Year: 2019 (Page 1 of 2)

One of the most influential authors in my life has been C.S. Lewis. The first Lewis book that I read back in high school was The Screwtape Letters. The second (not long after) was Mere Christianity. Over the years I have returned often to this small, yet incredibly profound book.

We live in a world where fewer and fewer people read books. We read articles, clips, “quotes” 😉 and other small snippets of thought here and there. But we rarely (if ever) immerse and submerse ourselves in a really good, thought-provoking book.

Here are a few articles that talk about the importance of reading books:

“Why (More Than Ever Before) You Need to Read Deeply” by Greg Bailey

“How to Read 100 Books in a Year” by Srinivas Rao

“Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers” by Joe Pinsker

My hope is that sharing these quotes will “whet your appetite” to read the whole book – with pen or highlighter in hand – marking up words and sentences and paragraphs that stimulate your mind and arrest your heart.

On a side note, the reading of Scripture should be first and foremost in all of our lives (as I wrote about here a few weeks ago).

In the meantime, reading these “top 10 quotes” from Mere Christianity will take you less than five minutes. Enjoy.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

“If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed.”

“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.”

“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”

And finally, two longer (but truly “classic” quotes):

“The Christian says, ‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.’ A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex.

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. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage.

I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

And one more quote from Lewis’ book, The Weight of Glory:

“It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

*underlined portions mine

Our engagement and wedding photos, circa 1980.

We were just kids.

I was just a few weeks shy of turning 20 and Lisa turning 19. In October of 1980, I was a junior in Bible College and a youth pastor. She was a freshman in college.

This past week, we celebrated our 39^th wedding anniversary. 40 years ago, we met… and within weeks I knew I wanted to marry this girl.

We dated for six months, got engaged and were married six months later.

One of the many “graces” God gifted us with was advice we received from some wiser, older saints who told us…

“Good marriages don’t just ‘happen.’ They are the product of preparation, work, sacrifice, attentiveness and commitment. Prepare now so you will have deep roots later… and deep roots have the ability to produce beautiful fruit.”

So, at ages 18 & 19 we together read six or seven great books on marriage and discussed them during our engagement. We were reading things we didn’t even fully understand, and had no idea that we would ever need them.

But they were wise words that laid a foundation for what life would bring our way in the years and decades to come.

I always tell couples,

“It’s never too late to start preparing for a better marriage tomorrow.”

When Lisa and I do pre-marriage counseling with young couples, the book we have used most recently is Tim and Kathy Keller’s excellent work, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God.

Here are a few meaningful quotes from their book. I pray you are encouraged and blessed by them…

“Within this Christian vision of marriage, here’s what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, ‘I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, ‘I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!”

“When over the years someone has seen you at your worst, and knows you with all your strengths and flaws, yet commits him – or herself to you wholly, it is a consummate experience. To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”

“In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love. So, what do you do? You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling. You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions, you must be tender, understanding, forgiving and helpful. And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings. This is what can happen if you decide to love.”

“Our culture says that feelings of love are the basis for actions of love. And of course, that can be true. But it is truer to say that actions of love can lead consistently to feelings of love.”

“You can only afford to be generous if you actually have some money in the bank to give. In the same way, if your only source of love and meaning is your spouse, then anytime he or she fails you, it will not just cause grief but a psychological cataclysm. If, however, you know something of the work of the Spirit in your life, you have enough love ‘in the bank’ to be generous to your spouse even when you are not getting much affection or kindness at the moment.”

“Sociologists argue that in contemporary Western society the marketplace has become so dominant that the consumer model increasingly characterizes most relationships that historically were covenantal, including marriage. Today we stay connected to people only as long as they are meeting our particular needs at an acceptable cost to us. When we cease to make a profit – that is, when the relationship appears to require more love and affirmation from us than we are getting back – then we ‘cut our losses’ and drop the relationship. This has also been called ‘commodification,’ a process by which social relationships are reduced to economic exchange relationships, and so the very idea of ‘covenant’ is disappearing in our culture. Covenant is therefore a concept increasingly foreign to us, and yet the Bible says it is the essence of marriage.” 

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

(Proverbs 31:10-12 – ESV)

Here are 10 new quotes to ponder this week…

“A good sign of how secure you are is what it takes to offend you. The more secure we are, the less we take offense.” (Henry Cloud)

“If the grass looks greener somewhere else, it’s time to water your own yard.”

