Thought-provoking Quote from John Stuart Mill

All Christians believe that the blessed are the poor and humble, and those who are ill-used by the world; that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; that they should judge not, lest they be judged; that they should swear not at all; that they should love their neighbor as themselves; that if one take their cloak, they should give him their coat also; that they should take no thought for the morrow; that if they would be perfect they should sell all that they have and give it to the poor. They are not insincere when they say that they believe these things. They do believe them, as people believe what they have always heard lauded and never discussed. But in the sense of that living belief which regulates conduct, they believe these doctrines just up to the point which it is usual to act upon them.... John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Inspiring words from the 44th US President

The former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, once said: "You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose".

Best lines from president Barack Obama's inaugural address - if you'd ask me...

“...and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”

“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

And my favourite quote - “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

Congratulations, citizens of the USA and the rest of the free world! It looks like we have a bright new American leader who is able to inspire his people in these difficult times. May God bless, guide and protect him, his wife and their daughters.

Do not starve yourself any longer

"O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises…whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days…do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice..." (John Wesley, Letters to Mr. John Trembath, in Works, Vol. 12; page 254. Quoted in 'Three Simple Rules - A Wesleyan Way of Living', by Rueben P. Job)

Go to their rescue!

"All who are not on the Rock, are in the sea. Every soldier must go to their rescue!" - William Booth

The beautiful fight and the full reality of grace

I am reading 'The Beautiful Fight' by Gary Thomas. This book is packed with insights and food for thought. In Chapter 8 the author writes about setting our minds on God. He stresses that we are in control of our minds and that our will can be stronger than our emotions and passions - if we allow God's Spirit to guide us.
"Neurologists tell us a startling truth that has major implications for spiritual formation: Our choices and experience shape our brain, both literally and physiologically. What we choose cognitively helps make us into who we are. (...) In a neurological sense, our character is the sum total of the moral decisions we have made. In a theological sense, our behavior and our thinking are interconnected. Here's how the apostle Paul describes it: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God." (The Beautiful Fight, p. 110)

Another quote that I want to share with you: "I have seen men who don't practice holiness start preaching nothing but grace - forgetting all about real change and transformation. I have also seen men who are deeply convicted about unrepented sin preach with anger and venom, forgetting all about forgiveness and mercy. Both camps miss the totality of God's grace, because they see it from only one side. They are led into either misunderstanding forgiveness, which exalts 'tolerance' over transformation, or misunderstanding God's judgment, which leads only to condemnation. Because their souls have grown weak, their minds can't grasp the full reality of grace that pardons and transforms.
What we do affects how we think. There is no getting around this truth. Right living supports right doctrine; right doctrine helps us to keep living right. We desperately need both." (The Beautiful Fight, page 111)

Complacent to God

We’re complacent to God. Churchgoers pack the pews and sing to the back of someone’s head. Fellowship is lost in formality. One, two, three times a week people pay their dues by walking in the door, enduring a ritual, and walking out. Guilt is appeased. God is insulted. Are we so naive as to think that he needs our attendance? Are we so ignorant that we put God in a box, thinking he can be taken in and out at our convenience?

Max Lucado, On the Anvil, p. 26, Tyndale 1985

Ripples

"Don't break the silence unless you can improve it". Don't know who said that first, but I am glad somebody spoke these words (or maybe they were written down in complete silence somewhere in an isolated cell in a monastery). Picture taken in Hoofddorp, last night.

Credit God

Everything comes from God alone. “Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory” (Rom. 11:36). The breath you just took? God gave that. The blood that just pulsed through your heart? Credit God. The light by which you read and the brain with which you process? He gave both.
Everything comes from him . . . and exists for him. We exist to exhibit God, to display his glory. We serve as canvases for his brush stroke, papers for his pen, soil for his seeds, glimpses of his image.

Cure For The Common Life – Max Lucado

Have You Ever Wondered?

Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less. He could have left the world flat and grey; we wouldn’t have known the difference. But he didn’t. He splashed orange in the sunrise and cast the sky in blue. And if you love to see geese as they gather, chances are you’ll see that too. Did he have to make the squirrel’s tail furry? Was he obliged to make the birds sing? And the funny way that chickens scurry or the majesty of thunder when it rings? Why give a flower fragrance? Why give food its taste? Could it be he loves to see that look upon your face?

Max Lucado - He Chose the Nails

Thinking ahead

We can't cross that bridge until we come to it, but I always like to lay down a pontoon ahead of time. Bernard Baruch

Always do one thing less than you think you can do. Bernard Baruch

Mindless matter or Creator?

Inevitably, of course, not only those of us who do science, but all of us, have to choose the presuppositions with which we start. There are not many options – essentially just two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.
John Lennox, God’s Undertaker – Has Science Buried God? - Lion Hudson, Oxford 2008 - p. 179
I enjoyed reading this book, but it is not an easy read! John Lennox is a Reader (Professor) in Mathematics and Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford. He recently debated Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion - check this and listen to this debate here). If you want to find out more about the rationality of faith in a Creator God, this is a book that I can highly recommend.

Faith according to King

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see
the whole staircase.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Words of Wisdom

"The only thing of my very own that I can contribute to my redemption is the sin from which I need to be redeemed."

Archbishop William Temple in Nature, Man, and God - p. 401

Funny

"My CV is so impressive the only person whose name you won't recognise is mine." Mal Pope

Definition of sin

Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry. -Tim Keller, Talking About Idolatry in a Postmodern Age

Be made new in the attitude of your minds

“If your mind is not constantly being changed, you're not following Christ.” Donald Miller

Let's use this power in a constructive way...

“You Christians have in your keeping a document with enough dynamite in it to blow the whole of civilization to bits...” Mahatma Gandhi

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

The Privileged Planet: How our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery

This is the first part of a documentary entitled The Privileged Planet. You can watch all six parts on YouTube now (if you have some time left, it is certainly worth your while.) "It’s a remarkable coincidence that the kind of atmosphere that’s needed for complex life like ourselves does not preclude that life from observing the distant universe. It’s something that you wouldn’t expect just chance to produce. Why would the universe be such that those places that are most habitable also offer the best opportunity for scientific discovery?" Guillermo Gonzalez, author of The Privileged Planet (Please also check out the website)

“The most incomprehendable thing about the Universe is that it is comprehendable.” – Albert Einstein

“I have deep faith that the principles of the Universe will be both beautiful and simple.” – Albert Einstein

“If the whole Universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.” – C.S. Lewis

Money Matters

“People buy things they do not need with money they do not have to impress people they do not even like.” George Fooshee

I just finished reading a great book about money. I am not too interested in money (honestly!), but I do believe that this is a valuable book.
The book is entitled Your Money Counts and is part of a program developed by Crown Financial Ministries. Howard Dayton is the author. I could quote many interesting thoughts and ideas from the 168 pages of this excellent book, but this is something you really need to read for yourself in the complete context and - if possible - as part of the whole program.

This is not a how to become a millionaire book, but a biblical guide to earning, spending, saving, investing, giving and getting out of debt - which also happens to be the subtitle of this book ;-) No name & claim / health & wealth prosperity gospel here, just plain biblical teaching about the right attitude towards money and material things. Highly recommended reading for Christ followers who don't want to be possessed by their possessions!

“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?” Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Money will buy:
A bed but not sleep;
Books but not brains;
Food but not an appetite;
A house but not a home;
Medicine but not health;
Amusement but not happiness;
A crucifix but not a Savior.

Anonymous, cited in YMC, p. 148

Existential question

“The funniest (and saddest) thing in all the world is to hear people arguing about whether God exists or not. Without God, who could argue?” Mike Riddell in his book Godzone