Encouragement for the Discouraged

“The storms of life no more indicate the absence of God than clouds indicate the absence of the sun.”  (John Blanchard)

“God is our portion, Christ our companion, the Spirit our Comforter, Earth our lodge, and Heaven is our home.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The church is a school for sinners, not a museum for saints.”  (Anthony Thiselton)

“God’s design in our pain enables us to look back and say: He loves me enough to take me where I would have never wanted to go in order to produce in me what I never could have achieved on my own.” (Paul David Tripp)

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (C. S. Lewis)

 

Spiritual Depth

“You can be as straight as a gun barrel theologically—and be as empty as one spiritually.”  (A.W. Tozer)

“Every command in holy writ is only a covered promise.” (John Wesley)

“There can be no peace between you and Christ while there is peace between you and sin.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Love is not maximum emotion. Love is maximum commitment.” (Sinclair Ferguson)

“Teach me to treat all that comes to me with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

“No one expects to attain to the height of learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, or military glory, without vigorous resolution, strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance. Yet we expect to be Christians without labor, study, or inquiry.”  (William Wilberforce)

“The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.” (George Muller)

 

Prayer

“It is a reading age, a preaching age, a working age, but it is not a praying age.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

 

The Cross of Christ

“Your approval before God is woven into the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, not what other men and women think about you.” (Matt Chandler)

“The Son of God came to seek us where we are in order that he might bring us to be with him where he is.” (J.I. Packer)

“The essence of apostasy is changing sides from that of the crucified to that of the crucifier.” (John Stott)

“Look, the memory of your sins is no cause to beat yourself up and wallow in guilt. Instead, it should lead you to rejoice in the redemption you have in Jesus. […] And in remembering these sins, you hold fast to Jesus. This remembrance does not encourage you to shrink back from God but to draw near, seeking him because of the hope of the gospel. When you remember your sins, you learn humility, love Jesus, and make much of the gospel.” (Joe Thorn – from Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself)

 

Caring for the Lost

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and un-prayed for.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

 

Trusting God

“When we reach the outer limit of what Scripture says, it is time to stop arguing and start worshipping.”  (J.I. Packer)

“Don’t believe everything you think. You cannot be trusted to tell yourself the truth. Stay in The Word.” (Jerry Bridges)

 

Christian Living

“We need to be reminded more than we need to be instructed.” (G.K. Chesterton)

“Our sense of humor is a gift from God which should be controlled as well as cultivated.” (Oswald Sanders)

“Christianity can be summed up in the two terms faith and love…receiving from above [faith] and giving out below [love].” (Martin Luther)

Sam Storms defines legalism: “the tendency to regard as divine law things that God has neither required nor forbidden in Scripture, and the corresponding inclination to look with suspicion on others for their failure or refusal to conform.”

“Not even in this world does sin pay its servants good wages.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” (C. S. Lewis)

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” (C. S. Lewis)

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Whatever and whenever God blesses, Satan curses. What God creates, Satan counterfeits.” (Sam Storms)

“Kindness makes a person attractive. If you would win the world, melt it, do not hammer it.” (Alexander MacLaren)

“Man is indeed lost, but that does not mean that he is nothing. We must resist humanism, but to make a man a zero is not the right way to resist it … [The] Christian position is that man is made in the image of God and even though he is now a sinner, he can do things that are tremendous – he can influence history for this life and the life to come, for himself and for others…From the biblical viewpoint, man is lost, but great.” (Francis Schaeffer)

 

Leadership

“The passionate leader is driven by the knowledge that the right beliefs, aimed at the right opportunity, can lead to earth-shaking changes.” (Dr. Al Mohler)

John Wesley’s Rule: “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all times you can, to all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

To Encourage

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” (Martin Luther) 

“This darkness is very deep, but our God has gone deeper still. When you have been to Calvary, even Ravensbrook [Concentration Camp] looks small.” (Corrie Ten Boom, quoted in Peter J. Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien (San Francisco, 2005), page 186.) 

“True faith is man’s weakness leaning on God’s strength.” (D.L. Moody)

“There is a history full of grace behind us, and a prophecy full of glory before us.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

“We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.” (2 Corinthians 6:8 NLT)

“God’s sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible for us to pray with confidence.”  (Jerry Bridges)

“Life is not measured by length but by depth. Birthdays tell us how long we have been on the road, not how far we have travelled.”  (Vance Havner)

One of my favorite prayers in the Bible: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV) (posted by Justin Taylor)

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart,…” (Jeremiah 15:16 ESV)

“On these pages you will find the living Christ, and you will see Him more fully and more clearly than if He stood before you, before your very eyes.”(Erasmus’ preface to his Greek New Testament, quoted in Earl D. Radmacher, editor, Can We Trust The Bible? (Wheaton, 1979), page 92.)

