God is not a power or principle or law, but he is a living, creating, communicating person -- a mind who thinks, a heart who feels, a will who acts, whose best name is Father. (Robert Hamill)

One of the ways that our faith expresses itself is by our ability to be still, to be present, and not to panic or lose
perspective. God still does his best work in the most difficult of circumstances. (Tim Hansel)

If a church wants a better pastor, it can get one by praying for the one it has. (Robert E. Harris)

The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs. (Vance Havner)

So what to do? Two Things, it seems to me. At least two. Use up each day. Fill it overflowing with good. Deliberately enjoy it. Two, begin now. Mend a fractured friendship, mail an overdue letter, repair a broken heart, lay aside a griveance, act on a noble impulse. As we all know, "The night cometh". (Lanny Henninger)

The prayers and supplications that Christ offered up were, joined with strong cries and tears, herein setting us example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God!

Christ is our temple, in whom by faith all believers meet.

When I cannot enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence.

God has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events and reserved for himself the knowledge of them, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a continued readiness for every event.

The Christian's hope for the future must have a sanctifying influence upon the present. ( D. Edmond Hiebert)

Man does not rule over evil except when he refuses to do it. When he has truly done evil, he is its servant. (Hildegard of Bingen)

It is the acknowledgment of our humanity and our frailness that places us in a position to have a personal encounter with the living God. (Os Hillman)

When you attack the roots of sin, fix your thought more on the God you desire than on the sin you abhor. (Walter Hilton)

The gospel is so simple that simple children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches. (Charles Hodge)

Faith enables us to move through the storms carrying our calm with us. ( J. Holmes)

Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.

The greatest act of faith is when man decides he is not God.

None can sing a new song who has not the new life. But many who have the new life seem to have lost the song. The first thing that goes when we begin to backslide is the joy of the Lord. (Evan H. Hopkins)

The overwhelming recognition of human sin controls the Old Testament and the New Testament alike, and no understanding of our Lord's words and actions is possible if we persist in denying it. (Sir Edwyn Hoskyns)

When our lives are focused on God, awe and wonder lead us to worship God, filling our inner being with a fullness we would never have thought possible. Awe prepares the way in us for the power of God to transform us and this transformation of our inner attitudes can only take place when awe leads us in turn to wonder, admiration, reverence, surrender, and obedience toward God. (James Houston)

God is continually drawing us to himself in everything we experience. (Gerard Hughes)

Through a tree we were made debtors to God; so through a tree we have our debt canceled. (Irenaeus)

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists
in beholding God. (Irenaeus)

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness. - (Isaac from Syria)

No one who really wants to count for God can afford to play at Christianity. (H. A. Ironside)

Our prayers will see answers when we believe in what we ask for. (John Iverson)

Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me. (John Irving)

I do not know anyne who goes through life without some wounding of the heart. Sometimes we take a little shower at Calvary rather than let God deeply cut and wash away the hurts with His atoning blood. (Cindy Jacobs)

Against the backdrop of people who avoid work, cut corners, and do half-hearted jobs, a diligent man stands out. Practicing diligence is an excellent way to stand out for Christ at home, in the workplace, and even at church. Today, complete each one of your tasks, however big or small, with diligence. (David Jeremiah)

However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will -- unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself -- not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.

My spirit has become dry because it forgets to feed on you.

The door of God is humility. Our fathers, through the many insults which they suffered, entered the city of God. (John the Short)

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. (Samuel Johnson)

[Christians], at their best, know that often they don't know. They do not have all the answers. They do not have God in their pocket. We cannot answer every question that any bright boy in the back row might ask. We have only light enough to walk by. (Howard A. Johnson)

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything. (Samuel Johnson)

Grace binds you with far stronger cords than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when once you take it you are bound forever to the Giver, and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like, Grace makes you gracious, the Giver makes you give. (E. Stanley Jones)

The Elements of Prayer: Its ground: God, by whose goodness it springeth in us. Its use: to turn our will to His will. Its end: to be made one with Him and like to Him in all things.

Every act of kindness and compassion done by any man for his fellow Christian is done by Christ working within him.

In his love he clothes us, enfolds us and embraces us; that tender love completely surrounds us, never to leave us.

Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God. (Edwin Keith)

If the blind put their hand in God's they find their way more surely than those who see but have not faith or purpose. (Helen Keller)

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. (Helen Keller)

Be thankful for the least gift, so shalt thou be ready to receive greater.

Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly Kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many desirous of consolation, but few of tribulation. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them.

If thou art willing to suffer no adversity, how wilt thou be the friend of Christ?

If indeed there had been anything better and more profitable to the health of men than to suffer, Christ would surely have shown it by word and example.

