Previous Quotes of the Day Page 4

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the rear of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the sixth of June 1944, two-hundred and twenty-five Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance. ~ Ronald Reagan

We can spend our days bemoaning our losses, or we can grow from them.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers - at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two-hundred and twenty-five came here. Another two days of fighting only ninety could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Point du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. You can listen to this speech, The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc. ~ Ronald Reagan

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God." This speech can also be watched online. You can watch the takeoff and explosion here! ~ Ronald Reagan

Die-hard conservatives thought that I couldn't get everything I asked for, I would jump off the cliff with the flag flying - go down in flames. No, if I can get seventy or eighty percent of what it is I'm trying to get ... I'll take that and then continue to try to get the rest in the future. ~ Ronald Reagan

We intend to keep the peace - we will also keep our freedom. ~ Ronald Reagan

Professional politicians like to talk about the value of experience in government. Nuts! The only experience you gain in politics is how to be political. ~ Ronald Reagan

The Rooftop Speech

As you probably heard, I am no longer the mayor of this town. So, tonight I stand here a freedom fighter. This country was founded by freedom fighters, men and women, who loved their country and their Creator. Four hundred years ago our forefathers left the religious oppression of another land to build this one. And the first thing they did, the first thing they did was to put a cross on the shores of the Atlantic, but it was more than a cross. It was a symbol that in this land a citizen has the freedom to worship, as he or she desires or the freedom not to worship at all. My fight isn’t about colored lights or a tree on the city square. My fight is about freedom and taking back what has been stolen from us.

We are losing freedoms one by one that our forefathers, our brothers in arms, and my son died for. It is time we stood up for what they died for, for what we believe in. Our rights are being destroyed perhaps forever. But don’t you see we are letting it happen, we’re asleep. We sleep and they come in like a thief in the night and they take what’s left.

WAKE UP! WE CAN’T SLEEP ANY MORE. WAKE UP AND LOOK AROUND YOU. LOOK AT WHAT’S COMING OVER THE HORIZON. WE CAN’T LET THE ENEMY TAKE ONE MORE INCH. NOT ONE MORE INCH. WE CAN’T BE SILENT ANYMORE. THE SILENCE HAS TO STOP! AND IT HAS TO STOP TODAY!


Young men and women are dying in foreign lands to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy e-v-e-r-e-y s-i-n-g-l-e day. Can you hear them? Just listen. It’s their voices from the graves. They are wondering if they died in vain. Do we dare diminish their sacrifice by our silence? Well, if your answer is “no” then you think about this: when history is written, will history say you stood by and you did nothing? Or will history say that you fought, you fought like those brave souls, you fought to preserve the memory of the young men and women that have given everything for this country and for you? We fight for freedom! We fight for freedom! We fight for freedom!

Please watch this movie and continue the fight for our freedoms in America!

Free enterprise has done more to reduce poverty than all the government programs dreamed up by Democrats. ~ Ronald Reagan

I'll confess that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest, what I'm going to say. But I'm more afraid not to. Can we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer? [The audience rises, with heads bowed, for a few silent moments, after which Ronald Reagan concludes:] God bless America! ~Republican National Convention, Detroit, Michigan, July 17, 1980

We don't lump people by groups or special interests. And let me add, in the party of Lincoln there is no room for intolerance and not even a small corner for anti-Semitism or bigotry of any kind. Many people are welcome in our house, but not the bigots. ~ Ronald Reagan

I, too, have always believed that God's greatest gift is human life and that we have a duty to protect the life of an unborn child. Until someone can prove the unborn child is not a life, shouldn't we give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it is? ~ Ronald Reagan

I know that some believe that voluntary prayer in schools should be restricted to a moment of silence. We already have the right to remain silent - we can take our Fifth Amendment. ~ Ronald Reagan

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15. ~ Ronald Reagan

Anyone who seeks success or greatness should first forget about both and seek only the truth. The rest will follow. ~Ronald Reagan

We didn't discover our values in a poll taken a week before the convention. ~Ronald Reagan

The doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. ~Ronald Reagan

I think the best possible social program is a job. ~Ronald Reagan

We don't celebrate dependence day on the Fourth of July. We celebrate Independence Day. ~Ronald Reagan

Nations crumble from within when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry might better provide for itself. ~Ronald Reagan

We plan our lives in long, unbroken stretches that intersect our dreams the way highways connect the city dots on a road map. But in the end we learn that life is lived in the side roads, alleys, and detours. ~Richard Paul Evans

We do not take a trip; a trip takes us. ~Steinbeck

Life is what happens to us while we’re planning something else. ~Richard Paul Evans

Affectus, qui passio est, desinit esse passio simulatque eius claram et distinctam formamus ideam. Translated means “Emotion, which is suffering, stops … no … ceases to be suffering when a clear and distinct idea is formed. ~Richard Paul Evans

Psychologists tested the story of the Good Samaritan. What they learned gives us reason to pause. The greatest determinant of who stopped to help the stranger in need was not compassion, morality, or religious creed. It was those who had the time. Makes me wonder if I have time to do good. ~Richard Paul Evans

There are people who come into our lives as welcome a cool breeze in summer – and last about as long. ~Richard Paul Evans

People aren’t wired to be alone. Even in the stressful population of prison, solitary confinement is still considered a cruel punishment. ~Richard Paul Evans

We humans are born egocentric. The sky thunders and children believe that God is mad at them for something they’ve done – parents divorce and children believe it’s their fault for not being good enough. Growing up means putting aside our egocentricity for truth. Still, some people cling to this childish mind-set. As painful as their self-flagellation may be, they’d rather believe their crises are their fault so they can believe they have control. In doing so they make fools and false gods of themselves. ~Richard Paul Evans

The first step of a journey is always the longest. ~Richard Paul Evans

There can be no joy without gratitude. ~Richard Paul Evans

There are two kinds of people. Those who climb mountains and those who sit in the shadow of the mountains and critique the climbers. ~Richard Paul Evans

When a man loses his vision of the future he dies. ~Richard Paul Evans

Old friends are memories personified. ~Richard Paul Evans

Forgiveness is the key to the heart’s shackles. ~Richard Paul Evans

I don’t think it is as much a human foible as it is a human curse that we cannot understand the beauty of a thing until it is gone. ~Richard Paul Evans

There are two kinds of suffering in this life. That which pursues us and that which we doggedly pursue. ~Richard Paul Evans

It’s almost as difficult to believe that someone with so many trials could harbor such hope, as that there are those with so much advantage who harbor such hopelessness. ~Richard Paul Evans

There’s no problem so big that whining won’t make it worse. ~Richard Paul Evans

Everyone has problems. It’s how you choose to deal with them. Some people choose to be whiners some choose to be winners. Some choose to be victims some choose to be victors. ~Richard Paul Evans

There are times when the great Cosmic Architect gives us brief glimpses of the blueprint so we can do our part. ~Richard Paul Evans

Some men see mountains as obstacles. Others as a canvas. ~Richard Paul Evans

We are all in motion. Always. Those who are not climbing toward something are descending toward nothing. ~Richard Paul Evans

Without great mountains we cannot reach great heights. ~Richard Paul Evans

Maybe, if we just accepted our deaths, we might finally start to live. ~Richard Paul Evans

The strength of a friendship can be measured by the weight of the burden it’s willing to share. (If you want to test this just ask someone to help you move.) ~Richard Paul Evans

“Wait and see” is no easier now than it was as a child. ~Richard Paul Evans

Roses can grow in slums just as weeds can grow around mansions. ~Richard Paul Evans

You should always be careful of what you say in parting. ~Richard Paul Evans

Everybody needs love. Everybody. Those who don’t believe that frighten me a little. ~Richard Paul Evans

People can become so blinded by their own perceived victimhood that they make victims of everyone around them. ~Richard Paul Evans

We cannot enslave others without enslaving a part of ourselves. ~Richard Paul Evans

Those willing to trade freedom for certainty are certain to find the cure worse than the ailment. ~Richard Paul Evans

The shackles of belief, when reinforced by fear, are difficult to break free from and rarely done. ~Richard Paul Evans

Sometimes we can only find ourselves by first losing ourselves. ~Richard Paul Evans

Some so fear the future that they suffocate the present. It’s like committing suicide to avoid being murdered. ~Richard Paul Evans

In the beginning, I had considered these stops on my journey as interruptions – but I’m coming to understand that perhaps these detours are my journey. ~Richard Paul Evans

Life is not a sprint. It was never meant to be. It is just a step of faith after another. ~Richard Paul Evans

The depth of love is revealed in its departure. ~Richard Paul Evans

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive at where we started
And know the place for the first time. ~T. S. Eliot

It’s our memories that make us who we are. Without them, we’re nothing. If that means we have to hurt sometimes, it’s worth it. ~Richard Paul Evans

Every life can be learned from, as either a flame of hope or a cautionary flare. ~Richard Paul Evans

