Quote of Note #90: Grace for Neighbors. . . and Enemies

"To be people of amazing grace is to see ourselves as recipients of kindness and understanding not owed to us, and if we really believe it's been lavished upon us undeservedly, maybe we can lavish a little upon the people we find ourselves least inclined to view generously.  If we're showering only the people we … Continue reading Quote of Note #90: Grace for Neighbors. . . and Enemies

Quote of Note #89: Christian Discipleship as Love

"Being a disciple of Jesus is not primarily a matter of getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into our heads in order to guarantee proper behavior; rather, it's a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly -- who loves God and neighbor and is oriented to the world by the … Continue reading Quote of Note #89: Christian Discipleship as Love

Quote of Note #88: Sin as Self-Destruction

[In reference to sin as a "dangerous, predatory animal" in Genesis 4:7--"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." NIV] "God is saying . . . … Continue reading Quote of Note #88: Sin as Self-Destruction

Quote of Note #86: Gratitude and Humility

"Moreover, a true Christian will not ascribe any prosperity to his own diligence, industry, or good fortune, but he will acknowledge that God is the author of it." John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1952/2004, page 43.

Quote of Note #85: Forgiving, Caring, Healing Heart of God

"The question is not:  How many people take you seriously?  How much are you going to accomplish?  Can you show some results?  But: Are you in love with Jesus?  Perhaps another way to put the question would be: Do you know the incarnate God?  In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous … Continue reading Quote of Note #85: Forgiving, Caring, Healing Heart of God

Quote of Note #83: The Bible and Free Grace

"There are, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible:  Is it basically about me or basically about Jesus?  In other words, is it basically about what I must do or basically about what he has done?" Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Viking, 2015, page 60.

Quote of Note #82: The Word of God

"The Word of God is the seed out of which the divine nature springs up in the human soul." R. A. Torrey, Power-Filled Living: How to Receive God's Best for Your Life.  New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1998, page 17.

Quote of Note #81: Sin, Guilt, and the Blood of Jesus

We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin.  I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker's, and even with laughter.  But mere time does nothing either to the fact or the guilt of sin.  The … Continue reading Quote of Note #81: Sin, Guilt, and the Blood of Jesus

Quote of Note #80: Public Speech and Truth

"An appropriate response to the competing claims of pubic voices is to take these obligations personally.  We have been 'called by name'--not every one of us to public speaking, political activism in the streets and on telephones, or investigative journalism, but all of us to seek truth and follow after it, to do justice, to … Continue reading Quote of Note #80: Public Speech and Truth