“When I want to know someone’s theology – their actual theology, not just professed theology – I look at how they treat other people. How we treat others is a living, breathing creed of what we believe God to be like.” (Dane Ortlund)

“Impatience with God tends to lead to impatience with God’s people . . . . If we start using the sickles on each other, we will miss the harvest.” (Warren Wiersbe)

“The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of God’s scattered grace.” (John Piper)

“Preach the gospel; if necessary use words” is like saying “Feed the hungry; if necessary use food.” (Matt Smethurst)

“The term ‘Christian’ is used 3 times in the New Testament. The term ‘Disciple’ is used 238 times in the Gospels and 269 in the New Testament. You don’t become a Christian and then choose to be a Disciple. Christian = Disciple.” (Robby Gallaty)

“Raise a daughter with a fully loaded heart and mind so that a fully loaded shotgun isn’t necessary. She shouldn’t need you to scare off weak suitors. Let her strength and dignity do the job.” (Jen Wilken)

“Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness.” (Jim Elliot)

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” (John Wooden)

Above Photo: One of our grandsons is shown above, looking intently at a small bug on our patio several years ago.

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.”
(C.S. Lewis)

“The Bible makes it clear that the world around us reveals the character, nature, and purpose of God. And it does so every second of every day.”
(Richard Doster– By Faith Magazine)

• Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.”
• Romans 1:20: “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

In the most recent issue of By Faith Magazine, Richard Doster writes…

“The all-powerful creator God is telling us something about Himself in everything, from the tiniest ghost crab to the right whales that visit us in calving season.”

Doster goes on to say:

“Professor and author Joe Rigney illustrates the point when he talks about how we see the divine nature in the things that God has made just as we see the talent and creativity of the artist in his painting or the composer in his music. 

It’s this reality that caused Jonathan Edwards, the great 18th- century theologian, to view the world as a kind of language. The whole universe, Edwards said, including “heaven and earth, air and seas … are full of images of divine things, as full as a language is of words.”

And yet, Edwards continued, all these images convey only a fraction of what God intended to signify or typify by them. 

Rigney points out that most Bible readers are familiar with typology. We understand, for example, that the Passover lamb was a type or image of the sacrifice of Christ…

But Edwards goes further, arguing that God has created images and types in the natural world, too. And that these types are a kind of language that God uses to speak to us.

For example, the Scriptures encourage us to look at the birds (Matthew 6:26) and consider the lilies (Matthew 6:28) and go to the ant (Proverbs 6:6). There are, Rigney points out, divine lessons in seeds and fields, in sand and rocks, in wineskins and fig trees. 

Continuing the previous thought, Doster writes:

“And even in insects. In a recent Wall Street Journal story, professor Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson points out that insect pollination increases fruit or seed quantity in three-quarters of our global food crops. And it’s not just bees that do this work, Sverdrup-Thygeson says. It involves some 20,000 different species of flies, beetles, ants, wasps, butterflies, and other insects. 

The sunrise over the ocean, then, is never just a sunrise. It’s a message, and God intends for us to receive it, comprehend it, and respond.

The color of a bright red cardinal is a message. The dolphin arcing up for air is a message.

The breeze, the texture of the sand, the dunes and sea oats, the golden retriever passing by in the other direction — God spoke them into existence, which means we’re enveloped by visual, audio, and olfactory aids — each one sent to help us understand God’s extravagant goodness.

Sadly, because of sin, we no longer see such things the way we’re meant to. We don’t hear, smell, or touch to the degree God intended. But, with God’s help, we perceive more than we used to.

By His Spirit, we’re able to see the kingdom in the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), in leaven (Matthew 13:33), and in the priceless pearl (Matthew 13:45). By His Spirit and through His word we’re free to perceive His invisible attributes at the beach, strolling through the mountains, and watching birds build nests in our own backyards. 

We’re free to respond, too, in thanks and adoration. C.S. Lewis parsed the difference for us. “Gratitude,” he said, “exclaims ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration asks, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary [displays of brilliance] are like this?’”

There’s a good chance we’ll be happier, kinder, more grateful, and more generous if we spend time pondering the quality of God who gave us the beach, birds, and mountain forests.” 

Click here to read the full article.

