FDR famously said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Taken by itself and out of context, it strikes me that this, one of our most beloved lines, is also one of the most profoundly stupid of American quotes.
Archive for the 'Quotes' Category
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Haddon Robinson writes:
. . . Let’s not kid ourselves. We can’t be what Moffat called “a pious particle,” a Christian in isolation. We need the church for our own grip on faith. We may approach the Throne as individuals, of course, but common prayers, common praise, common fellowship are also a part of Christian experience.
Actually, attending church is a life and death matter! Tired congregations snoozing in their padded pews do not reflect the tension of the “day approaching.” Yet that day is closer than we realize.
If you have not read:
Smith, Christian, and Michael O. Emerson. Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press, 2008.
At least read this alarming summary. . .Here are 6 facts about American giving (based on their thorough research):
Fact #1: At least one out of five American Christians - 20 percent of all U.S. Christians -give literally nothing to church, para-church, or nonreligious charities.
Fact #2: The vast majority of American Christians give very little to church, para-church, or nonreligious charities.
Fact #3: American Christians do not give their dollars evenly among themselves, but, rather a small minority of generous givers among them contributes most of the total Christian dollars given.
Fact #4: Higher income earning Christians-like Americans generally -give little to no more money as a percentage of household income than lower income earning Christians.
Fact #5: Despite a massive growth of real per capita income over the twentieth century, the average percentage share of income given by American Christians not only did not grow in proportion but actually declined slightly during this time period.
Fact #6: The vast majority of the money that American Christians do give to religion is spent in and for their own local communities of faith - - little is spent on missions, development, and poverty relief outside of local congregations, particularly outside the United States, in ways that benefit people other than the givers themselves.
Did you have a conflict free day?
Probably not.
But, if you did - - be ready for relational storms tomorrow. In a fallen world, conflict is never far away.
C.J. Mahaney wisely preached:
“In fact, it is with great confidence that I can predict: You will face relational conflict in your future. Not only your distant future, but your immediate future. . . For as sinners living in a fallen world, conflict is inevitable and in fact, is heading your way right now. You can count on it. C. J. Mahaney.”
Thanks be to God who offers grace in his Son and shows us through Him and His word how we can unpack forgiveness.
Make it a goal to understand how the message of Christ is central not only to God forgiving us, but also the model of how we should forgive one another.
“You know you’re a servant when you don’t mind being treated like one.” Source Unknown.
Tell me, how are we going to face the Day of Judgment? The sun is witness that it has gone down on our anger not one day, but many a long year.
St. Jerome, in a letter written to his estranged aunt.
“Self pity and boasting are flip sides of pride. Self pity is pride posing in the demeanor of weakness. Boasting is pride posing in the demeanor of strength.” John Piper
Watch the whole sermon here.
“‘Person’ is the word in our vocabulary that applies to beings who speak, act intentionally, and so on. . . Only in biblical religions is there an absolute principle that is personal. Other religions have personal gods, but those gods are not absolute. Other religions and philosophies (Hinduism, Aristotle, Spinoza, Hegel) have absolute principles, but those principles are impersonal. Islam believes in an unknowable God who can (inconsistently) be described in personal terms; the extent to which Allah is personal is due to Mohammed’s original respect for “the book” (the Jewish/Christian Scriptures) and to the Arab polytheism described in Hadith. Other sects also hold to some level of personality in God, because of the influence of the Bible upon their founders. But groups like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like the Muslims, are inconsistent in their confession of God’s absolute personality.” John Frame.[1]
[1] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, PA: P&R Publishing, 2002), 26-27.
In England, when a prisoner is on trial, the place where he sits is called “the dock.” So, the accused is said to be “in the dock.”
C.S. Lewis, in his brilliant essay, “God in the Dock,” points out that somehow modern man thinks that God is “in the Dock”: that God must give an account of himself to humanity.
The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defence for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock (God in the Dock, page 244).[1]
Who can deny that Modern Man largely believes that God must defend himself to human beings? Somehow, Modern Humanity is audacious enough to act as though God must meet a standard humanity establishes.
Can anything be more ridiculous?
It’s as though Modern Man stands on the edge of the Sears tower in Chicago and peers over the side. With his toes hanging over the edge, and the wind gusting at his back, even as he watches others scream and pitch over the side, Modern Man says smugly, “I am not sure that I approve of the law of gravity. In fact, I’m not sure I agree with it at all. What kind of a law would cause people to fall off objects?”
Don’t get me wrong. Modern Man is a reasonable sort of “chap” (I have to stay with British words when interacting with Lewis), he is willing to listen to a few defend to him the law of gravity. But, generally, he takes a pass on accepting that gravity has any particular bearing for him and those he knows.
So, for a few moments - - the length of time a wisp of steam rises over your coffee cup (James 4:14), Modern Man stands with a smirk on his face laughing at the law of gravity. Soon enough, a gust of wind comes along and an eternal plunge begins.
[1] C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock,” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 244.
