in the dust with His finger. Nothing comes of this. No one has ever based any doctrine on it. And the art of inventing little irrelevant details to make an imaginary scene more convincing is a purely modern art. Surely the only explanation of this passage is that the thing really happened? The author put it in simply because he had seen it.” ―C.S. Lewis

“It takes more than academic rigor to win the world for Christ. Correct doctrine alone isn’t enough. Proclamation and teaching aren’t enough. God must be invited to ‘confirm the Word with signs following’ (see Hebrews 2:4). In other words, the gospel must be preached with the involvement of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.” Read more from Jim Cymbala in his post With Signs Following.

Lifelong Learner

It’s no secret I love to read. But why do I read? It’s not just to get more information, but to have the tools to help others. Every year I reevaluate my reading list, and ask God to guide me to the wise people from whom I need to learn.

Check out these words from Charles Spurgeon―

C.H. Spurgeon“Paul is inspired, and yet he wants books [2 Timothy 4:13]. He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, ‘Give attendance to reading’ [1 Timothy 4:13]. The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own. Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read.” ―Charles Spurgeon

What’s on your reading list this year?

Links & Quotes

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“God has done astonishing and costly things to draw us near. He has sent His Son to suffer and to die so that through Him we might draw near. It’s all so that we might draw near. And all of this is for our joy and for His glory.” —John Piper

“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.” —C.S. Lewis

Detroit Tiger fans know that Alan Trammell should be in the MLB Hall of Fame.

Chilly Chilton has a deathwish, and you should read about it.

“Your business is to go and ‘tell to sinners round what a dear Savior you have found’, for that is God’s way of using you to complete the unity of His Church.” —Charles Spurgeon

“The most important thing a church can have going for it is strong, biblical preaching.  It can do with or without an app, a Facebook page, a glitzy web site, streaming sermons, online giving, a fancy building, free wi-fi, or a clearly defined brand.  But it cannot fulfill God’s purpose without power in the pulpit.” —Mark Atteberry

“Nothing fosters courage like a clear grasp of grace. And nothing fosters fear like an ignorance of mercy.” —Max Lucado

17 Quotes From “A Legacy Of Faith”

Legacy Of FaithBilly Graham is a man who has lived a life of integrity. And he’s done it in a highly public setting too. A Legacy Of Faith is a collection of quotes from this wise man. You can read my full book review by clicking here, but below are a few quotes I especially liked.

“We are not here by chance. God put us here for a purpose, and our lives are never fulfilled and complete until His purpose becomes the foundation and center of our lives.”

“Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless.”

“Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.” 

“Everybody needs some friends around him who will say, ‘You are wrong!’ And that includes me. I really value the friendship of people who’ll just tell it to me like it is.”

“Although Christians do not always agree … what is most needed in the church today is for us to show an unbelieving world that we love one another.” 

“satan would like nothing better than to have us stop our ministry and start answering critics, tracking down wretched lies and malicious stories. By God’s grace I shall continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and not stoop to mudslinging, name-calling, and petty little fights over nonessentials.”

“Like it or not, money is an essential part of any ministry, and safeguards must be put in place to avoid abuses or misunderstandings and to handle all finances with integrity and openness.”

“Preaching… involves us in a spiritual battle with the forces of evil. I am always deeply conscious that I am absolutely helpless and that only the Holy Spirit can penetrate the minds and hearts of those who are without Christ.”

“All of us in Christian ministry need to live and work with integrity. By integrity, I mean the moral value that makes people the same on the inside as they are on the outside—with no discrepancy between what they say and what they do, between their walk and their talk.”

“As long as there is one man in the world who hates another man because of the color of his skin or the shape of his nose or for some other reason, you have the possibility of war—as long as you have men in the world greedy for power, there is potential conflict. I believe that the Gospel of Christ is the only power in the world that can transform the heart of man and make it love instead of hate.”

“Suffering is part of the human condition, and it comes to us all. The key is how we react to it, either turning away from God in anger and bitterness or growing closer to Him in trust and confidence.” (On enduring Parkinson’s disease)

“I’m not a great man. I just have a great message.”

“The Psalms teach you how to get along with God; Proverbs teaches you how to get along with people.”

“Every day I have to renew my heart before God and ask for His grace and strength. I take time each day in the morning and evening to read passages of Scripture and ask the Lord to speak to me through them—apart from any preparations of sermon material.”

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. When character is lost, everything is lost.” 

“Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.”

“I was called by God to do this, and I don’t read anyplace in the Bible where any of His servants retired.” 

A Legacy Of Faith (book review)

Legacy Of FaithIt sometimes distresses me to see great men and women who stumble later in life. But one man who has lived a life full of integrity is Billy Graham. If anyone can speak about “legacy” with the full support of his life’s message, it is Rev. Graham!

In the same format as Zig Ziglar’s Inspire To Be Great, and John Wooden’s Winning With Principle, A Legacy Of Faith is a collect of noteworthy quotes from Billy Graham. Time and time again I was impressed with Dr. Graham’s words, but more impressed that he lived them out so publicly for all to see.

If you haven’t read any of Billy Graham’s sermons or books, this book is a good place to start. Even if you are familiar with his works, this is still an excellent resource for his wise quotes.

What a great read!

Links & Quotes

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“Let us thirst to know Him of Whom even His enemies said, ‘Never man spake like this Man,’ and His unrighteous judge said, ‘I find no fault in Him.’ Above all, let us long to know Christ in His Person. This year endeavor to make a better acquaintance with the Crucified One. … This year seek to penetrate into His very heart, and to search those deep far-reaching caverns of His unknown love, that love which can never find a rival, and can never know a parallel.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Beware of insulting God by being a pious prude instead of a pure person.” —Oswald Chambers

“To pray well is the better half of study.” ―Martin Luther

“Of all marvelous things, perhaps there is nothing that angels behold with such supreme astonishment as a proud man.” —Charles Caleb Colton

[Video] John Maxwell on humility—

Links & Quotes

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[VIDEO] I loved watching Stuart Scott on ESPN SportsCenter. This video is a great tribute to his life.

“When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” —Stuart Scott

“Hang this text up in your house; read it every day; take it before God in prayer every time you bend the knee, and you shall find it to be like the widow’s cruse, which failed not, and like her handful of meal, which wasted not: it shall be unto you till the last of December what now it is when we begin to feed upon it in January.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Hebrews 2:18

“This verse is full of encouragement for imperfect sinners like us, and full of motivation for holiness. It means that you can have assurance that you stand perfected and completed in the eyes of your heavenly Father not because you are perfect now, but precisely because you are not perfect now but are ‘being sanctified,’ ‘being made holy’—that, by faith in God’s promises, you are moving away from your lingering imperfection toward more and more holiness.” —John Piper, commenting on Hebrews 10:14

Seth Godin has a great way to help anyone gain a huge advantage over his/her peers in his post Doing Calculus With Roman Numerals.