Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“Just because no one complains, it doesn’t mean that all parachutes are perfect.” —Anonymous

“I am not young enough to know everything.” —Oscar Wilde

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” —James Thurber

More appalling misery created by the pro-abortion crowd: Planned Parenthood’s Horrible Treatment.

Very good: 7 Things All Great Friends Do.

“I must pray for the strength and courage to be truly obedient to Jesus, even if He calls me to go where I would rather not go.” —Henri Nouwen

“One of the greatest mercies God bestows upon us is His not permitting our inclinations and opportunities to meet. Have you not sometimes noticed that when you had the inclination to a sin there has been no opportunity, and when the opportunity has presented itself you have had no inclination towards it? satan’s principal aim with believers is to bring their appetites and his temptations together….” —Charles Spurgeon

“This is not Predestination: your will is perfectly free: but all physical events are adapted to fit in as God sees best with the free actions He knows we are going to do.” —C.S. Lewis

Keeping The Ninth Commandment

4 ways to give true testimonySome folks asked that I post a couple of things I shared in my message this morning about the ninth commandment: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Here are 4 ways to observe the positive side of this 9th commandment:

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing;
‘Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed. —Iago, in William Shakespeare’s Othello

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

15 good quotes from Soren Kierkegaard.

For the singles, here is 10 guys you should never date and 8 types of women you should never date.

“I can neither teach nor live by the faith of others. I must live by my own faith as the Spirit of the Lord has taught me through His Word.” —Menno Simons

Pretty cool! We just landed a robot on a comet!

Coaches & Parents, Tim Elmore tells us how athletes hide behind their talent and what we can do about it.

Human touch is just as nutritious as the food we eat. So go hug someone!

“The notion that the careless sinner is the smart fellow and the serious-minded Christian, though well-intentioned, is a stupid dolt altogether out of touch with life will not stand up under scrutiny. Sin is basically an act of moral folly, and the greater the folly the greater the fool.” —A.W. Tozer

Our Definition Of ‘Christian’

In His StepsIn His Steps by Rev. Charles Sheldon challenged me to really look at my personal definition of being a Christian. One of the characters in Sheldon’s book hit me with this—

“It is the personal element that Christian discipleship needs to emphasize. ‘The gift without the giver is bare.’ The call of this age is a call for a new discipleship, a new following of Jesus, more like the early, simple, apostolic Christianity when the disciples left all and literally followed the Master. Nothing but a discipleship of this kind can face the destructive selfishness of the age, with any hope of overcoming it. … But if our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privileges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good, easy time surrounded by pleasant friends and by comfortable things, live respectably, and at the same time avoid the world’s great stress of sin and trouble because it is too painful—if this is our definition of Christianity, then surely we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with tears of anguish for a lost humanity.” 

You can read my full book review of In His Steps by clicking here. And I quote another thought-provoking passage from this book here.

What Would Happen…?

In His StepsIn His Steps by Rev. Charles Sheldon is a timeless classic that every Christian should read (you can check out my book review by clicking here). This quote is a part of the final message that one of the main characters, Pastor Henry Maxwell, delivers at a prominent church in Chicago.

What would happen if in this city every church member should begin to do as Jesus would do? It staggers our minds to imagine the results! We all know that certain things would be impossible that are now practiced by church members. What would Jesus do in the matter of wealth? How would He spend it? How would Jesus be governed in the making of money? Would He take rentals from saloons? From tenement property? 

What would Jesus do about the great army of unemployed who tramp the streets and curse the church, or are indifferent to it, lost in the bitter struggle for the bread that tastes bitter when it is earned on account of the desperate conflict to get it? Would He say it was none of His business? 

What would Jesus do in the center of a civilization that hurries so fast after money that the girls employed in great business houses are not paid enough to keep soul and body together without fearful temptations? Where the demands of trade sacrifice hundreds of lads in a business that ignores all Christian duties toward them in the way of education and moral training and personal affection? Would Jesus, if He were here today as a part of our age and commercial industry, feel nothing, do nothing, say nothing in the face of these facts that every businessman knows?

How would you answer Pastor Maxwell’s questions?

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

[PHOTOS] Today is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Here are some great pictures of our Marines in action.

“Your hope for the future is not in what you did yesterday, but improving today so that you can meet the future head-on.” —John Maxwell

Did you know that 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted?! Here are 9 people with Down syndrome who live highly successful lives.