Sometimes our arms are so full with the burdens we carry that it hinders our view of the load those around us are staggering beneath. ~Richard Paul Evans

The further along we get on our life journey the more we wonder about those who traveled before us and paved the road. ~Richard Paul Evans

He lifted one of the bishops he’d taken from me. “The past makes a good bishop but a poor king.” What does that mean?” I said. “It means that it’s good to take counsel from the past but not to be ruled by it. Otherwise we end up using today to fight yesterday’s battles and miss tomorrow’s promise.” ~Richard Paul Evans

Having a place to go is a home.
Having someone to love is family.
Having both is a true blessing. ~Richard Paul Evans

Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark ~Tagore

Usually the most interesting stories are written not on paper but hearts. ~Richard Paul Evans

Some people spend so much time hunting treasure that they fail to see it all around them. It’s like sifting through gold to find the silt. ~Richard Paul Evans

Humanity is always looking for the next great world, the next frontier. I wonder how different this world would be if we were content with where we were. ~Richard Paul Evans

To deny our pasts is to burn the bridge we must cross to self-understanding. ~Richard Paul Evans

I’ve wondered why the famous congregate with each other. Perhaps it’s to assure each other that they really are as important as they think they are. ~Richard Paul Evans

It’s been said that every new beginning in some other beginning’s end. ~Richard Paul Evans

Americans are much more American than they are Northerners, Southerners, Westerners, or Easterners … California Chinese, Boston Irish, Wisconsin German, yes, Alabama Negroes, have more in common than they have apart … The American identity is an exact and provable thing. ~John Steinbeck

I see people getting so caught up in celebrating diversity that they are neglecting their commonality. I don’t see this as a good thing. The Chinese culture has survived for more than five thousand years in part because the Chinese have embraced the same language and culture. I hope I am wrong about this, and that the flame is still on beneath the great American melting pot. Americans need each other, and a house divided, no matter the color of its occupants, is still divided. And divided we all fall. ~Richard Paul Evans

If God came to save the world, why are so many of His professed followers intent on damning it? ~Richard Paul Evans

Man has left footprints on the moon but still hasn’t walked on the ocean floor. ~Richard Paul Evans

Things that seem bad at the time are really blessings. ~Richard Paul Evans

I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security … More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which makes us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us, “Give them something to eat.” ~Pope Francis

We need to stop building our churches around categories and start building them around people. ~Rachel Held Evans

Contrary to popular belief, we (millennials) can’t be won back with hipper worship bands, fancy coffee shops, or pastors who wear skinny jeans. ~Rachel Held Evans

The church is the last place we want to be sold another product, the last place we want to be entertained. ~Rachel Held Evans

Millennials aren’t looking for a hipper Christianity. ~Rachel Held Evans

We’re (millennials) looking for a truer Christianity, a more authentic Christianity. ~Rachel Held Evans

Like every generation before ours (millennials’) and every generation after, wer’re (millennials’) looking for Jesus – the same Jesus who can be found in the strange places He’s always been found: in bread, in wine, in baptism, in the Word, in suffering, in community, and among the least of these. ~Rachel Held Evans

No coffee shops or fog machines required [for church]. ~Rachel Held Evans

Christianity isn’t meant to simply be believed; it’s meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of other people. ~Rachel Held Evans

I can’t be a Christian on my own. I need a community. I need the church. ~Rachel Held Evans

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

In an age of information overload … the last thing any of us needs is more information about God. We need the practice of incarnation, by which God saves the lives of those whose intellectual assent has turned them dry as dust, who have run frighteningly low on the Bread of Life, who are dying to know more God in their bodies. Not more about God. More God. ~Rachel Held Evans

The church tells us we are beloved (baptism).
The church tells us we are broken (confession).
The church tells us we are commissioned (holy orders).
The church feeds us (communion).
The church welcomes us (confirmation).
The church anoints us (anointing of the sick).
The church unites us (marriage). ~Rachel Held Evans

We religious types are really good at building walls and retreating to temples. We’re good at making mountains out of our ideologies, obstructions out of our theologies, and hills out of our screwed-up notions of who’s in and who’s out, who’s worthy and who’s unworthy. We’re good at getting in the way. Perhaps we’re afraid that if we move, God might use people and methods we don’t approve of, that rules will be broken and theologies questioned. Perhaps we’re afraid that if we get out of the way, this grace thing might get out of hand. Well, guess what? It already has. Grace got out of hand the moment the God of the universe hung on a Roman cross and with outstretched hands looked out upon those who had hung Him there and declared, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” ~Rachel Held Evans

We could not become like God, so God became like us. God showed us how to heal instead of kill, how to mend instead of destroy, how to love instead of hate, how to live instead of long for more. When we nailed God to a tree, God forgave. And when we buried God in the ground. God got up. ~Rachel Held Evans

We are not spared death, but the power of death has been defeated. The grip of sin has been loosed. We are invited to share the victory, to follow the path of God back to life. ~Rachel Held Evans

I’m a Christian because Christianity names and addresses sin. It acknowledges the reality that the evil we observe in the world is also present within ourselves. It tells the truth about the human condition – that we’re not okay. ~Rachel Held Evans

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed,” instructed James, the brother of Jesus (James 5:16). At its best, the church functions much like a recovery group, a safe place where a bunch of struggling, imperfect people come together to speak difficult truths to one another. ~Rachel Held Evans

Imagine if every church became a place where everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable. Image if every church became a place where we told one another the truth. We might just create sanctuary. ~Rachel Held Evans

It wasn’t shared social status or ethnicity that brought Jesus’ followers together either, nor was it total agreement on exactly who this Jesus character was – a prophet? The Messiah? The Son of God? No, there is one thing that connected all these dissimilar people together it was a shared sense of need: a hunger, a thirst, a longing. It was the certainty that, when Jesus said He came for the sick, this meant Jesus came for me. ~Rachel Held Evans

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love. ~Billy Graham

Church is a moment in time when the kingdom of God draws near, when a meal, a story, a song, an apology, and even a failure id made holy by the presence of Jesus among us and within us. ~Rachel Held Evans

The Holy Trinity doesn’t need our permission to carry on in their endlessly resourceful work of making all things new. That we are invited to catch even a glimpse of the splendor is grace. All of it, every breath and every second is grace. ~Rachel Held Evans

Whenever we show others the goodness of God, whenever we follow our Teacher by imitating His posture of humble and ready service, our actions are sacred and ministerial. To be called into the priesthood, as all of us are, is to be called to a life of presence, of kindness. ~Rachel Held Evans

“To be a priest is to know that things are not as they should be and yet to care for them the way they are. ~Barbara Brown Taylor

With all the conceptual truths in the universe at His disposal [Jesus] did not give them something to think about together when He was gone. Instead, He gave them concrete things to do – specific ways of being together in their bodies – that would go on teaching them what they needed to know when He was no longer around to teach them Himself … “Do this” He said – not believe this but do this – “in remembrance of me. ~Barbara Brown Taylor

When [Jesus] wanted fully to explain what his forthcoming death was all about He didn’t give a theory. He didn’t even give them a set of Scriptural texts. He gave them a meal. ~Rachel Held Evans

This is what God’s kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there’s always room for more. ~Rachel Held Evans

But the gospel doesn’t need a coalition devoted to keeping the wrong people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting, “Welcome! There’s bread and wine. Come eat with us and talk.” This isn’t a kingdom for the worthy; it’s a kingdom for the hungry. ~Rachel Held Evans

Scripture doesn’t speak of people who found God. Scripture speaks of people who walked with God. ~Rachel Held Evans

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. ~Henri Nouwen

Walking with someone through grief, or through the process of reconciliation, requires patience, presence, and a willingness to wander, to take the scenic route. But the modern-day church doesn’t like to wander or wait. The modern-day church likes results. Convinced the gospel is a product we’ve got to sell to an increasingly shrinking market, we like our people to function as walking advertisements: happy, put-together, finished – proof that this Jesus stuff WORKS! ~Rachel Held Evans

But if the world is watching, we might as well tell the truth. And the truth is, the church doesn’t offer a cure. It doesn’t offer a quick fix. The church offers death and resurrection. The church offers the messy, inconvenient, gut-wrenching, never-ending work of healing and reconciliation. ~Rachel Held Evans

Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived. ~Helen Keller

When the people of God abandoned the covenant of love and fidelity, drawn as we are by the appeal of shallow, empty pleasures, God removed every possible obstruction to the covenant by being faithful for us, by becoming like us and subjecting Himself to the very worst within us, loving us all the way to the cross and all the way out of the grave. ~Rachel Held Evans

When the people of God abandoned the covenant of love and fidelity, drawn as we are by the appeal of shallow, empty pleasures, God removed every possible obstruction to the covenant by being faithful for us, by becoming like us and subjecting Himself to the very worst within us, loving us all the way to the cross and all the way out of the grave. ~Rachel Held Evans