Paul Madson

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“Give me 100 people that hate nothing but sin, and love nothing but Jesus Christ, and we’ll shake England for God.” (John Wesley)

“At the cross, the love of God and the wrath of God shake hands; the mercy of God and the justice of God embrace; and the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity appear in stark contrast.” (William P. Farely, from his book – Outrageous Mercy)

“I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds … Satan is quite aware of the power of silence.” (Jim Elliot)

“A public man, though he is necessarily available at many times, must learn to hide. If he is always available, he is not worth enough when he is available.” (Elton Trueblood)

“God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. The man who will know God must give time to Him.” (A.W. Tozer)

“I have done less waiting than working, and my works would have been better had I waited more. But I have enjoyed God’s incomparable companionship. I have walked the world with God as my friend.” (from the autobiography of Carl F.H. Henry)

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.” (D. L. Moody)

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” (Charles Spurgeon)

“Until we know that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for.” (John Piper)

When asked to describe what is “the heresy of modernity,” J.I. Packer described it this way:

‘The belief that ….

the newer is the truer,

only what is recent is decent,

every shift of ground is a step forward,

and every latest word must be hailed

as the last word on its subject.’”

(J. I. Packer)

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15)

“Fly this banner over every wound and regret: ‘Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20).” (John Piper)

“We like to serve others from the power position. We’d rather be healthy, wealthy, and wise as we reach out to the sick, poor, and ignorant. But people see and hear the gospel best when it comes through those who have known difficulty. Paul says, ‘To the weak I became weak, to win the weak’ (1 Corinthians 9:22). Suffering creates a sphere of influence for Christ that we couldn’t otherwise have.” (Randy Alcorn)

“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.”

Photo by Paul Madson

In my early ministry years, I put together a list of “basic” biblical truths that I needed to remind myself of regularly.

I titled it Brilliant in the Basics.

No matter how much we learn or grow spiritually, there will always be certain ‘basics’ we need to regularly revisit which form the foundation of our walk with Christ and keep us centered on God and His glory.

Two weeks ago, I shared the first five.

Here are the final ten:

In my early ministry years, I put together a list of “basic” biblical truths that I needed to remind myself of regularly.

I titled it Brilliant in the Basics.

No matter how much we learn or grow spiritually, there will always be certain ‘basics’ we need to regularly revisit which form the foundation of our walk with Christ and keep us centered on God and His glory.

Below are the first five (15 total) of these briefly listed “basics” that I return to over and over:

1. The foundation for effective Christian living is thinking rightly and biblically about who God is. What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Satan’s number one goal is to deceive us about who God is (Genesis 3:1-7; Isaiah 40:25-26; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Matthew 4:1-11; John 1:1; Colossians 1:16-17; 1 Timothy 1:17).
2. Pursuing God with a passion is the beginning point of life’s most incredible journey. It is to be a mark of the normal Christian life. We are to seek the face of God as for silver or hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:4-5; Psalm 27:4-5; Psalm 37:4-5; Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:1; Psalm 84:10-11; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Matthew 6:33).
3. God is our loving Father. He has compassion on us. We are His children… His heirs. He knows the number of hairs on our head. He bottles our tears. He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us (Psalm 55:22; Psalm 56:8; Psalm 103:13,14; Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 41:9-10; Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 5:8; Romans 8:15-17, 31-32, 38-39; Galatians 4:6,7; Ephesians 3:17-19; Hebrews 13:8).
4. God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Romans 4:20-21; Hebrews 11:1, 3, 6, 24-27).
5. Nothing comes into our lives as believers that has not first passed through the hand of God. Everything that comes into your life has been allowed by God for your good and His glory. Because of what they are producing in us, we can welcome trials and problems as friends. We don’t have to resent them. We can rejoice when they come. Maturity will not come without problems, trials and difficulties (Job 1:6-12; Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6,7).

