Him in silence
When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you, tell you of its unreality and of the reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the reality of Cod. Thomas Merton.
See: Deuteronomy 4:29; Isaiah 6: 3; 55:6.
We play the game unfairly
A Hasidic story tells of a little boy playing hide-and-seek with his friends. For some unknown reason they stopped playing while he was hiding. He began to cry. His old grandfather came out of the house to see what was troubling him. After learning what had happened, the grandfather said, "Do not weep, my child, because the boys did not come to find you. Perhaps you can learn a lesson from this disappointment.
All of life is like a game between Cod and us. Only it is Cod who is weeping, for we are not playing the game fairly. Cod is waiting to be found, but many have gone in search of other things."
-James S. Hewett.
Against the current
I thought when I became a Christian I had nothing to do but just to lay my oars in the bottom of the boat and float along. But I soon found that I would have to go against the current. D. L. Moody. See: Romans 12:2; Hebrews 11:24-25; Titus 2:12.
Thinking of the next world
If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. - C. S. Lewis.
Inner strength needed
If within us we find nothing over us we succumb to what is around us. P.T. Forsyth. See: Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Our throw-away society
In this society we save whales, we save timber wolves and bald eagles and Coke bottles. Yet, everyone wanted me to throw away my baby. David Boehi, quoting a pregnant woman.
See: Exodus 23:2; Matthew 16:26; Ephesians 2:2.
Where is the church?
You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion.
Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?"
If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?" If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?" John Stott. See: Matthew 5:13-16; Daniel 12:3; John 5:35; Proverbs 11:11; 14:34.
God and the "Me" generation
Rabbi Harold S. Kushner's book: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" was a best seller not only because it is so well written, but also because it caters to a narcissistic age. For us, any suffering, confusion or tragedy is patently unfair and undeserved because we stopped trusting a God whose presence makes suffering, confusion and tragedy bearable. William H. Willimon. See: Matthew 5:11; 10:39; Acts 9:16.
World movers
We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world. G. K. Chesterton. See: Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 9:50; Luke 16:8; Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:5.
Metaphor for today
The best metaphor for our world of today is astronauts speeding through the cosmos, but with their life-supporting capsule pierced by a meteorite fragment. But the Church resembles Mary and Joseph traveling from Egypt to Nazareth on a donkey, holding in their arms the weakness and poverty of the Child Jesus: God incarnate. Carlo Caretto. See: Matthew 5:14-16; Mark 9:49; 2 Timothy 3:1-2.
Trivial pursui
In biblical days prophets were astir while the world was asleep; today the world is astir while church and synagogue are busy with trivialities. Abraham Joshua Heschel. See: Psalms 74:9; Amos 8:11; Romans 12:2.
The generation of self
While evangelicals reject "unbiblical Narcissism," there is little remorse today for the sinful self; prime concern centers, rather, on self-potential, self-fulfillment, and even self-veneration. No clear line is drawn between self-indulgence and self-affirmation. Carl F. H. Henry. See: Lamentations 3:40; Luke 8:14; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 2 Peter 2:13.
A Church is not an audience
A sharp distinction ought to be made between a church and an audience. An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a shortlived attraction. An audience is a crowd. A church is a family. An audience is a gathering. A church is a fellowship. An audience is a heap of stones. A church is a temple. Preachers are ordained, not to attract an audience, but to build a church. Coarse and worldly men, if richly gifted, can draw audiences, but only a man who is given to the Lord Jesus Christ can build a church. Charles E. Jefferson. See: Deuteronomy 14:2; 32:10; Acts 20:28; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 4:6.
Henry Feyerabend