What each of us longs for the most is to be both fully known and fully loved. Miraculously, God feels the same way about us. God, too, wants to be fully known and fully loved. God wants this so much that He has promised to knock down every obstacle in the way, enduring even His own death, to be with us, to consummate this love. ~Rachel Held Evans

What makes our marriage holy, what makes it “set apart” and sacramental, isn’t the marriage certificate filed away in the basement or the degree to which we follow a list of rules and roles, it’s the way God shows up in those everyday moments – loading the dishwasher, sharing a joke, hosting a meal, enduring an illness, working through a disagreement – and gives us the chance to notice, to pay attention to the divine. It’s the way the God of resurrection makes all things new. ~Rachel Held Evans

This is the church. Here she is. Lovely, irregular, sometimes sick and sometimes well. This is the body-like-no-other that God has shaped and placed in the world. Jesus lives here; this is His soul’s address. There is a lot to be thankful for, all things considered. She has taken a beating, the church. Every day she meets the gates of hell and she prevails. Every day she serves, stumbles, injures, and repairs. That she has healed is an underrated miracle. That she gives birth is beyond reckoning. Maybe it’s time to make peace with her. Maybe it’s time to embrace her, flawed as she is. ~Rachel Held Evans

This kingdom knows no geographic boundaries, no political parties, no single language or culture. It advances not through power and might, but through acts of love and joy and peace, missions of mercy and kindness and humility. This kingdom has arrived, not with a trumpet’s sound but with a baby’s cries, not with the vanquishing of enemies but with the forgiving of them, not on the back of a warhorse but on the back of a donkey, not with triumph and a conquest but with a death and a resurrection. ~Rachel Held Evans

So church is, essentially, a gathering of kingdom citizens, called out – from their individuality, from their sins, from their old ways of doing things, from the world’s way of doing things – into participation in this new kingdom and community with one another. ~Rachel Held Evans

Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door. ~Emily Dickinson

When we walk in the Light, we won’t stumble in the darkness. ~Bill Crowder

The God who created the universe is the God who loves you! ~Dave Branon

Our rough edges must be chipped away to bring out the image of Christ. ~Tim Gustafson

If you know Jesus, you’ll never walk alone. ~Poh Fang Chia

Paul was in earnest over one thing only, and that was his relationship to Jesus Christ. ~Oswald Chambers

It’s not too late for a fresh start. ~Randy Kilgore

Teach me, Lord, to get to know You, for that’s when I’ll learn to love You more than anything. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

God has already proven His love for you. ~Joe Stowell

True humility credits God for every success. ~Julie Ackerman Link

God desires willing hearts ready to be used. ~Bill Crowder

The Lord may calm your storm, but more often He’ll calm you. ~Lawrence Darmani

Myths about the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Students

Keep running the race with eternity in view. ~Keila Ochoa

Resentment comes from looking at others; contentment comes from looking at God. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Reading the Bible is meant not to inform but to transform. ~Dennis Fisher

Keep your eyes on God – your source of help. ~David McCasland

Our hope is anchored in Jesus. ~Marvin Williams

Encourage one another and build each other up. ~Dave Branon

When God forgives, He removes the sin and restores the soul. ~Cindy Hess Kasper

If Christ is the center of your life, you’ll always be focused on Him. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ~Anne Cetas

God’s great love for His child is one of His greatest gifts. ~Bill Crowder

God remains faithful in every change. ~David McCasland

Creation reminds us of the promise of redemption. ~Tim Gustafson

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~Helen Keller

Now is the time to invest in eternity. ~Mart DeHaan

Eyes of faith see God at work in everything. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Jesus said …, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

Anyone doing God’s work in God’s way is important in His sight. ~David Roper

God’s mercy can overcome our resistance. ~David McCasland

Through His cross and resurrection, Jesus rescues and redeems. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

We can’t put our sins behind us until we are ready to face them. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Anger can make us speak our mind when we should be minding our speech. ~Lawrence Darmani

Run the race with eternity in view. ~David McCasland

Rather than complain, pray. ~Dave Branon

Jesus invites us to come to Him for life. ~Anne Cetas

You need not fear the darkness if you are walking with the Light of the World. ~Bill Crowder

Sometimes the best way to be like Jesus is to sit quietly with a hurting friend. ~Tim Gustafson

God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan. ~Poh Fang Chia

God’s grace in the heart brings out good deeds in the life. ~Cindy Hess Kasper

God’s help is only a prayer away. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

In every desert, God has an oasis of grace. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Faith in God’s goodness keeps hope alive. ~David McCasland

Live so that when people get to know you, they will want to know Christ. ~Randy Kilgore

Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. ~William Carey

For a new start, ask God for a new heart! ~Lawrence Darmani

Jesus: His name and His mission are one and the same. ~Bill Crowder, Jr.

Sharing the gospel is one person telling another good news. ~Dave Branon

Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self. ~Charles Spurgeon

Praise is the song of a soul set free. ~Marvin Williams

God’s love does not keep us from trials, but sees us through them. ~Dennis Fisher

The best way to encourage others may be to just be near. ~Keila Ochoa

God forgives those who confess their guilt. ~Tim Gustafson

An idol is anything that takes God’s rightful place. ~Mart DeHaan

The voice of a courageous Christian is an echo of the voice of God. ~Randy Kilgore

You are headed in the right direction when you walk with God. ~David McCasland

Wealth or no wealth, devoted hearts please the Lord. ~Lawrence Darmani

God’s work in us isn’t over when we receive salvation – it has just begun. ~Joe Stowell

First we make our habits; then our habits make us. ~Cindy Hess Kasper

Most of us are farsighted about sin – we see the sins of others but not our own sin. ~Julie Ackerman Link

With God’s strength behind you and His arms beneath you, you can face whatever lies ahead of you. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Once lost, now found. Eternally thankful! ~Bill Crowder

Peace floods the soul when Christ rules the heart. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

God may lead us into troubled waters to deepen our trust in Him. ~Anne Cetas

A big fall begins with a little stumble. ~David Roper

Let love be your highest goal. ~Tim Gustafson

When we can’t see God’s hand, we can trust His heart! ~Philip Yancey

Assurance of salvation is not in what you know but who you know. ~Lawrence Darmani

To err is human; to forgive, divine. ~Alexander Pope

God’s care is the certainty we take into life’s uncertainties. ~Bill Crowder

Our greatest needs cannot exceed God’s great resources. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Others will know what the words “God is love” mean when they see it in our lives. ~Randy Kilgore

While Satan accuses and confuses, God controls. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Love is when God became a man. ~David McCasland

The growth of a saint is the work of a lifetime. ~Poh Fang Chia

Only as we walk in Christ’s light can we live in His love. ~Mart DeHaan

The closer Christians get to Christ, the closer they get to one another. ~Bill Crowder

God keeps giving us reasons to praise Him. ~Julie Ackerman Link

Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others. ~David McCasland

We are created to bring God the glory. ~Dennis Fisher

Faith is seen in our actions. ~Marion Stroud

Jesus is looking for fulltime followers. ~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

The Father’s love knows no limit. ~Dave Branon

Turning down the volume of life allows you to listen carefully to God. ~Cindy Hess Kasper

God’s presence brings us comfort; our presence brings others comfort. ~Bill Crowder

God always has good purposes for our trials. ~Lawrence Darmani

Our words have the power to build up or tear down. ~Marvin Williams

Jesus can transform our routine into meaningful service for Him ~David McCasland

Looking for someone who won’t disappoint you? Look to Jesus. ~Tim Gustafson

God watches over me every step of the way. ~Keila Ochoa

God’s truth stands any test. ~Dave Branon

Today is the day of salvation. ~Lawrence Darmani

“You’ve done it again, Lord. You’ve done it again. You are good and You are mighty and You are merciful. And You keep taking care of me when I don’t deserve it. Praise You, Jesus. You are Lord.”

“Give me another one, Lord. Guide me to who You want me to help. Raise up more that will call on Your name. Raise up those that love You and seek You and trust You. Raise them up, Lord, raise them up!”

In her mind, she saw a family clasping hands at the dinner table to pray. A man on a tractor in the middle of his field. Two men with bowed heads praying in front of a world map.

“Lord, we need a generation of believers who are not ashamed of the gospel. We need an army of believers who hate to be lukewarm and will stand on Your Word above all else. Raise’em up Lord. Raise them up.”

Clara saw streams of young people moving toward a flagpole, encircling the area with eyes closed. Others were heading for a church in the distance, carrying young children.

“I pray for unity among those that love You. I pray that You’d open their eyes so that they can see Your truth. I pray for Your hand of protection and guidance.”

Clara thought of the police officers in her town and across the nation. Of the division between races and the struggles she had witnessed over the years.

“Raise up a generation, Lord that will take light into this world. That will not compromise under pressure that will not cower when others fall away. Raise them up, Lord; that they will proclaim that there is salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. Raise up warriors who will fight on their knees, who will worship You with their whole hearts. Lord, call us to battle, that we may proclaim You King of kings and Lord of lords!”

