The Motive for the Happiness of Heaven

"The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this:If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasure you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and answer with a resounding No?"

- John Piper

Source: Piper, John. God is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005. Print. 15

Biblical Faith is Responsive

"Biblical faith is responsive, calling for a specific and decisive response on the part of the believer to confirm his faith."

- Wayne V. McDill

 Source: McDill, Wayne V. The Moment of Truth: A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman. 1999. 15-16.

The Act of Believing

"Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because He said, 'Do it,' or once abstained because He said, 'Do not do it.' It is simply absurd to say you believe or even to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you." 

- George MacDonald

Source: Lewis, C. S. George MacDonald: An Anthology. HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York: 1946. Pg 86.

The Church Never Fought Science

"Indeed, historians are virtually unanimous in holding that the whole science versus religion story is a nineteenth century fabrication."

- Dinesh, D'Souza

Source: D'Souza, Dinesh. What's So Great About Christianity. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008. p. 104. Print.

God's Will in the Next Ten Minutes

"It is easy to use the phrase 'God's will for my life' as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It's safer to commit to following Him someday instead of this day"

- Francis Chan

Source: Chan, Francis. Crazy Love. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2008. 192.

Never Heard That Before

"One evangelical cliché has it that God hates the sin but loves the sinner. There is a small element of truth in these words: God has nothing but hate for the sin, but it would be wrong to conclude that God has nothing but hate for the sinner. A difference must be maintained between God's view of sin and his view of the sinner. Nevertheless the cliché (God hates the sin but loves the sinner) is false on the face of it and should be abandoned. Fourteen times in the first fifty psalms alone, we are told that God hates the sinner, his wrath is one the liar, and so forth. In the Bible, the wrath of God rests both on the sin (Rom. 1:18ff.) and on the sinner (John 3:36)."

- D.A. Carson

Source: Carson, D.A. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000. Print. 69

Biblical Faith is Supernatural

"Biblical faith is supernatural, as the truth is confirmed and faith is awakened by the Holy Spirit."

- Wayne V. McDill

 Source: McDill, Wayne V. The Moment of Truth: A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman. 1999. 15-16.

God's Perfect Work

"Thou workest perfectly. And if it seems some things are not so well, 'tis but because they are too loving-deep, too lofty-wise, for me, poor child, to understand their laws."

- George MacDonald

Source: MacDonald, George. Diary of an Old Soul. Augsburg Publishing House, 1975. p. 101.

God has given us control

"God has chosen to exercise a limited domain over earthly rule, not because He is limited, but because He has turned over part of His Kingdom to humans for earthly supervision."

-Dinesh D'Souza

Source: D'Souza, Dinesh. What's So Great About Christianity. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008. p. 52. Print.

The Reasoning of Faith

"Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

- Francis Chan

Source: Chan, Francis. Crazy Love. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2008. 114-115.

Praying Backwards

"How would your prayer change if you began where you normally end? We habitually end our prayers with the phrase 'In Jesus' name, amen.' The amen means 'truly' or even 'I really mean this.' But what are we actually saying? We are supposed to be saying that everything we prayed for was offered 'in Jesus name,' we pray for his sake more than our own. We still present our desires and priorities to Christ's priorities. The final phrase of our prayer reminds us, as well as commits us, to submit all our requests to the glory of Jesus."

- Bryan Chapell

Source: Praying Backwards: Transforming Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus' Name. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005. Print. 13

Biblical Faith is Cognitive

"Biblical faith is cognitive, based on the accuracy of one's knowledge and understanding of the nature and intentions of God."

- Wayne V. McDill

 Source: McDill, Wayne V. The Moment of Truth: A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman. 1999. 15-16.

The Potter's Wheel

"But Thou art making me, I thank Thee, Sire. What Thou hast done and doest Thou know'st well, and I will help Thee: gently in the fire I will lie burning; on Thy potter's-wheel I will whirl patient, though my brain should reel. Thy grace shall be enough the grief to quell, and growing strength perfect through weakness dire."

- George MacDonald

Source: MacDonald, George. Diary of an Old Soul. Augsburg Publishing House, 1975. p. 100.

How to Interpret the Bible

"Keep in mind that our goal is to grasp the meaning of the text God has intended. We do not create meaning out of a text; rather, we seek to find the meaning that is already there."

- J. Scott Duvall

Source: Grasping God's Word. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. 21. Print.

Biblical Faith is Objective

"Biblical faith is objective, having its focus outside of man towards the credibility of God who is beyond him."

- Wayne V. McDill

 Source: McDill, Wayne V. The Moment of Truth: A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman. 1999. 15-16.

Our Sweet Physician

"Sickness hath this advantage, that it draweth our sweet Physician's hand and His holy and soft fingers to touch our withered and leper skins; it is a blessed fever that fetches Christ to the bedside."

- Samuel Rutherford

Source: Rutherford, Samuel. The Loveliness of Christ. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2007. Pg 22.

Be Wise with your Money

"Wise people know that all their money belongs to God and should be used to show that God, and not money, is their treasure, their comfort, their joy, and their security."

- John Piper

Source: Piper, John. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. B&H Books, 2002. 168. Print.

The Heart of Christianity

"The heart of Christianity is Christ. It is to know Christ, it is to follow Christ, it is to adore Christ. The sum and the substance of the Christian life is Jesus Christ."

- Steve Lawson

Source: Lawson, Steve."Who is Jesus Christ?" The Resolved Conference. 25 June 2010.

Loved by God Before We Were Born

"John Newton used to tell a whimsical story, and laugh at it, too, of a good woman who said, in order to prove the doctrine of election, ' Ah! sir, the Lord must have loved me before I was born, or else he would not have seen anything in me to love afterwards.' I am sure it is true in my case; I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love."

- Charles Spuregon

Source: Spurgeon, Charles. A Defence of Calvinism. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2008. Print. 11