Thou knowest well how to excuse and color thine own deeds; but thou art not willing to receive the excuses of others. It were more just that thou shouldest accuse thyself, and excuse thy brother.

Keep yourself as a pilgrim and a stranger here in this world, as one to whom the world's business counts but little. Keep your heart free, and always lift it up to God.

You can in no manner be satisfied with temporal goods, for you were not created to find your rest in them.

He does much who loves much.

The devil does not sleep, nor is the flesh yet dead; therefore, you must never cease your preparation for battle, because on the right and the left are enemies who never rest.

God often gives in one brief moment that which he has for a long time denied.

Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars.

The noble love of Jesus impels a man to do great things, and stirs him up to be always longing for what is more perfect.

For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey; while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step.

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.

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.

Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works. (Charles Kingsley)

If Christians had ever been brave enough to make Christ alive, nobody would now be saying that Christianity is dead. (Winifred Kirkland)

At times all of us experience fear. But don't allow fear to keep you from being used by God. He has kept you thus far; trust Him for the rest of the way. (Woodroll Kroll)

At times all of us experience fear. But don't allow fear to keep you from being used by God. He has kept you thus far; trust Him for the rest of the way. (Woodroll Kroll)

Christianity can never come to us as a bargain; it can never be had at wholesale price. We must be willing to pay the full price of surrender and trust. (William L. Krutza)

In the total expanse of human life there is not a square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, "That is mine!" (Abraham Kuyper)

Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul. Only kindness can do that. (Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire)

But all the wickedness in the world that man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea. (William Langford)

On days when life is difficult and I feel overwhelmed, as I do fairly often, it helps to remember in my prayers that all God requires of me is to trust Him and be His friend. I find I can do that. (Bruce Larson)

The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says "Amen" and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas. (Frank Laubach)

Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural temper, a life wholly devoted to God.

We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another.

Receive each day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life.

Prayer is an end to isolation. It is living our daily life with someone; with Him who alone can deliver us from solitude. (Georges Lefevre)

What are our lame praises in comparison with His love? Nothing, and less than nothing; but love will stammer rather than be dumb. (Robert Leighton)

We either add to the darkness of indifference ... or we light a candle to see by. (Madeleine L'Engle)

It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. (Madeleine L'Engle)

To be forged upon the anvil of God's purpose, to be at once His hammer, His tongs, and His molten iron; to hear words that rend the heart, see visions that pierce the chest; to be emptied like an urn, again and again and again until one desires only rest, only an end to the refilling -- and to know one cannnot live without the refilling. To be given words that one dare not speak, and to feel those words churning and boiling in the belly until one must speak them aloud, or die. To be despised, soon or late, by everyone except Adonai -- and to desire it so, while hating it. This is to be a prophet. ( Thom Lemmons from "Daniel: The Man Who Saw the Future")

A single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer. (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing)

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.

True faith is never found alone; it is accompanied by expectation.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

I believe in God like I believe in the sun rise. Not because I can see it, but because I can see all that it touches.

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

It is a poor thing to strike our colours to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up "our own" when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud, He would hardly have us on such terms.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

The world does not need more Christian writers -- it needs more good writers and composers who are Christians.

Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose... only [upon] the Beloved who will never pass away.

In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

A man can't be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.

He who has God and Everything has nothing more than he who has God alone.

If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditure excludes them.

The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.

A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.

The Glory of God, and, as our only means of glorifying Him, the salvation of human souls, is the real business of life.

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.

God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially formed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.

I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves.

I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey.

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunitic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.

The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.

You cannot go on being a good egg forever. You must either hatch or rot.

Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.

The Christian has a great advantage over other men, not by being less fallen than they, nor less doomed to live in a fallen world, but by knowing that he is a fallen man in a fallen world.

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.

The long dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the Devil.

Lord, give us faith that right makes might.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their own independence upon the overruling power of God ... and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proved by all history, that those nations only are blest whose God is the Lord.

I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race (Fourth Debate with Stephen Douglas) EDITOR'S NOTE: I did not post this because I agree - I despise all forms of racism, and reject them as inconsistent with the teachings of our Master. However, I quoted the text because (1) I was shocked to discover this, and (2) To show that - apart from Jesus Christ - even the best of intentions fall short of the glory of God.

Never undertake anything for which you wouldn't have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven. (G. C. Lichtenberg)

There is not one marriage in today's culture that is not vulnerable. Why? Because we've allowed the culture to seep into our souls. ... Clearly we can no longer pattern our marriages after the people around us -- if we ever could. Not only does the world not know how to divorce-proof its marriages, it is well on the way to making broken relationships the norm! (Dr. Fred Lowery in "Covenant Marriage")

God never intended His Church to be a refrigerator in which to preserve perishable piety. He intended it to be an incubator in which to hatch our converts. (F. Lincicome)

Faith enables persons to be persons because it lets God be God. (Carter Lindberg)

I will place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. (David Livingstone)

Love gives itself; it is not bought. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it. (Erwin W. Lutzer)

God never promises to remove us from our struggles. He does promise, however, to change the way we look at them.