Clara pictured fathers praying over their newborn children. She pictured men and women in places of high power kneeling and praying for guidance. She thought of schoolteachers and business leaders and gas station attendants and mothers at PTA meetings. She thought of pastors and youth workers and missionaries and the faces all came together in her final words of petition.

“I pray these things with all my heart. … Raise them up, Lord, raise them up!” ~The War Room

I would rather have a man chasing Jesus than a house full of stuff. ~The War Room

My whole source of joy is in You. ~The War Room

A lot of people want to do great things for God. A lot of people want to change the world. I just shake my head when I hear that. God is the only one who can change the world because He’s the only one who can change hearts and minds. ~The War Room

I hear people say, “Well all we can do now is pray.” That’s the best thing we can do. ~The War Room

No matter what happened to her and Tony, no matter how choppy the waters became because of the evil one’s influence, she had a choice. She could choose to be tossed about and blown off course, or she could be controlled by the love of God. She could choose to look at how far God had gone to show her love – the death of His only Son. She could choose to see the rescue plan God put in place for her soul, how much He cared, how much He wanted to bless her. She could either look at the circumstances she was in, which were pretty dire, or she could see the big picture, that God was ultimately in control and would walk with her no matter what happen. ~The War Room

“Most people think ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is in the Bible. Listen, God helps those who have come to the end of themselves. And that’s where Tony is. I know it feels terrible, but it’s a very good thing.” ~The War Room

“The circumstance doesn’t matter. It’s your reaction to it that matters.” ~The War Room

“God is working here. He’s done a big thing in your husband’s heart. And it doesn’t matter what that company decides.” ~The War Room

Pray and wait. That’s what she had done in the past few weeks. And in the waiting came the strengthening of the muscles of faith. It was a whole-faith workout to wait and allow God to do what He wanted to do. As Clara said, it was time to just get out of His way. ~The War Room

Why pray at all? “If God knows everything and if He’s working out His will in the world, what’s the point?” “Mm-hmm,” Clara said. “The answer to that question is simple, but not easy. We pray because God tells us to. He commands us to. So we obey. And John says whenever we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us. So why would God ask us to do something that makes no difference? That’s really your question.” “I do or I wouldn’t waste my time or the cartilage in my knees.” “Prayer brings us closer to the heart of God. It opens your heart to those around you and makes you long for what He longs for. And it’s clear from the first page to the last that God does respond to the requests of His people. I don’t pretend to understand it, but it’s true.” ~The War Room

“Once the power of God is unleashed in a life, things don’t stay the same. And that’s what prayer does, it unleashes the power of God. You see, prayer is not about getting things right. You don’t get your prayers answered because you kneel in just the right spot or say just the right words.” ~The War Room

“Lord Jesus, You know the struggle that Tony has. You know the indecision, the shame, the pain of his choices. I pray You would remind him right now of whose child he is. And that when You look at him, You see the perfection of Your Son, Jesus. Thank You that You have conquered sin. Thank You that the evil one is not in control. Give Tony the courage to do what You’re asking him to do, in Your timing.” ~The War Room

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. ~C.S. Lewis

“Really, what I’m talking about here is the difference between you working hard to change things and revival. I hear people talking a lot about revival and what they want God to do to change society and the culture and how much sin there is in Hollywood and everywhere else. I pray for revival. But I’ve lived long enough to know that it doesn’t start with anybody but me. Right here.” Clara pointed a bony finger toward her own heart. “If you find yourself getting anxious, nervous, questioning whether Tony can change, you’re not really questioning him, you’re questioning whether God has the power to do what He said He could do.” ~The War Room

“Ha-haaaa! Devil, you just got your butt kicked!” she screamed. “My God is faithful! He’s powerful! He’s merciful! He’s in charge! You can’t fire Him, and He’ll never retire! Glory! Praise the Lord!” ~The War Room

But I’ve learned that my contentment can’t come from you. Tony, I love you. But I am His before I’m yours. And because I love Jesus, I’m staying right here. ~The War Room

Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. ~The War Room

“All I know is, you can fight against your wife, and probably hold your own, but if God is fighting for her, you can hit the gym all you want to, but it’s not looking too good for you.” ~The War Room

The bad times are really the good times in disguise. ~The War Room

“Sometimes the best gifts God gives us are not the easy times when everything goes our way. The best gifts are the hard times when your life is reduced to a couple of good questions: What is this all about? Why are we here? Sometimes it’s a diagnosis. Sometimes it’s a slamming door when someone you love walks out. Might be a bill you can’t pay. And at first you think the answer will be healing or that loved one returning or a pile of money that drops right out of heaven. Now I’m not against healing. I’m for it. And I’m for reconciliation. If God opens up the storehouses of heaven and rains down hundred-dollar bills, I’ll get out a basket and gather them like manna.” Elizabeth laughed, though Clara figured tears were running down her cheeks at the same time. “But here’s the thing I’ve discovered after walking with the Lord a long time, Elizabeth. God is not interested in making me comfortable or happy. His goal is to make me holy, like His Son. And I’ve never met a follower of Jesus who hasn’t encountered some suffering pain. God doesn’t tell us to pick up a memory foam cross. It’s rugged and it’s heavy. You can run and try to find some easier way, but eventually He leads you through the thorns and briars and that valley of the shadow. But I promise you, if you trust Him, He will lead you to green pastures and peaceful waters. Not just when you get to heaven, but right now. Peace and contentment in the middle of the storm. In the middle of the disappointment and fear and anger.” ~The War Room

She wanted to tell Elizabeth that if you come to God with a good plan, you’ll probably leave frustrated. The believer’s job was to come to God with a surrendered heart. To come empty-handed every morning not to get what you wanted but to receive all of who He was and what He wanted for you. ~The War Room

Now here Elizabeth stood, fully awake to the battle. “I don’t know where you are, devil,” she said loudly, “but I know you can hear me.” She looked at the stone fireplace and the furniture in the room. “You have played with my mind. And had your way long enough. No more! You are done!” She walked into the kitchen, lights reflecting on the granite countertop. She glanced back from where she had just come. “Jesus is Lord of this house, and that means there’s no place for you here anymore! So take your lies, your schemes and accusations, and get out! In Jesus’ name!” Elizabeth could hear Clara’s voice echoing in her head – the way she would say those words. She opened the back door and walked onto the deck. “You can’t have my marriage, you can’t have my daughter, and you sure can’t have my man! This house is under new management, and that means you are out!” She walked inside and slammed the door behind her. Then something clicked in her mind and she opened the door again and stepped outside. “And another thing! I am so sick of you stealing my joy. But that’s changing too. My joy doesn’t come from my friends, it doesn’t come from my job, it doesn’t even come from my husband. My joy is found in Jesus, and just in case you forgot, He has already defeated you. So go back to hell where you belong and leave my family alone!” Elizabeth slammed the door again and it felt like the exclamation point to her proclamation. She was finally taking control. No, that wasn’t the truth. She was getting out of the way and letting God take control. She was going with Him, agreeing with Him instead of her enemy. No longer would she be ruled by fear or by the actions of anyone else. ~The War Room

And you need to do your fightin’ in prayer. You need to kick the real enemy out of your home with the Word of God. ~The War Room

“The goal of prayer is not to change God’s mind about what you want. The goal of prayer is to change your own heart, to want what He wants, to the glory of God.” ~The War Room

“God does hear what we pray. You don’t need a megaphone or a million people to get His attention. But the point of prayer is not to get what we want. Prayer changes the person who prays.” ~The War Room

“Elizabeth, you got to plead with God so that He can do what only He can do, and then you got to get out of the way and let Him do it.” ~The War Room

“When I fought against my husband,” Clara continued, “I was fighting against my own marriage and my family. I tried for years to fix Leo, but I couldn’t do it.”
“Well, I’ve gotten nowhere with Tony.”
“Cause it’s not your job! Who said it was your responsibility to fix Tony? It’s your job to love him, respect him, and to pray for the man. God knows he needs it.” She raised her voice to a falsetto. “And men don’t like it when their woman’s always trying to fix them.” ~The War Room

She wanted to pray that God would restore Elizabeth’s marriage and turn her husband’s heart around and that everything would be fixed overnight. Immediate healing was easier to pray for than a transplant because a transplant takes time and someone else has to die. But the more Clara spoke with the Lord about the situation, the more she understood Elizabeth’s life was probably going to get worse before it got better. And the issue wasn’t just Elizabeth’s husband. It was Elizabeth herself. ~The War Room

The other truth she believed, from a life experiencing it, was that for real change to happen deep in the soul, God tended to make people miserable rather than happy. He brought them to the end of themselves and showed them how powerless they were in order to show them how powerful He was. The children of Israel didn’t push back the Red Sea. They didn’t knock down the walls of Jericho. It was only when they were at the end of their rope and had to depend on someone bigger that they saw God work mightily. It was the same with each follower of Jesus. ~The War Room

