Archive for the 'Quotes' Category

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Rudyard Kipling’s, “Recessional,” “Lest we forget”

Published on July 4, 2010 in Quotes. 0 Comments

God of our fathers, known of old–
Lord of our far-flung battle line–
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies–
The Captains and the Kings depart–
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away–
On dune and headland sinks the fire–
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe–
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard–
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.

If

Published on June 26, 2010 in Quotes. 2 Comments

My son, Ben, is 13 today.  Here is a poem my mother read to me that I hope he will learn.  As a pastor, I have thought often of the line, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, yet make allowance for their doubting too.”

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

“It is better to suffer wrong. . .”

Published on June 21, 2010 in Quotes. 0 Comments

Samuel Johnson:

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not trust.

“Teach me to feel another’s woe . . .”

Published on June 14, 2010 in Forgiveness and Quotes. 0 Comments

Alexander Pope:

Teach me to feel another’s woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I show to others, that mercy show to me.

Do you need to go to work unpacking forgiveness?  Here for the thoughts of others about Unpacking.

This may be why you are feeling down: “Sin darkens the soul . . .”

Published on June 14, 2010 in Quotes, Recommended Reading and Sanctification. 0 Comments

If you’re depressed, sin may be part of the reason.  (But, sin is not the only reason – — see also Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure)

John Owen:

Sin darkens the soul.  It is a cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God’s love and favour.  It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them.

So, what do you do?  The title of Owen’s work helps us in the right direction.  We are to mortify or put to death sin.  (See What Should You Beat To Death with a Shovel in 2010).

John Owen:

But now let the heart be cleansed by mortification, and the weeds of lust constantly and daily rooted up (as they spring daily, nature being their proper soil), there will be room for grace to thrive and flourish, the graces that God gives will act their part, and be ready for every use and purpose!.

But, we need to know how to kill sin.  We can’t do it in our own strength, but only by the power of the Spirit.

For more, I recommend the abridged version of John Owen’s, The Mortification of Sin.

Paul Tripp describes where the biggest battles of marriage are fought

Published on June 10, 2010 in Marriage and Quotes. 1 Comment

I continue to recommend, What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage.  Notice that sin is antisocial:

I have said this and will continue to return to it throughout this book: the big battles in marriage are not the ones you fight with your spouse.  No, the big battles are the ones being fought in your heart.  All of the horizontal skirmishes between a husband wife are the result of this deeper battle.  Remember, there is still sin remaining in your heart, and the DNA of selfishness.  Since since in its fundamental form is selfish, then sin is essentially antisocial.  This means that you and I must recognize there is something that still lurks inside us that is destructive to marriage.

See also this quote found in the same book, as well as this one about too many of us trying to have “hundred dollar conversations in dime moments.”

Never in the field of military-conflict had so much rested on the shoulders of one man

Published on June 6, 2010 in Politics and Quotes. 0 Comments

At 2145 hours on June 5th, Eisenhower gave the go ahead for the Invasion. Today is the 56th anniversary of D-Day.  Normandy may be one of the places my family will visit during our trip to Europe.

Keeping in mind that Eisenhower was from a very modest background in Kansas, and that by the time World War II came along it appeared that he would never have the opportunity to lead in any meaningful way, it is stunning that he quickly ascended to lead the Allied command in Europe and a few years later to be President of the United States, indeed, that it was Eisenhower who gave the final word to invade Normandy.

It is also an interesting study in Providence to consider how Stephen Ambrose came to be Eisenhower’s biographer.  Ambrose wrote an obscure doctoral thesis on a nearly forgotten Civil War leader.  It was printed in a limited way, but Eisenhower happened to read it and asked the young Ambrose to come meet with him.

Here are two Ambrose quotes about Eisenhower:

Eisenhower realized that “optimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction.”  He learned that a commander’s optimism “has a most extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact.  With this clear realization, I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory—that any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.(D-Day, 61).

At the same time, after lunch on June 6.

Eisenhower sat at his portable table and scrawled by hand a press release on a pad of paper, to be used if necessary.  “Our landings . . . have failed,” he began, “and I have withdrawn the troops.  My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available.  The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do.  If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”  (D-Day, 190).

The obvious place to begin in improving the health of a local church

Published on May 16, 2010 in Preaching and Quotes. 2 Comments

Mark Dever:

If a healthy church is a congregation that increasingly displays the character of God as his character has been revealed in his Word, the most obvious place to begin building a healthy church is to call Christians to listen to God’s Word. God’s Word is the source of all life and health. It’s what feeds, develops, and preserves a church’s understanding of the Gospel itself.

Humility is not . . .

Published on May 11, 2010 in Humility and Quotes. 0 Comments

John Stott:

Humility is not pretending to be other than we are, but acknowledging the truth of what we are.

Stuart Briscoe: “At all costs . . .”

Published on May 8, 2010 in Church and Quotes. 1 Comment

It is worth reading Stuart Briscoe’s book, Flowing Streams: Journeys of a Life Well Lived, if only to read the final chapter, “Stones from the Stream,” where he summarizes five basic principles that may be helpful to Christians and local churches.  Here is a quote from that section.

We have to address these people where they are and then do one thing – - lead them to Jesus by introducing them to who Jesus is (eternally), what he has done (historically), what he is doing (contemporaneously), and what he plans to do (finally and irrevocably),and them show them how to live in the conscious enjoyment of his work on the cross for them, the reality of his presence within them, and the certainty of their promised future with him in eternity (constantly)! . . . At all costs, whatever developments and innovations come the way of the church, we must stay on message. His message—all of it. Stuart Briscoe (page 197)