You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. Just think about the way Jesus honors you....and smile.

[Jesus said] 'I am the resurrection and the life ... Do you believe this?' This is a canyon question which makes sense only during an all-night vigil or in the stillness of smoke-filled waiting rooms. A question that makes sense when all of our props, crutches, and costumes are taken away. For then we must face ourselves as we really are: rudderless humans tailspinning toward disaster. And we are forced to see him for what he claims to be: our only hope. (from "God Came Near")

There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near him [Jesus]. There were those who mocked him. There were those who were envious of him. There were those who misunderstood him. There were those who revered him. But there was not one person who considered him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to touch. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected.... (from "God Came Near")

Have you been called to go out on a limb for God? You can bet it won't be easy. Limb-climbing has never been easy. Ask Joseph. Or, better yet, ask Jesus. He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree. (in "God Came Near")

WHAT God did makes sense. It makes sense that Jesus would be our sacrifice because a sacrifice was needed to justify man's presence before God. ... However, WHY God did it is absolutely absurd. When one leaves the method and examines the motive, the carefully stacked blocks of logic begin to tumble. That type of love isn't logical; it can't be neatly outlined in a sermon or explained in a term paper. ... It IS inexplicable. It doesn't have a drop of logic nor a thread of rationality. And yet, it is that very irrationality that gives the gospel its greatest defense. For only God could love like that. (in "God Came Near")

Jesus does his best work at such moments. Just when the truth about life sinks in, his truth starts to surface. He takes us by the hand and dares us not to sweep the facts under the rug but to confront them with him at our side. (in "God Came Near")

[Jesus] left because of you. He laid his security down with his hammer. ... Since he could bear your sins more easily than he could bear the thought of your hopelessness, he chose to leave. It wasn't easy. Leaving the carpentry shop never has been. (in "God Came Near")

Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.

Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God.

A Christian in his surroundings should encourage everyone to be better, instead of being the one who stoops to be like everyone else.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace. It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

The only saving faith is that which casts itself on God for life or death.

I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.

I have so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.

A Christian man is most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.

It is impossible for a man to be a Christian without having Christ; and if he has Christ he has at the same time all that is in Christ.

Forgiveness of sins is the very heart of Christianity, and yet it is a very dangerous thing to preach.

Pray, and let God worry.

Is it not wonderful news to believe that salvation lies outside ourselves?

I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in words alone,but in every leaf in springtime.

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.

That the Creator himself comes to us and becomes our ransom - this is the reason for our rejoicing.

I would not give one moment of heaven for all the joy and riches of the world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of years.

Whatever man loves, that is his god. For he carries it in his heart; he goes about with it night and day; he sleeps and wakes with it, be it what it may - wealth or self, pleasure or renown.

The whole being of any Christian is Faith and Love... Faith brings the man to God, love brings him to men.

Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life. (Clyde Francis Lytle)

Men love to be encouraged by false hopes; the world is full of quack remedies for sin. (J. Gresham Machen)

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart? (Gerard Majella)

Keep one thing in view forever- the truth; and if you do this, though it may seem to lead you away from the opinion of men, it will assuredly conduct you to the throne of God. (Horace Mann)

You can kill us, but you can't hurt us. (Justin Martyr)

In the final analysis our great problem with holiness is not that our concepts of holiness are feeble, but that our hearts are rebellious. We are selfish, that's our problem. And the fact that we often won't admit our selfishness shows how deep the pride goes. (Floyd McClung)

 

This is a wise, sane Christian faith: that a man commit himself, his life, and his hopes to God; that God undertakes the special protection of that man; that therefore that man ought not to be afraid of anything. (George MacDonald)

Why do so many people have struggles when it comes to prayer?... Men and women were originally created to desire communion with God. But the effects of sin have dulled most of that original human desire. Sin turned a natural activity into an unnatural funciton. (Gordon McDonald in "Ordering Your Private World")

For the Christian, nothing less than the presence of the Spirit is enough to explain the marvelous changes worked in human lives. Call it grace; call it providence; call it the result of Bible study ... just so we understand that in and behind any or all the instruments is the presence and work of the Spirit who seeks and finds and transforms. (Jim McGuiggan in "Where the Spirit of the Lord Is ...")

I find that doing the will of God leaves me with no time for disputing about His plans. (George MacDonald)

Rejoice in knowing that you belong to God and that He is conforming you to the image of His Son. See every event of this day as part of that process. Yield to the Spirit's prompting, and take heart that God will accomplish His will.

