These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
id: 362 | source: Gen. George Patton | tags: Leadership
Nothing really good can be accomplished without genuine suffering. The higher the achievement, the higher the price. There is no greater thing than sanctity, and therefore one must be ready to pay the highest price.
To suppose that God would admit to His close friendship pleasure-loving people who want to be free from all trials is ridiculous.
Well, my pastor friends, ever feel discouraged after another week at church? Another sermon preached and little--if any--fruit seen? Charles Bridges has a word of encouragement for YOU. From his classic book The Christian Ministry (p. 75): "Ministerial success must be viewed as extending beyond present appearances. The seed may lie under the clods till we lie there, and then spring up."
Do you know what Bridges means? God faithfully uses our work in ways we never imagine, and we never even see--in this life. One great illustration of that comes from the life of the puritan minister John Flavel. Flavel died in 1691 after a long ministry and many trials. But though Flavel had been called home, his ministry continued to bear fruit.
Michael Boland, in his 1963 introduction to a reprinting of Flavel's wonderful book, Mystery of Providence, recounts the example of Luke Short. "Luke Short was a farmer in New England who attained his hundredth year in exceptional vigour though without having sought peace with God. One day as he sat in his fields reflecting upon his long life, he recalled a sermon he had heard in Dartmouth [England] as a boy before he sailed to America. The horror of dying under the curse of God was impressed upon him as he meditated on the words he had heard so long ago and he was converted to Christ--eighty-five years after hearing John Flavel preach."
"The seed may lie under the clods till we lie there, and then spring up." Amen.
id: 2941 | source: http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/2006/02/shorts_salvatio.html | tags: Ministry, Providence
There's a problem in asking people to focus on problems.... probably the biggest problem we have in the world is that we all die, but we don't have the technology to solve that, right? So the point is not to prioritize problems, the point is to prioritize solutions to problems.
id: 3111 | source: Bjorn Lomborg, http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=b_lomborg | tags: Priorities, Solutions