Elizabeth said, “Miss Clara, I’ve never seen anything like this (her prayer closet). And I admire it, I really do. It’s just that I don’t have time to pray that mush every day. Miss Clara’s response, “But you apparently have time to fight losing battles with your husband.” ~The War Room

A prayer strategy. Yes. I used to do what you and your husband are doing, but it got me nowhere. Then I started really studying what the Scriptures say, and God showed me that it wasn’t my job to do the heavy lifting. No. That was something that only He could do. It was my job to seek Him to trust Him, and to stand on His Word. ~The War Room

Not everything good thing is a God thing. ~Priscilla Shirer

Satan’s ploy is to make you believe your core value as a person is tied to how much work you do, how much activity you can accomplish, how much stuff you can accumulate, how much business you can generate. ~Priscilla Shirer

God doesn’t want something from you. He wants something for you. Your value is not in what you do (as if you could ever do enough) but in who you are (as if you could ever be more loved and accepted by Him than you already are). ~Priscilla Shirer

Easy not to notice how every time Moses approached Pharaoh throughout the early part of Exodus, declaring God’s Words to the Egyptian ruler, he didn’t just say, “Let My people go,” like the lyrics to the old spiritual says. He said, “Let My people do, so that they may serve Me (Ex. 9:1). Said it about a dozen times. Look it up. There was a specific reason for their release. ~Priscilla Shirer

This one life is all we’ve got. This one pass through the gauntlet of life’s pressures and demands is our one chance to choose: Will we let them dominate and define us? Steal our hearts and devotion? Or will our service and adoration of the Father determine how we operate – determine what fills our plate? ~Priscilla Shirer

Unforgiveness is a strategic “design,” craftily implemented by your enemy to “outwit” you, to cripple your effectiveness in prayer and your power to stand against him victoriously. ~Priscilla Shirer

Yes: “All of God’s promises,” the Bible says, “have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘YES!’” (2 Cor. 1:20)

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I'd rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world, and be judged by God. ~God’s Not Dead 2

Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of troubles but he doesn’t want them turning to God. His sin is like a jail cell except it’s so nice and comfy and it doesn’t seem to be any need to leave. The door is wide open. Then one day time runs out and the cell door slams shut and suddenly it’s too late. ~God’s Not Dead

I realize only now that a regular life touched by the God of the universe has an impact on eternity. ~Woodlawn

There are going to be times when the people you are competing against are more physically gifted than you are. You can’t control that. But what you can control is your own preparation. If you outwork them, sometimes it doesn’t matter if they’re more talented. Through hard work, discipline, and execution you can and will beat superior talent. Don’t let the thing you have control over be the thing that beats you. Always outwork your competition. ~Woodlawn

If we sit by and do nothing, the pressure that we're feeling today will mean persecution tomorrow. We're at war. ~God’s Not Dead 2

I’ve discovered that the Lord doesn’t change my feelings until I obey Him. ~Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Obedience comes before understanding. I wanted to understand. But did I actually will to do His will? God promised to reveal this understanding to me if I “willed to do His will.” The Bible doesn’t just say do his will, but “will to do His will.” Wanting to understand is a theoretical statement; willing to do His will takes action. ~Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

I learned that we must obey in faith before we feel better or different. At this time, though, obeying in faith, to me, felt like throwing myself off a cliff. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

How did the Lord heal me? The way that He always heals: the Word of God got to bigger inside me than I. My natural inclination was to resist, so like a reflex, I did this. God’s people surrounded me. Not to manipulate. Not to badger. But to love and to listen and to watch and to pray. And eventually instead of resisting I surrendered. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

If people in my church really believed that gay people could be transformed by Christ, they wouldn’t talk about us or pray about us in the hateful way they do. Christian reader, is this what people say about you when they hear you talk and pray? Do your prayers rise no higher than your prejudice? ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Although grateful, I did not perceive conversion to be “a blessing.” It was a train wreck. After we profess faith in Christ the next morning, the alarm still rings and we cannot lose our salvation, if we are not growing in spiritual maturity we can lose everything else. What I faced at work following my conversion was the rubbish of my sin, forgiven by God, but still there to be cleared away. This required a newer and even more intense understanding and application of Scripture.
When I became a Christian, I had to change everything – my life, my friends, my writing, my teaching, my advising, my clothes, my speech, my thoughts. I was tenured to a field that I could no longer work in. I was the faculty advisor to all of the gay and lesbian and feminist groups on campus. I was writing a book that I no longer believed in. And, I was scheduled in a few months to give the incoming address to all Syracuse University’s graduate students. What in the world would I say to them? The lecture that I had written and planned to deliver – on Queer Theory – I threw in the trash. Thousands of new students would hear my first, fledgling attempts to speak about Christian hermeneutics at a postmodern university. I was flooded with doubt about my new life in Christ. Was I willing to suffer like Christ? Was I willing to be considered stupid by those who didn’t know Jesus? ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Importantly, God does not say that this sin of Sodom is the worst of all sins. Instead, God uses the sin of Sodom to reveal the greater sin committed by His own people: “As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good” (Ez. 16:48-50).

Conversion didn’t “fit” my life. Conversion overhauled my soul and personality. It was arduous and intense. I experienced with great depth the power and authority of God in my life. In it I learned – and am still learning – how to love God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. When you die to yourself, you have nothing from your past to use as clay out of which to shape your future. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Sin is not a mistake. A mistake is taking the wrong exit on the highway. A sin is treason against a Holy God. A mistake is a logical misstep. Sin lurks in our heart and grabs us by the throat to do its bidding. Remember what God said to Cain about his sin? It’s true for us too. In the fourth chapter of Genesis, God warns Cain like this: “sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Gen. 4:7). ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

After conversion, every day and every part of the routine of my life was a faith test. I had formerly been a very popular teacher in gay and lesbian studies. I was already scheduled to teach for the fall semester 1999 Introduction to Women’s Studies (a class that routinely enrolled over 200 students) and Feminist Pedagogy (a graduate seminar for graduate students who taught under me). I would have to follow through and teach these classes, but would have to find a way to teach them as a Christian. I still needed to make course descriptions for the classes in Christian hermeneutics that I would teach for the spring semester 2000. I had liberty to teach new courses – as long as the classes drew students. I had formerly used my classroom to advocate for gay and lesbian rights and ideas. I now used my classroom to abandon the discipline in which I was hired to create instead courses in a field of study – Christian hermeneutics – unheard of in my liberal postmodern department. Who would take such courses? What if no one signed up? ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

On August 17, 1999, I returned to my office after delivering a lecture to all incoming graduate students. The topic was to be of my choosing. When the graduate school invited me, I was a lesbian postmodernist. When I delivered the lecture six months later, I was a fledgling follower of Jesus Christ. The lecture was entitled: “The Solomon Problem.” I felt awkward and uncomfortable as I took the podium and adjusted the clip-on microphone to the neckline of my dress. I was in process of growing out my butch haircut, so every day was a bad hair day. And the lecture was going to be a bomb. In it, I would become a traitor and a turncoat. To the lesbian community, I would become the example of what not to be. I could no have gotten through that lecture had R not been there. In the six months since my conversion, he had become my watchdog, big brother, champion, simultaneous translator, and best friend. He came to my lectures, to my classes, to my Thursday night dinners. He talked to my students and my colleagues. He embraced my drag queen friends. He translated my concerns to the session of our church with a deftness and sensitivity that I still marvel at. As I fingered my pages on the podium, R gave me a firm thumbs up from his spot, the nosebleed section of the balcony, and left of stage. He was the only person who understood this spiritual and professional schizophrenia that had quickly become my new normal after conversion. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Unbelief puts circumstances between itself and Christ, so as not to see Him …. Faith puts Christ between itself and circumstances, so that it cannot see them. ~F.B. Meyer

But, I wondered, could I write an honest testimony? Could I, in the Apostle Paul’s words and tradition, write and deliver a testimony that reveals repentance as fruit of the Christian life? In English studies we have a mantra: A culture is comprised of its stories. “We are the stories we tell,” I’ve said to my students year after year. I was critical of the stories I heard from my churchy friends and my evangelical culture. But could I be more than just critical of the stories that encompassed me? Could I start a new conversation? What would happen if I just told the truth? Was anybody else out there ambivalent about conversion? Did anyone else see it as bittersweet? Did anyone else get lost in fear when counting the costs of discipleship? Did anyone else feel like giving up? Did anyone else tire of taking up the Cross daily? Did anyone else grieve for death to one life that anticipates the experience of being “born again”? Did anyone else want to take just one day off from the command that we die to ourselves? ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Hermeneutics is the study of how we make meaning out of text. Another word that often interchanges with hermeneutics is worldview. Hermeneutics focuses on the details; worldview takes the point of view of the frame. These two terms need to be understood in relationship. A stained-glass window relies on the right relationship between the details that make up each frame and the big picture that emerges when you lift your eyes off the minute detail. It is exceedingly dangerous to build a Christian life on just one or the other. You must hold both in tension and balance. Taken together, hermeneutics and worldview make up a critical perspective. Is there such a thing as a Christian critical perspective on worship? I wondered. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Borrowing from J. Gresham Machen’s book, The Virgin Birth of Christ, Moore says this: “if Joseph is not ‘really’ the father of Jesus, you and I are going to hell.” He goes on to explain: “Jesus identity as the Christ … is tied to his identity as the descendant of David, the legitimate heir to David’s throne. Jesus saves us as David’s son, the offspring of Abraham, the Christ. That human identity came to Jesus through adoption. Matthew and Luke trace’ Jesus’ roots in Abraham and David through the line of Joseph.” ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield


It would make a much bigger impression on our children’s future, I suggest, to be calling off most of their persistent sports idolatry to enjoy family dinner at home and to practice the “love of strangers” with such guests. Today’s children know little or nothing of such an approach to community. And our churches wonder how to reach the lost. Reach them for what? ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Yes, homosexuality is a sin, but so is homophobia. Homophobia is the irrational fear of a whole people group, failing to see in that group God’s image diminished but not extinguished by sin, and that God’s elect people linger there, snared by their own sin and awaiting gospel grace. ~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

I will say this – God’s character … is predictable. He’s predictably holy. Predictably full of love. Always. But nowhere in the Bible are we ever told that God’s … actions … are predictable. Unless, of course, He has promised a particular outcome to a particular person to help advance a particular plan. Otherwise I challenge you – pick up the Bible in your cell. You’ll find that God never asked us in general to place our faith in His predictability. Rather, He asked us to place our faith in His ability. And there is a difference. For example, God will not predictably keep us from developing cancer. He does have the ability to keep us from getting cancer. But He also has the ability to walk with us, teach us, console us, and use us as a positive influence while we are dying with cancer. And we need to trust His ability to choose what is best for us. So, is there a God? Is He a tyrant? No. Was your pastor misleading you? Perhaps not intentionally, but in my opinion, yes. ~Randall Arthur

To make us rich and comfortable is not God’s number-one priority, probably not even a priority at all. Actually, God’s standard according to Matthew chapter seven, verses twenty-four and twenty-five, is this: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Those verses imply that the rain and the winds will generally beat down on everyone’s life … even those who hear and obey His words. So, for a prosperity theologian to look at a group of Americans, who are in the top three percent of the most privileged people on the planet, and say “It’s God’s priority for you to have more and to never be uncomfortable,” and for that group of people to honestly believe they deserve more and that God is somehow unfair with them and not blessing them if they are not promoted to the top one percent … is the epitome of ingratitude. In my opinion, it’s the most extreme form of sacrilege. ~Randall Arthur

Western Christians have become so addicted … to comfort, prosperity, and selfish living that we’ve now built our Christian beliefs around these addictions. We truly expect God to care more about our … selfish dreams, whims, and desires than He cares about truth, justice, and rightness. It’s nothing more than an ‘American Dream’ theology. And I’m convinced that it is a wrong perspective. ~Randall Arthur

This life I have is a gift, and although it’s also a responsibility and yes, sometimes a burden, this gift has been given to me. ~Randall Arthur

The greatest ongoing battle in the universe is not between crime and law enforcement, not between democracies and dictatorships, not between the rich and the poor, not between nations, and not between races. Rather, the greatest ongoing battle in the universe is between the lies of Satan and the truth of God. The lies of the enemy, when believed, will trap and destroy every victim, without exception. On the other hand, the truths of God, when believed, will set a person free. John’s Gospel, chapter eight, verses thirty-one and thirty-two, say, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Set you free from what? From spiritual condemnation, from spiritual confusion, from hopelessness, from fear, from unforgiveness, from anger, from depression, from bitterness, from emptiness. And the list goes on and on. ~Randall Arthur

Help me, God. I never, never, never want to be guilty of taking a single step without completely depending on you. ~Randall Arthur
Fame and greatness are not the same thing.
Matt. 8:23-26 says, “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” The passage made it very clear that fear was the exact opposite of faith. And the one thing that God wanted most from His followers was faith. Yet, in spite of a grand pantheon of Christian words and ideas, most westerners, it seemed, lived by fear, not by faith. ~Randall Arthur

Pain, like no other tool, it seemed, had the power to chisel one’s heart into radical shapes. ~Randall Arthur

I’m a servant in God’s household, so I don’t have to worry. He takes care of His servants, even if it’s with meager provisions. I’ll be okay. “True religion with contentment is great gain.” ~Randall Arthur

… the life-changing education of the heart and soul is not in the already knowing, but rather in the strain of learning. ~Randall Arthur

The most important story we will ever write in life is our own – not with ink, but with our choices. ~Richard Paul Evans

Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ~Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor.

We are not an accident of God or nature. The universe is demonstrably purposeful, and there’s a purpose for our being here on earth. The experiences we have have come to us for our spiritual growth and evolution. Simply stated, earth is a school – a divine educational process custom-fit to each of us. ~Richard Paul Evans

We are all in motion. Always. Those who are not climbing toward something are descending toward nothing. ~Richard Paul Evans

We grow or diminish spiritually as we move closer to light or darkness, love or hate, forgiveness or resentment, peace or anguish. The fact that we are changing is a given. How we change is in direct correlation to our choices and the power and exercise of our free will. ~Richard Paul Evans

Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Almost without exception, history’s greatest achievers held a highly developed sense of personal mission. Nearly every one of them believed that their life had a purpose – that they had something of importance to share with the world. ~Richard Paul Evans

There are specific moments in each life given us to influence our life paths – a cosmic pull of a lever that switches the tracks beneath us. History abounds in such “accidents.” If such providence is evident in the lives of the great, then why not the rest of us? ~Richard Paul Evans

If you figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose. ~ T.D. Jakes

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper, which is heard by him alone. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for. ~Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. ~Albert Einstein

The success of our lives is more determined by our imagination than our circumstances. ~ Richard Paul Evans

We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better. ~J.K. Rowling

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world … We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. ~Marianne Williamson

Fame and greatness are not the same thing. There are great people in this world – people of great accomplishment and service to humanity – who are not famous. There are scores of famous people who are not great. In most cases, true greatness is a silent and lonely affair, unaccompanied by the trumpeted fanfare of acclaim. ~ Richard Paul Evans

To be of value to others is a far greater ambition than the vain hope for the world’s fleeting applause and fickle admiration. ~ Richard Paul Evans

We can spend our days bemoaning our losses, or we can grow from them. Ultimately, the choice is ours. We can be victims of circumstances or masters of our own fate, but make no mistake … we cannot be both. ~ Richard Paul Evans

Life’s greatest gifts often come wrapped in adversity. ~ Richard Paul Evans

In many cases, we do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but precisely because of them. ~ Richard Paul Evans

During our time in Italy, I became friends with a local winemaker. On one occasion, I said to him, “Chianti must have very fertile soil to produce such famous grapes.” His reply surprised me. “No,” he said. “We have terrible soil. Good grapes do not grow in good soil.”

I did some research on this. It turns out that grapes are lazy. If the soil they grow in is too fertile, the grapes do not need to extend their roots deeply, which results in mediocre grapes that are used to make cheap table wine.

Because the soil in Chianti is poor, the grapevines develop large, intricate root systems that stretch deep into the ground, extracting not only what they need to survive but many other nutrients and minerals as well. The result is a sweet, delicious grape.

The metaphor is obvious and thought-provoking. A biologist once said to me, “I have noticed that in nature things with easy lives tend to die young.” ~ Richard Paul Evans

“We (Richard Paul Evans’s physician and other doctors) have been conducting a rather interesting study. We’ve surveyed more than a thousand people struggling with different handicaps. We asked them this question, ‘If I had a pill that could take away your handicap, but will make you lose everything you have gained from your adversity, would you take the pill?’” He looked me in the eyes. “Guess how many people would have taken the pill?”

I was thinking of a number in the ninety percent range but answered, “Seventy-five percent?” He shook his head. “Let me ask you this: Would you take the pill?” [Richard has Tourette’s]

I thought a moment, then said, “No.”

He smiled. “Neither would anyone else. No one has taken the pill.” Richard Paul Evans

Always, always remember that adversity is not a detour. It is part of the path.

You will encounter obstacles. You will make mistakes. Be grateful for both. Your obstacles and mistakes will be your greatest teachers. And the only way to not make mistakes in this life is to do nothing, which is the biggest mistake of all.

Your challenges, if you let them, will become your greatest allies. Mountains can crush or raise you, depending on which side of the mountain you choose to stand on. All history bears out that the great, those who have changed the world, have all suffered great challenges. And, more times than not, it’s precisely those challenges that, in God’s time, lead to triumph.

Abhor victimhood. Denounce entitlement. Neither are gifts, rather cages to damn the soul. Everyone who has walked this earth is a victim of injustice. Everyone.

