“The joy of the Lord is amplified in the presence of lament. As my close friend and colleague Russ Ramsey once said in a sermon, lament is a necessary skill in the art of rejoicing. Lament is a skill, and rejoicing is an art form. I like how that sounds. Don’t you?”- Scott Sauls Scott […]
“The world, as it is, is not our final home. No matter how hard we try to make it so, this present world refuses to be our paradise. We cannot make heaven happen for ourselves because heaven can only be given and received. When we accept and receive this truth, the revival of our hearts […]
“You brought me blessings out of a tragedy. / You turned my old song into a symphony. / And with Your spirit living inside of me, / I’m a new creation, I’m a new creation.”- Mac Powell “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”- Ephesians 4:24 […]
“Wrap all your trust around God, clinging to Him like a belt, to keep your whole life from falling down around your ankles, tangling you and drowning you in it all. . . . You are on the way of Jesus only when you need to cling to Jesus the whole way.”- Ann Voskamp “For […]
“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.”- C. S. Lewis “Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”- Isaiah 44:22 (ESV) In Chapter 2 (“The Art […]
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden; it’s easier to say, ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say, ‘My heart is breaking.’ “- C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain “Stretched out my […]
“The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual. . . . For there are two things inside me. . . . they are the Animal self and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worst of the two. That […]
“There is a danger that when Christians talk about being justified in God’s sight, we imagine righteousness as a kind of virtual bank account that someone transfers money into. It makes salvation a mechanical or mercenary process. . . . Only when we are united with [Jesus] , through faith and the Holy Spirit, do […]
“If we don’t make space to listen to God, we won’t be able to perceive the ways he is speaking to us. . . . But as we spend time with God in prayer, attend to his ways in Scripture, and deepen our relationship with him, we will become aware of the small signs of […]
“There is nothing in this world so precious as a faithful friend and no scales can measure his [or her] excellence. A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, a fortified palace. . . . This is truly a gift from God and clearly more than we deserve.”- Gregory of Nazianzus “You didn’t choose me. I […]
“If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. . . . They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. . . . Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we […]
“God made you a little lower than the angels, and Christ paid the ultimate price to bless your life. You’ll bring God no honor by cursing what He has blessed. If you’re going to live a fruitful, joyous life, learn to bless, not curse, your own life.”- Alan Wright “With [the tongue] we bless our […]