“‘Circumstances over which I have no control’ is a perfectly true phrase, but it must never be made to mean that we cannot control ourselves in those circumstances.” —Oswald Chambers

“The whole Bible and all past history unite to teach that battles are always won before the armies take the field. The critical moment for any army is not the day it engages the foe in actual combat; it is the day before or the month before or the year before. … Preparation is vital. Let this be noted by everyone. We can seek God today and get prepared to meet temptation tomorrow; but if we meet the enemy without first having met God, the outcome is not conjectural; the issue is already decided. We can only lose.” —A.W. Tozer

“We must open our Bibles every morning with this prayer—‘Give us this day our daily bread.’” —Charles Spurgeon

Good advice on how to respond to people who are antagonistic toward your Christian faith.

Hmm, Pope Francis demotes (again!) a U.S. cardinal who is doctrinally conservative.

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading & watching from this weekend…

[VIDEO] John Maxwell talks about contentment. I love this: “Contentment is a stabilizer for success.”

Parents, check out 7 Lies Christian Parents Believe.

A baby is given no hope to live, but is born completely normal and healthy! Misdiagnosis or miracle?

As we celebrate Billy Graham’s 96th birthday, here are 6 lessons from his life, and a great [VIDEO] of Dr. Graham with Woody Allen.

“A praying Christian is a constant threat to the stability of satan’s government. The Christian is a holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God. satan never knows from what direction the danger will come.” —A.W. Tozer

“He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.” —C.S. Lewis

[VIDEO] Whether you are a country music fan or not, you will love this pro-life, pro-Mom message from Garth Brooks:

Links & Quotes

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“With such prayer it is an absolute certainty that I must succeed with God in prayer. If my prayer were my own prayer, I might not be so sure of it, but if the prayer which I utter be God’s own prayer written on my soul, God is always one with Himself, and what He writes on the heart is only written there because it is written in His purposes.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Jude 20

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them.” —C.S. Lewis

Dr. James Dobson has 8 reminders for stressed parents.

“We must stand on every promise and pray in faith, effectually, fervently, without doubt, and then wait and rest, trusting the Lord to do what is right, in His time and His way. Few Christians today wait with patience for God to work in His time. The more it is delayed, the angrier some get. Some finally give up, thinking God doesn’t answer.” —David Wilkerson

A university scientist is fired for publishing a peer-reviewed paper in a respected scientific journal that dares (gasp!) to mention that the biblical Flood might account for a specific finding he had made. The scientific community is becoming more and more touchy about anything that disproves their tenuous beliefs in an Earth that is anything less than billions of years old.

Continue to pray for Asia Bibi, who is appealing her death sentence in Pakistan. Her crime? She is a Christian. Also please consider supporting the American Center for Law & Justice who is helping Asia, and many others like her.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Have I mentioned that I am a huge fan of The Overview Bible Project? I love this infographic and insight into the biblical authors.

 

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading and watching from today…

[VIDEO] John Maxwell says the joy-ratio of giving-to-receiving is 10-to-1.

“Faith never knows where it is being led, it knows and loves the One Who is leading. … Faith is not resignation to a power we do not know; faith is committal to One Whose character we do know because it has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ.” —Oswald Chambers

“The devil’s master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill us physically (though there may be some special situations where physical death fits into his plan better), but to destroy our power to wage spiritual warfare. And how well he has succeeded. The average Christian these days is a harmless enough thing. God knows.” —A.W. Tozer

Some have argued that aborting a baby diagnosed with cystic fibrosis is humane and ethical. This kid proves them wrong.

Seth Godin with a really good reason why you should vote tomorrow.

…and The Gospel Coalition reminds Christians why they should vote.

 

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from this weekend…

[INFOGRAPHIC] Another great Bible study resource from The Overview Bible Project on the book of Hebrews.

Eric Metaxas reminds us that our existence itself is a miracle.

“God has not called us to save America; He has called us to save Americans from the coming judgment of God by introducing them to faith in Jesus Christ.” —Robert Jeffress

uknowkids has a good post for parents and teachers: 7 Signs Your Teen Is Suffering From Peer Pressure.

“It is the Spirit of Christ in us that will draw satan’s fire. The people of the world will not much care what we believe and they will stare vacantly at our religious forms, but there is one thing they will never forgive us—the presence of God’s Spirit in our hearts. They may not know the cause of that strange feeling of antagonism which rises within them, but it will be nonetheless real and dangerous. satan will never cease to make war on the Man-child, and the soul in which dwells the Spirit of Christ will continue to be the target for his attacks.” —A.W. Tozer

“The real trouble about the duty of forgiveness is that you do it with all your might on Monday and then find on Wednesday that it hasn’t stayed put and all has to be done over again.” —C.S. Lewis