Most of all, do not be too quick to denounce your sufferings. The difficult road you are called to walk may, in fact, be your only path to success. ~Richard Paul Evans

Everyone has problems. It’s how we choose to deal with our problems that matters. Some people choose to be whiners – some choose to be winners. Some choose to be victims – some choose to be victors. ~Richard Paul Evans

The greatest shackles we wear in this life are those forged of our own fears. ~Richard Paul Evans

When the media criticized him for his failure to create the incandescent lightbulb by the deadline he had publicly announced, Edison responded, “I have no failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” ~Richard Paul Evans

Thomas J. Watson, the chairman and CEO of IBM, said, “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really, Double your rate of failure.” ~Richard Paul Evans

Scottish author Samuel Smiles said, “It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.” ~Richard Paul Evans

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. ~ Helen Keller

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. ~Wayne Gretzky

We rarely regret our failed attempts, but we nearly always regret the ones we don’t take. ~Richard Paul Evans

To work hard is to work with directed passion toward accomplishing an objective, not just punching a clock. It means to give and do more than is expected of you. ~Richard Paul Evans

Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” ~Richard Paul Evans

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it. ~Ray Bradbury

Without passion we are doomed to mediocrity. ~Richard Paul Evans

Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. ~Viktor E. Frankl

Without love, infants die. Emotionally, so do adults. With love, our health improves, both physically and emotionally. ~Richard Paul Evans

I will greet this day with love in my heart. For this is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. ~Og Mandino

Service is love made visible. ~Stephen Colbert

Love is what love does. ~Richard Paul Evans

We love those whom we serve. ~Richard Paul Evans

Love, for the sake of love, will always be enough. And if our lives are but a single flash in the dark hollow of eternity, then, if, but for the briefest of moments, we shine – then how brilliantly our light has burned. And as the starlight knows no boundary of space or time, so, too, our illumination will shine forth throughout all eternity, for darkness has no power to quell such light. And this is a lesson we must all learn and take to heart – that all light is eternal and all love is light. And it must forever be so. ~Richard Paul Evans

God helps those who depend on Him.

When life knocks you down, you're in the perfect position to pray!

When life’s struggles make you weary, find strength in the Lord.

Wait and witness till Jesus returns.

Even when everything seems meaningless, God still has a purpose for your life.

The Lamb who died is the Lord who lives!

Brokenness can lead to wholeness.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.

Belief [TRUST] in Jesus’s death and resurrection brings the assurance of life with Him forever.

Joy comes from putting another’s needs ahead of our own.

Followers of Christ have a brand-new identity.

Only God can transform a sinful soul into a masterpiece of grace.

Both tears and smiles bring God praise.

God is always in control behind the scenes, even on “ordinary” days.

Love is the language everybody understands.

Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God’s presence.

The goal of Bible study is not just learning but living.

When it comes to problems, the way out is to trust God on the way through.

A good father reflects the love of the heavenly Father.

Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. ~Oswald Chambers

Loves comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ~1 John 4:7

We can trust God to do what we cannot do.

Serving shows our love for God.

Keep your eyes on the gift and (maybe) you’ll be blessed as long as it lasts. Turn your heart to the Giver, and you’ll be blessed for eternity.

There is peace in the presence of God.

When the world around us is crumbling, Christ is the solid Rock on which we stand.

Prayer is simply an honest conversation with God.

To avoid drifting away from God, stay anchored to the Rock.

To enjoy the future, accept God’s forgiveness for the past.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ~Matthew 5:16

Before people want to hear what you say, they want to know that you care.

The best gift you can give to others may be your time.

Wait and witness till Jesus returns.

Prayer for those in authority is both a privilege and a duty.

Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.

God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.

Daily blessings are reminder of God’s faithfulness.

Love people; love the truth.

God has unlimited power.

May the words we speak point others to Jesus.

God doesn’t always change our circumstances, but He will change us.

God’s timing is always right – wait patiently for Him.

Taking time to be with God is the best place to find strength.

God can bring times of growth out of our times of heartache.

Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice. ~Henry Liddon

Jesus is both the Gift and the Giver.

“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ~Albert Pike

And in the end it is not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln

The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance even as it receives.

In a world of change, we can trust our unchanging God.

Waiting on God is active trust in Him.

Jesus is our Light in the darkest night.

Obedience pleases God.

We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have a need for it. ~Gordon MacDonald

Ask God to free you from your fears.

Our words have the power to build up or tear down.

When your burdens overwhelm you, remember that God has His arms underneath you.

Being honest about our struggles allows us to help each other.

What a friend we have in Jesus.

We show our love for God when we love one another.

Jesus paid the price so we can enter God’s kingdom.

When we walk with God, the best is yet to come.

Faith connects our weakness to God’s strength.

Never measure God’s unlimited power by your limited expectations.

The only difference between Christians and everyone else is forgiveness.

The Lord never lets us out of His sight.

Christ at the center brings life into focus.

It is impossible to love Christ without loving others.

Look forward eagerly for the Lord’s appearing.

Will you tell someone the good news today?

We find refuge in the Lord.

God incarnate is the end of fear. ~F. B. Meyer

Let God’s Spirit, not the world, shape your mind.

God would not be worthy of our worship if He could be understood by our wisdom.

Your loving heavenly Father never takes His eyes off you.

Live to leave a legacy for God’s glory.

Shine the Light!

Encouragers pick others up when troubles weigh them down.

God will never turn away whoever turns to Him in faith.

God expresses His goodness to His children in His own way.

When fear knocks, answer it with faith.

Life in Christ is meant to be a shared experience.

Great blessings are often followed by great temptations.

God speaks through His Word when we take time to listen.

Satan is powerless against the power of Christ.

God’s promises never fail.

We honor God’s name when we call Him our Father and live like His children.

As God’s people we are His mouthpiece to spread His good news.

God sees us with eyes of compassion.

Repentance clears the way for our walk with God.

What God does for us we should do for others.

The price of our freedom from sin was paid by Jesus’s blood.

Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.

Growing in Christ comes from a deepening relationship with Him.

Jesus’s arms of welcome are always open.

The closer we walk with God, the clearer we see His guidance.

Jesus provides an oasis of grace in the desert of trials.

Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.

Do thy duty, that is best; leave unto the Lord the rest. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Everything belongs to God.

God’s love stands when all else has fallen.

Effective witnesses not only know their faith but show their faith.

Nearness to God is our conscious security. A child in the dark is comforted by grasping its father’s hand. ~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

We need to be ready for Christ to come again.

God is not nearly as concerned with our ability as He is with our surrender.

Jesus is the Son of God, the Man beyond time, who gives us eternal life.

God’s presence brings us comfort; our presence brings others comfort.

A godly life is a fragrance that draws others to Christ.

God is a safe resting place.

God gives us time – to prepare for eternity.

The mind is formed by what it takes in. ~Will Durant

Jesus laid down His life to show His love for us.

Faith is seeing God in the dark and in the light.

The gates into the presence of God are always open.

Kind words can lift a heavy heart.

We influence future generations by living for Christ today.

Words that point us to Christ are always words that matter.

When we keep our minds on Jesus, He keeps our minds at peace.

What we value reveals the state of our heart.

The Holy Spirit and Jesus are always praying for you.

We we serve a Savior who is eager to forgive.

Our faith is good if it’s in the right person.

Keeping the faith means trusting God to faithfully keep you.

Communion is the Lord’s reminder to us of His love and provision.

In Christ, there are no outsiders.

The prison of sin cannot withstand the power of Christ’s forgiveness.

We find joy when we learn to live in Jesus’s love.

Prayer helps us see things as God sees them.

We hold to the cross of Christ and are held by it.

Jesus is the sole source of living water.

Our strongest allegiance is to Christ, who gives us unity with each other.

God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

Anger almost always vanishes in the face of grace.

God's wisdom overshadows our self-centeredness.

A heart that is open to Christ will be open to those He loves.

Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us motivates us to sacrifice ourselves for others.

Only God is worthy of our adoration and devotion.

Encourage someone today to keep living for God.

Prayer is an intimate conversion with our God.

God wants to hear your heart.

All of creation reflects the beauty of God.

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading. ~Oswald Chambers

God is greater than anything that happens to us.

Giving isn’t just for the wealthy; it’s for all of us.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 5:10

For a new start, ask God for a new heart.

Contentment enables you to grow where God has planted you.

God pours His love into our hearts to flow out to others’ lives.

God’s faithfulness extends to all generations.

Let’s thank God for His countless blessings.

Love was born in a stable
and not in a palace
one night long ago
Love was first shown
to shepherds
abiding in fields
and not to kings
sitting on thrones.

Love walked down dusty roads
to spread the word
and was not carried
from town to town
in grand chariots.

Love was rejected,
spit upon, ridiculed,
beaten, whipped
and nailed to a cross
for you and for me
so that we could have life and
live eternity.

Love so amazing
love, of so divine.
Thank you, God
for your Love which reaches
way down to the lowest of lows
for one such as I. ~Sara J. Revell

Our troubles can fill our prayers with love and empathy for others.

The Lord speaks to His children, but we need to discern His voice.

The promise of heaven is our eternal hope.