One of Satan's ploys to retard spiritual productivity is getting Christians preoccupied with humanistic philosophy and other bankrupt substitutes for God's truth.

Does God indeed need to rest? Of course not! But did God choose to rest? Yes. Why? Because God subjected creation to a rhythm of rest and work that He revealed by observing the rhythm Himself, as a precedent for everyone else. In this way, He showed us a key to order in our private worlds. ("Ordering Your Private World")

[John the Baptist said] 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' ... No driven person could ever say what John said, because driven people have to keep gaining more and more attention, more and more power, more and more material assets. The seductions of the public life would have led to a competitive posture, but the original call to commitment from within spoke louder. ( from "Ordering your Private World")

Commitment without reflection is fanaticism in action, though reflection without commitment is the paralysis of all action. (John Mackay)

A theology without spirituality would be a sterile academic exercise. (John Macquarrie)

When God turns away from us because of selfishness, it is not rejection. Rather, it is an invitation to follow Him to a place we would rather not go. (Brennan Manning)

We have peace with God by the righteousness of Christ, and peace of conscience by the fruits of righteousness in ourselves. (Thomas Manton)

Oh Lord, become the master of our passions, and the creator of our desires. (R. Marklund)

Whence comes this idea that if what we are doing is fun, it can't be God's will? The God who made giraffes, a baby's fingernails, a puppy's tail, a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite's call, and a young girl's giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no mistake about that. (Catherine Marshall)

Without the work of the cross we would be quite helpless. The cross enables us to come out free from under the heaviest and most powerful mental bondage. Not all the power of Satan, or sin, or habit can hold us captive any longer. (Tom Marshall)

The reason that most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. (Robert J. McKain)

The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him. (William McGill)

God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.

If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm.

I know well that when Christ is nearest, Satan is also busiest.

It is a sure mark of grace to desire more.

There is nothing the body suffers the soul may not profit by. (George Meredith)

The great thing, and the only thing, is to adore and praise God. (Thomas Merton)

To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us -- and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love. (Thomas Merton)

Live to please God, and He will breathe on thee His peace. Seek His glory, and He will make thy heart His home. Do His will, and thereby good shall come to thee.

There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts his foot down he finds a rock beneath him.

Knowing that I am not the one in control gives great encouragement. Knowing the One who is in control is everything. (Alexander Michael)

Christians must learn again what Christians have always known -- how to live without immediate hopes in the world. (T.R. Milford)

My liberty as a Christian should always be supremely shackled by the love I am commanded to have towards another (Avery D. Miller)

Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God. (Olin Miller)

Many Bible passages (such as Luke 13:3 or Acts 2:38) issue a call for repentance. Repentance? The very stops our hearts with chilling honesty, for it insists that we come clean before we set out to execute life's important choices. Repentance demands that we choose a path of holy living. ("A Hunger for the Holy")

We humans are a hungry lot. We are driven by a craving to know who we are. Yet who we are is embedded in the heart of a holy God. Unless we seek for ourselves in the epicenter of God's grace, we will be forever condemned to walk the arid edges of self-understanding. ( in "A Hunger for the Holy")

We fear the search for who we are. Perhaps because we're afraid that having located our true souls, we might not like ourselves that much. So, we shrink to step across the threshold to our inner selves and invite God in. ... But no matter how we love the busy world of our relationships, the fast-action theater of our noisy and hurried lives at last empties out. Then we find ourselves in lonely cells of bulky silence that compels us to turn from the outer things and face our inner selves -- and our mighty God. (in "A Hunger for the Holy")

[King] David certainly was aware that his lust for power had become a barrier to inwardness. Careers, even religious careers, may become little more than forums for our own advancement. But how are we to deal with such ambition? Our longing after Christ must exceed our need for status in the world. "A Hunger for the Holy")

A passion to obey Christ is born out of our relationship with him. The more we love him, the more we want him to be a part of our affairs. ("A Hunger for the Holy")

Our new cultural postmodern credo for avoiding sin is, "Hurt no one and do what you please." ... I much prefer Augustine's credo for avoiding sin: "Love God and do what you please." ("A Hunger for the Holy")

There are times when being mocked is the evidence of a courageous stand. But in other cases, being mocked may be more illusory than real. It may arise form a season of negative inwardness -- a dour focus on ourselves. ("A Hunger for the Holy")

We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once; and that was to drive profane ones out of his Temple, not to force them in. (John Milton)

A crushing hurt comes to our heart and the sympathizing, scarred hand of Christ presses the wound; and just for a moment,the pain seems to intensify,...but finally the bleeding stops. (Beth Moore)