Some Quotes from the Internet

14-06-30 10:58 Filed in: Internet Links | Quotations

Some quotes from here and there on the Internet:

Carl Trueman on Christian liberalism: “That liberalism, political or theological, is not enjoying good health is obvious to even the most causal observer. The rise of religious extremism, particularly that of Islam, has present the Left with a series of choices which have pushed it towards incoherence. Theologically, the picture is little different: liberal Christianity is in decline as it does little more than offer a vaguely religious vocabulary for expressing ideas that are, to be frank, more compelling when stated in secular terms.” Here: Liberalism Reinvented.

Lauren Porter on prayer: “In essence, what I hear [Richard] Foster saying is this: We will never be holy enough to start praying. So, don’t wait till you feel holy to pray. Pray because you need the God who can make you holy. We don’t pray because we feel holy or spiritual. It’s as we pray that we become holy and spiritual.” Here: Just Pray.

Austin Fischer on the doctrine of Eternal Security: “…eternal security tends to give you comfort when you don’t need it (that is, when you’re persevering in your faith) and no comfort when you do (that is, when you’ve rejected your faith and probably don’t even want the comfort it supposedly offers). In a sense, eternal security only gives comfort to those who are already secure in their faith and are following Jesus….” Here: The Fickle Security of Eternal Security.

John Meunier reflects on Victor Paul Furnish’s arguments about the Bible and gay marriage: “All of this is my way of saying that the proposals of the sexual progressives in the United Methodist Church about the way we should use scripture in our theological discernment strike me as incoherent from the point of view of our theological heritage and task. What Furnish and others appear to be advocating is a sexual ethics that looks exactly like the sexual ethics devised by the world that does not read the Bible or call Jesus Lord.” Here: Biblical morality without the Bible.

J. R. Daniel Kirk on inerrancy and the Bible: “‘Inerrancy’ offers itself as a term to both predict and determine beforehand the results of historical and scientific and theological investigation. What I discovered early on is that it fails as a theory precisely because its predictions are wrong.” Here: “AHA” moments: biblical scholars tell their stories (3): Daniel Kirk.

Tiffany Clark on talking to a young atheist about her faith: “The call to glorify God necessitates a subjugation of the glory of man, putting it in its proper place under His feet. And as I talked to my guest about the great Love of my life, I watched her face rise and fall in disbelief and amazement, disdain and desire. Such loss of personal autonomy. Such gain of joy and significance. She left misty-eyed and smiling, touched by my testimony of the ways God has given me greater glory with Him than I ever had apart from Him.” Here: Threatened by Glory.

Ed Cyzewski on Christian art: “Perhaps that is our problem in the Christian subculture. We’re so afraid of our faith cracking if we place too many burdens on it. On the contrary, I found that my faith can handle far more than I would have expected. If anything, I had been placing my faith in the wrong things. When I started asking the questions I wasn’t supposed to ask and opened myself up to conclusions I wasn’t supposed to arrive at, I found that Jesus didn’t need me to protect him. Scripture is far more reliable than we realize. The Holy Spirit settles among us to give us wisdom.” Here: Why Christians Should Not Make Safe Art.

F. Peter Brown on marriage statistics: “Harvard-trained researcher Shaunti Feldhahn… could find no actual evidence that the divorce rate in society at large and the church was an abysmal 50 percent. She spent eight years seeking the truth in this matter, and she came to dramatically different conclusions from what ‘common knowledge’ describes.” Here: You Know How They Say The Divorce Rate In The Church Is 50%? Prepare To Be Shocked…

Thomas C. Upham on faith: “It is a singular fact, and one which has not been often noticed, that faith in God is not only the foundation of all religion, but is also the foundation of all knowledge.” Here: Faith is the Basis of All Knowledge.

John Wesley on preaching: “Some think preaching the law only; other, preaching the gospel only. I think neither the one nor the other; but duly mixing both, in every place, if not in every sermon.” Here: John Wesley on How to Preach the Gospel.

All prayer is a response. The Lord first knocks, beckons, calls to us. ― M. Basil Pennington #CenteringPrayer

— RCMR | Amos Smith (@amossmi) June 28, 2014