God is our refuge in times of trouble.

The best way to escape temptation is to run to God.

Real restraint is not weakness, for it arises out of genuine strength.

The gift of unity can result from serving each other.

Only God can transform a sin-stained soul into a masterpiece of grace.

He who overrules all things … enabled Christian to … continue on his way. ~John Bunyan, “The Pilgrim’s Progress”

Nothing costs as much as caring – except not caring.

The best way to know God’s will is to say, “I will” to God.

With our new life in Christ we have been given a new purpose.

What we think of Jesus shows in how we relate with Him.

Share the Bread of Life wherever you are.

The receiving of the Word consists in two parts: attention of the mind and intention of the will. ~William Ames

Our unity comes from our union with Christ.

The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Faithful Christians from the past encourage us today.

Our desire to please God should be our highest motive for obeying God.

Only the light of Christ’s love can eliminate the darkness of hatred.

We should give God the same place in our hearts that He holds in the universe.

May we find grace to walk in the Master’s steps.

The human spirit fills with hope at the sound of an encouraging word.

The best home of all is our home in heaven.

Jesus came not to be famous, but to humbly offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

Choose the attitude of gratitude.

True contentment does not depend on anything in this world.

The tongue has the power of life and death.

As the years add up, God’s faithfulness keeps multiplying.

Everyone we meet bears the image of God.

Rich treasures of God’s truth are waiting to be discovered in His Word.

Our worth is measured by what God paid to rescue us.

Hope comes with help from God and others.

God is worth waiting for; His time is always best.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may … glorify your Father in heaven. ~Matt. 5:16

The purest treasure mortal times afford is a spotless reputation.

Praise to God comes naturally when you count your blessings.

Do our choices bring honor to God or to us?

The love of God for us is revealed in His letter to us – the Bible.

Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart.

By God’s grace, we can reflect His light in the dark times.

In prayer, God can still our hearts and quiet our minds.

The Bible is the bread of life, and it never gets stale.

The call of God can always be heard.

Let your speech be better than silence; otherwise be silent.

O Death, where is your sting? ~1 Corinthians 15:55

In dark circumstances, God’s light is still shining in our hearts.

As followers of Christ, our love should make us stand out in a crowd.

Our greatest hope here below is help from God above.

Fly the flag of Christ’s presence to show that the King is in residence in your life.

Jesus wants willingness, not weariness.

God takes us as we are but never leaves us that way.

Timely words are works of art.

Do you see a needy world through the eyes of Jesus?

We don’t need to see the way when we stay close to the One who does.

We need not fear the troubles around us as long as the eye of the Lord is on us.

The wise man builds his house upon the Rock.

Christ sends us out to bring others in.

We can own up to our wrongs – because we can’t hide them from God anyway.

Your witness is only as strong as your character.

Treasures on earth can’t compare with the treasures in heaven.

Nothing is unusable in God’s hands.

When we put our problems in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.

It is fitting for a great God to forgive great sinners.

Of all God’s creation, only humans can experience re-creation.

To be with Jesus forever is the sum of all happiness.

Spiritual growth occurs when faith is cultivated.

Anger builds walls; love breaks them down.

Fellow Jesus and let the world know He is your rabbi.

Isn’t there a problem in explaining how the blind forces of physics brought about (cognitively) sighted humans who are able to see, identify, and comment on, the “blind” forces of physics? How did the forces of physics create beings who transcend those forces? ~Raymond Tallis

Isn’t there a problem in explaining how natural forces created humans who are able to turn around and use those forces to engage with nature as if from the outside? Why are humans able to rise above the forces that supposedly created them? Can a puppet gain control over the puppeteer? ~Raymond Tallis

Isn’t there a problem in explaining how the universe “brought us into being by mindless processes that are entirely without purpose?” How did a mindless process create beings with minds? How did a purposeless process create beings with purposes? ~Raymond Tallis

Isn’t there a problem in explaining how an undersigned process could produce “one species that is indeed a designer? How did we humans get to be so different? How is it possible for humans to be “so different” from the forces that supposedly produced them? How can water rise above its source? ~Raymond Tallis

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. ~“To Kill a Mockingbird”

Christians are called to love people enough to listen to their questions and do the hard work of finding answers. ~Nancy Pearcey

Scripture calls us to an exquisitely balanced approach: “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). That balance is spelled out in the flagship verse for apologetics: “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” – there’s the truth. “Yet do it with gentleness and respect” – there’s the love (1 Pet. 3:15). ~Nancy Pearcey

It seems that Peter (1 Peter 3:15) is saying the goal of apologetics is not just to present better arguments but also to exhibit a better character, especially when suffering hostility and opposition. ~Nancy Pearcey

Our motivation for speaking out should not be only that we are offended. After all, we are called to share in the offense of the Cross. We are called to love the offender. Christians will be effective in reaching out to others only when they reflect biblical truth in their message, their method, and their manners. ~Nancy Pearcey

Light up your world by reflecting the light of Jesus.

God is using us to help create a masterpiece.

The anchor of God’s faithfulness holds firm in the strongest storms.

Discontentment makes rich people poor, while contentment makes poor people rich.

No evil can penetrate the armor of God.

Let the roots of God’s love in your life be entwined with others who need your support.

Proclaiming God’s faithfulness silences discontentment.

Open your heart to God to learn compassion and open your hand to give help.

Focusing on Christ puts everything else in perspective.

A song of sadness can turn our hearts to the God whose joy for us is forever.

Some lessons of patience take a long time to learn.

When the Spirit prompts, take action.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. ~Jesus

We are not tempted because we are evil; we are tempted because we are human.

To love money is to lose sight of the Source of life.

When you draw near to God, you are sure to be on His side.

Jesus knows you by name and longs for you to know Him.

Lessons about God are embedded in life experiences.

A word of encouragement can make the difference between giving up or going on.

When we teach others, we’re not just spending time, we’re investing it.

The glory of life is to love, not to be loved; to give, not to get; to serve, not to be served.

Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.

Pawn and king alike, they all go back in the bag. ~Ancient Italian Proverb

Wherefore play the game of life warily, for your opponent is full of subtlety, and take abundant thought over your moves, for the stake is your soul! ~anonymous

This is our predicament. Over and over again, we lose sight of what is important and what isn’t. ~Epictetus

The biggest lesson life has to teach is the absolute necessity of arranging our life around what matters in light of our mortality and eternity. ~John Ortberg

When the game is over, it all goes back in the box. ~John Ortberg

To me, if life boils down to one significant thing, it’s movement. To live is to keep moving. Unfortunately, this means that for the rest of our lives we’re going to be looking for boxes.

When you’re moving, your whole world is boxes. That’s all you think about. “Boxes, where are the boxes?” You just wander down the street going in and out of stores, “Are there boxes here? Have you seen any boxes?” It’s all you think about.

You could be at a funeral, everyone around you is mourning, crying, and you’re looking at the casket. “That’s a nice box. Does anybody know where that guy got that box? When he’s done with it, you think I could get it? It’s got some nice handles on it. My stereo would fit right in there.”

I mean that’s what death is, really – the last big move of your life. The hearse is like the van, the pallbearers are your close friends, the only ones you could really ask to help you with a big move like that. And the casket is that great, perfect box you’ve been looking for your whole life. ~Comedian Jerry Seinfeld

Then one day it stops. For you, the game is over. Did you play wisely? ~John Ortberg


The Talmud teaches that every person should fully repent one day before death. When a visitor asked, “But how will I know when that day is?” He was told: “Treat every day as it were the day before your last.” Arrange your life around what matters most. Starting today. The box will wait. ~John Ortberg

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. ~Dave Toycen

“He looks so peaceful.” Rigor mortis will do that. Death is nature’s way of telling you to slow down. They ask the same foolish question people ask when somebody rich dies: “I wonder how much he left.” He left it all. Everybody always leaves it all. ~John Ortberg

You can be rich toward God. Your life – with God’s help – can be a source of pleasure to the God of the universe. You can make God smile. ~John Ortberg

When the game is over, all that will matter will be God’s assessment of our lives. John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means growing a soul that is increasingly healthy and good. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means loving and enjoying the people around you. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means learning about your gifts and passions and doing good work to help improve the world. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means becoming generous with your stuff. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means making that which is temporary become the servant of that which is eternal. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God means savoring every roll of the dice and every trip around the board. ~John Ortberg

Being rich toward God begins with giving to God that which He desires most of all. And what He desires most from you is you – your heart and devotion. Just as God can give us many gifts but the best gift is Himself, so we can offer God our resources and acts of service, but the gift He desires most is us. ~John Ortberg

The reason God created people is so He could be with us. ~John Ortberg

Love is a by-product of knowing. ~John Ortberg

In the West, you measure a man’s wealth by his possessions. In this country, we measure his wealth by his friends.  ~A man from Ethiopia

One of the main reasons we are tempted to get more invested in our work than in our relationships is that in our vocations it’s easier to keep score.  ~John Ortberg