"All through our lives, God's promises lift our aspirations higher. On our own, we would be content with some happy relationships; God wants for us union with the Son of God. We aspire for earthly success; He intends for us heavenly glory. We would settle for health and wealth; He has in store life everlasting." Richard Phillips
"If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich."
"All the gifts which we possess have been bestowed by God and entrusted to us on condition that they be distributed for our neighbors' benefit." john calvin
"Many people wonder why it is necessary to have qualifications for a pastor. They might think, 'If someone wants to be a pastor, should he not have that right, regardless of whether he meets a list of criteria?'... The truth, however, is that all of us see the need for criteria in other professions. No one would board a plane if they knew that the 'pilot' loved planes but didn't have a pilot's license. No one would want to be operated on by a 'surgeon' whose primary credential was that his father was a doctor. A young couple would not entrust the design of their dream home to an 'architect' whose portfolio was the back of a Lincoln Logs box. Qualifications are important in every job, and the more important the job, the more important the need for stringent qualifications."
Q: How are you right with God?- Heidelberg Catechism Question #60
A: Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ as if I had never sinned or been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is accept this gift of God with a believing heart.
"the law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings from the honeycomb. moreover, by them is Your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."Psalm 19:7-11
"if we know the characteristic sins of the age, we can guess its foolish and fashionable assumptions - that morality is simply a matter of personal taste, that all silences need to be filled up with human chatter or background music, that 760 percent of the american people are victims, that it is better to feel than to think, that rights are more important than responsibilities, that even for children the right to choose supersedes all other rights, that real liberty can be enjoyed without virtue, that self-reproach is for fogies, that God is a chum or even a gofer whose job is to make us rich or happy or religiously excited, that it is more satisfying to be envied than respected, that it is better for politicians and preachers to be cheerful than truthful, that Christian worship fails unless it is fun." cornelius plantinga jr. as quoted by d.a. carsoncarson follows up that quotation with this great assertion: "what ought to make worship delightful to us is not, in the first instance, its novelty or its aesthetic beauty, but its object: God himself is delightfully wonderful, and we learn to delight in him."