Paul Madson

“Lord Jesus, if you were prejudiced, you not only would not have died for people from every tongue, tribe, and nation, but you wouldn’t have come to human beings at all! When I am tempted to look down at ‘that type,’ help me to remember your unprejudiced, free grace for me. Amen.” (Timothy Keller)

“The difference between responding and reacting is a choice. When you react, they’re in control. When you respond, you are.” (Henry Cloud)

“Jesus’ kingship is not like human kingships, for it wins influence through suffering service, not coercive power.” (Timothy Keller)

“Legalism A: I earn a relationship with God by my works and holiness.
Legalism B: I keep a relationship with God by my works and holiness.
The Gospel: I trust in Jesus’ life of perfect obedience and his death on the cross to put and keep me in relationship with God. He is my holiness.” (Scotty Smith)

“We have no idea how busy God’s hands are even when His mouth seems closed. Where God is concerned, silence never equals slumber.” (Beth Moore)

“Nothing you did today made God delight in you more. Nothing you did diminished his love for you. This doesn’t mean God is indifferent. Rather, he is tenaciously consistent, steadfast in his love, and abounding in grace, He made Jesus your righteousness, not your second chance.” (Scotty Smith)

“You do what is good in God’s eyes because he loves you, not with the hope that if you do good, he will love you.” (Paul Tripp)

“Christ’s love towards us, and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and true foundation of hope … To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully unsatisfying: to look outward to Christ’s love towards us is peace.” (J.C. Ryle – 1816-1900)

“God never withholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God’s refusals are always merciful — ‘severe mercies’ — at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our heart’s desire except to give us something better.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

“Painfully, suffering is almost a prerequisite if we are going to be of much use to other people. It makes us far more compassionate.” (Tim Keller)

“We trust (our eternal Father) so much that we do not doubt he will provide whatever we need for body and soul, and he will turn to our good whatever adversity he sends us in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is Almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful father. Nothing can separate us from his love.” (Heidelberg Catechism)

“The Lord calls us to love all people, including those who are enemies of the gospel and those who blaspheme. This may not be comfortable, and it may not be easy, but this is the gospel of Christ, for He loved His enemies so much that He died to save us.” (Francis A. Schaeffer)

“We will love our neighbors well (and our enemies) to the degree we believe the gospel is true, the throne of heaven is occupied, and Jesus will return to finish making all things new.” (Scotty Smith)

“I’m learning that my job is to simply give what little I have to God –  my not nearly enough – and let Him do ‘the impossible thing’.” (Sally Lloyd-Jones)

“Anxiety is our agitated soul fighting for control.” (Beth Moore)

“It is always possible to be grateful for what is given rather than resentful over what is withheld. One or the other will become a way of life.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

Pexels.com

“The cross is the single most significant symbol of forgiveness in history. Made by men, used by God, it is the hallmark of man at his worst and God at His best.” (Tim Kimmel)

“Hell will be populated by people who insist they were good enough for heaven. Heaven will be populated by people who insist they were bad enough for hell.” (Josh Howerton)

“The church endures, rolling along on while competing forms of religion and nonbelief rise, wane, and are forgotten. Christianity faithful to God’s Word will last until the end of time and beyond (Matthew 16:18).” (Timothy Keller)

“God’s love was intended to be demonstrated, not dictated. Our job is not to manipulate or induce others to agree with us… Our charge is to both proclaim and embody the gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God’s love in tangible ways.” (Richard Stearns)

“Love is never primarily defined in the Bible as a feeling. At its foundation, love is at least a commitment and a promise.” (Timothy Keller)

“Genesis 3: Death is born.
Matthew 28: Death is defeated.
Revelation 21: Death is dead.”
(Matt Smethurst)

“Remember every day is a war of worship, that is, a battle for the rulership of your heart. Pray today for grace to see clearly, fight faithfully and to remember you’re never alone in the battle.” (Paul David Tripp)

“Wise key influencers are devoted to knowing what they don’t know. They act boldly on facts they have right now, but search for signs they are wrong – seeking a healthy balance between courage and humility.” (Robert I. Sutton)

“God often waits until we’re out of ideas before He lets us know His plans. He competes for our hearts, not our attention.” (Bob Goff)

“The good news of the gospel is not, ‘Relax, you rock!’ The good news says to believing sinners, ‘You deserve to be humiliated and condemned for your sin, but God sent his Son to be humiliated and condemned in your place.” (Kevin DeYoung)

“Relationships are costly. Whatever it will cost you to be with God is nothing compared to what it cost Him to be with you.” (Timothy Keller)

“It is erroneous to think that slippery slopes only ‘slip’ toward a licentious, anything goes, lawless direction. They can also ‘slip’ toward a strident, mean-spirited, graceless direction. Jesus cracks down on both, but especially the latter.” (Scott Sauls– from his book Irresistible Faith)

“The average 3-year old laughs 40 times a day. The average 40-year old laughs 3 times a day.” (Psychology Today)