To Challenge

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” (C.S. Lewis)

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.” (C.S Lewis)

“Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him. We will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts.” (C.T. Studd – Great Missionary Statesman to Africa who founded World Evangelization Crusade)

“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” (C.T. Studd)

“Make my life a prayer to You 

I wanna do what you want me to 

No empty words and no white lies 

No token prayers no compromise 

I wanna tell the world out there 

You’re not some fable or fairy tale 

That I’ve made up inside my head 

You’re God the Son and You’ve risen from the dead”

(Keith Green – from his album No Compromise)

“There is no healing a man till the law has wounded him, no making him alive till the law has slain him.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Grace leads to rest, not complacency.” (Scotty Smith)

“The effect of the cross is…we are silenced by the severity of our sin and we are stunned by the glory of our God.” (Is. 52:13-53:12) (David Platt)

Evangelism & Discipleship

“I simply argue that the cross should be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church.  I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek, . . . at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.  Because that is where he died.  And that is what he died for.  And that is what he died about.  That is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.” (George MacLeod, quoted by Richard C. Halverson, Perspective, 6 January 1988 as quoted by Ray Ortlund Jr. on his blog) 

“Discipleship: When Jesus said to make disciples, the disciples understood that to mean that they should make out of others what Jesus has made out of them.” (Don Whitney – Professor at Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY)

“Jesus sends the church into the world to do his will, just as the Father sent the Son into the world to do his will. The church is sent in a similar way Jesus was sent, though with a different mission. Jesus was sent by the Father (incarnated) to save a people for himself, and with them all of creation (Lk. 19:10; Col. 1:20). Jesus sends the church into the world in like manner (cultural immersion, relational identification, divine purpose/agenda) to make disciples of all nations. Jesus fully incarnated, taking on flesh in order to rescue the world from sin, death and hell. Following his example and command we, obviously to a lesser degree, ‘incarnate,’ in order to make disciples as we make his excellencies known (Mt. 28:18-29; 1 Pet. 2:9).” (Ed Stetzer)

 The Holy Spirit

“Without the Spirit we can neither love God nor keep His commandments.” (Augustine)

“The church becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human creation. We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.”  (Francis Chan)

“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” (Corrie Ten Boom)

Selah!

Global Training Network – “Church Arise” from Paul Madson on Vimeo.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’.” (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)

God continues to open many new doors for ministry around the world. Our 70+ staff are now involved in 50+ countries bringing quality biblical and theological training to indigenous pastors and leaders throughout the Majority World.

Above is our latest video that provides a brief overview of the ministry of Global Training Network. The song in the background is “While We Sing” by the Christian band Leeland (used with permission). The lyrics are…

Here are a few Scriptures / Thoughts / Quotes to encourage you and give you hope this week…

“We stand in the present but dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future.”  (Dale Ralph Davis)

“Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it.”  (D.L. Moody)

“Grace and truth are both necessary. Neither is sufficient. Christ’s heart is equally grieved by grace-suppression and truth-suppression, by grace-twisting and truth-twisting. ‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’ (John 1:17).”  (from The Grace and Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn)  

“An honest preacher’s prayer: Lord, by your Spirit, may your people hear a better sermon than the one I am about to preach.”  (Kevin DeYoung) 

“The truths that I know best I have learned on my knees. I never know a thing well, till it is burned into my heart by prayer.” (John Bunyan)

“…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”  (2 Cor. 6:10 NASB) 

“What people need is to see and feel our indomitable joy in Jesus in themidst of suffering and sorrow. We commend our life in ministry by afflictions … it means that Christ is real to us, more precious than sleep, health, money, life… Wouldn’t you want a Christ that precious?”  (John Piper – from his final sermon as Pastor of Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN) 

“I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:9-10 NIV)

“It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.” (John Flavel)

“…judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13 NIV) 

“Take away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book.” (J.C. Ryle) 

“I have but one passion – it is He, it is He alone.” (Count Zinzendorf) 

“Only once did God choose a completely sinless preacher.” (Alexander Whyte) 

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13 NIV) 

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” (Martin Luther) 

“(1) Do you see what this means-all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running-and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

(2) Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed-that exhilarating finish in and with God-he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

(3) When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That willshoot adrenaline into your souls!”

(Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message) 

Selah