Books… immerse us in a single idea. Books bring a voice into our head, create a different brain chemistry, open doors to a more powerful lever, a learning that can yes, change us.
Dozens (perhaps hundreds) of times in my life, a book has changed my mind. So have some powerful lectures or direct engagements with teachers or mentors. These are the moments of true change, times when we are entrained with the message, when we feel the learning happening in real time.
—Seth Godin
People are starving for the greatness of God. But most of them would not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. The majesty of God is an unknown cure. There are far more popular prescriptions on the market, but the benefit of any other remedy is brief and shallow. Preaching that does not have the aroma of God’s greatness may entertain for a season, but it will not touch the hidden cry of the soul: “Show me thy glory!”
John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching
A.W. Tozer on Christian unity:
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.
So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
You need to keep your language simple. If you can’t take your PhD dissertation to a pub and explain it to simple people, your PhD is not worth anything.
—Prof. Derek Newton, Asian Theological Seminary
David Pawson on Greek verb tenses:
Greek has a “present continuous” tense for verbs which is not easily translated into English but is so often crucial to a proper understanding of the text. It means to be continually doing something. To translate the sense into English, it is necessary to add the two little words “go on.”
For example, Jesus did not say, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you.” implying that each action need only be done once. He actually said, “Go on asking and you will receive, go on seeking and you will find, go on knocking and it will be open to you.” So if someone does not receive the Holy Spirit when they first ask, they should not panic: they should go on asking. Continue reading How a Verb Can Boost Your Faith
Article 28 of the Heidelberg Catechism:
What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence does still uphold all things?
“That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand, that without his will they cannot so much as move.”
Jojo Agot 