Adam's Favorite Quotes

Below are the quotes I have on my Facebook as of 12/11/22. For the most updated list, go to the about section of me from the desktop view of my Facebook profile.

1. Love

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14

2. Truth

...If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. Proverbs 4: 7-8

3. Truth & Love

...All that matters is faith, expressed through love (Galatians 5:6).

4. Significance

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. - Jesus - John 15:5

5. Miscellaneous

I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free. Psalm 119:32

Caveats

I include a wide variety of authors in this quotes section. I do not endorse intensive study of each author (excepting Scripture & certain others like C.S. Lewis), as the vast majority of authors can be flawed, as I can be flawed. I can still appreciate certain thoughts of people no matter their worldviews. Likewise I don't endorse watching every film I quote from. I am a Christian, but know that many reading this section are not, and feel that it is appropriate, especially in light of that fact, to include a wider sampling of authorship than exclusively Christians in certain areas of agreement. In some cases, I only partially agree with quotes at times, as I sometimes, but not always, explain below. I acknowledge that all religions are not the same, and that objective truth exists. I also agree with those who believe that there is only 1 true gospel, and believe in the Bible, including full acceptance of statements of Jesus as in John 14:6 (see below under Truth).

I also include some writing of my own in places where relevant without citation. I'm not saying it's quotable, but appreciate you taking the time to read. You would be doing me a service if you ever reach out to me about an area of disagreement especially in those matters. As Proverbs 27:6 states, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."

1. Love

Anyone that studies the life of Jesus would know that He was concerned about the poor, the oppressed, the homeless, the sick, and I feel that I must obey Christ in that area as well...Jesus said we're to love our neighbors as ourselves. The gospel of Christ has no meaning unless it's applied to our fellow man who hurts and who is in need. That's our neighbor. - Billy Graham (From Billy Graham - An Extraordinary Journey @ 39:48 - while I don't believe in absolute terms, i.e. someone who is incapable of moving but capable of cognition & sanctification/justification, I agree in general terms in >99% of cases)

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4: 16

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

Whatever you did for one of the least of these... you did for Me. Jesus - Matthew 25:40

There is no pit so deep that the love of God is not deeper still. -Corrie ten Boom - holocaust concentration camp survivor

(ESV) 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (MSG) 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't Love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without Love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of Truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 8 Love never dies... (NIV) 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13

Isaiah 58:6-11 Is this not the fast which I choose...to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread for the hungry (NASB) And bring the homeless poor into your house (ESV); When you see the naked, to cover him... Then your light will break out like the dawn,And your recovery will speedily spring forth;And your righteousness will go before you;The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst,The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, 10 And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the soul of the afflicted,Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday.11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,And satisfy your soul in scorched places,And give strength to your bones;And you will be like a watered garden,And like a spring of water whose waters do not deceive.

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. The materialism of affluent Christian countries appears to contradict the claims of Jesus Christ that says it's not possible to worship both Mammon and God at the same time.

Gandhi (disputed)

1 John 3 16 This is how we know what Love (agape) is: Jesus Christ laid down His Life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the Love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in Truth.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:35

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. -Dalai Lama

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"...the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " - Acts 20:35

Too often, my idea of love is made up of token efforts to satisfy a meager conscience, rather than the Love of Christ flowing through me, a conduit of His grace as I experience the beauty of abundant Life, found only in the Source of Life, joy, peace, freedom... Delusions of mine produce fear, pride, etc. which in turn yield a degree of satisfaction with that which is counterfeit by comparison to Life abiding in Christ.

Rich governments are not fighting some of the world’s most deadly diseases because rich countries don’t have them. The private sector is not developing vaccines and medicines for these diseases, because developing countries can’t buy them. And many developing countries are not doing nearly enough to improve the health of their own people. Let’s be frank about this. If these epidemics were raging in the developing world, people with resources would see the suffering and insist that we stop it. But sometimes it seems that the rich world can’t even see the developing world. We rarely make eye contact with the people who are suffering – so we act sometimes as if the people don’t exist and the suffering isn’t happening. ... In business, the market tells you when you’ve failed. In science, your instruments tell you when you’ve failed. In philanthropy, no one tells you. Everyone wants to be your friend. - Bill Gates, The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large. —William Wilberforce

100 million faces, staring at the sky, Wondering if this HIV will ever pass us by. The devil stole the rain and hope trickles down the plug, But still my Chinese take away could pay for someone's drugs. -Delirious’ song “Our God Reigns”

There is not a single instance in history where hate has brought joy to human beings. It is a negative force that serves only to destroy those who hold it in their mind and body. - Unknown

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are… Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former… Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence… You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. - Jesus - Matthew 23:14-15, 23, 25, 27 - (Addressed to well respected religious leaders of the people of God of the day who would obey the minutia of the law in some regards for a pretense while living in hypocrisy apart from love)

"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start." - Mother Teresa

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. - Ruth Bell Graham

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love... - Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

2. Truth

I’d really encourage you if you’ve never done it to investigate the evidence for yourself but make three resolutions up front: #1 make it a front burner issue in your life #2 resolved to have an open mind- to go wherever the evidence takes you, even if it takes you to the very uncomfortable conclusion that Jesus is who he claimed to be, and then finally resolve that once the evidence is in you will reach a verdict in the case for Christ. – Lee Strobel – “The Case for Christ”

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

[While many focus exclusively on the implications on afterlife of this statement, I affirm those while also recognizing the critical importance of the earthly ramifications of it (Psalm 1, 50:8-23, 63, 16:11; Ecclesiastes 2; Esther 4:14; Isaiah 1, 6, 49:9, 53; John 10:10, 15:1-17; Romans 11:35-36; Ephesians 3; Philippians 3:7-21; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 12; 1 Peter 2:9)]

"It was really easy to mess with Christians about stuff because a lot of people hadn't thought about things. If I wanted to have a blast I would just say, "Trinity: explain." Most people hadn't thought of it... usually what people would end up with is that it's a divine mystery & you have to believe it by faith, and I would say, "Look, it sounds to me that you're using the word faith as a substitute for ignorance, and I want no part in that faith." That's how I saw Christianity, and each time I had a conversation with Christians, it bolstered my faith as a Muslim and it made me want to share Islam with people because I saw the trinity as polytheism, and polytheism is one of the worst kinds of sins. Now all this would have changed if I had simply encountered someone who had a reason for the hope that lies within them, which by the way is a biblical command from 1 Peter 3:15, "Always be ready to share the reason for the hope that lies within you." And the first time that I met a Christian who was ready with that was in college. So I've already decimated the faith of a lot of people going up to college, and I get to college, very confident in myself, and I meet a friend... I saw him one night reading the Bible, and I thought, "OK, this will be fun. Let's take down another Christian. It will be amusing"... "David, do you realize that book you're reading, it's not trustworthy; it's been corrupted over time?"

"David... said... "The disciples... were able to listen to Jesus... and write it in Greek and of that Greek New Testament Manuscript we have in our possession over 6,000 copies today." And he (Nabeel's friend David) said, "Nabeel if we didn't have any one of those copies, we have in our possession over 10,000 Latin, Coptic, & Syriac translations of the early Greek New Testament manuscripts." And he said, "If we didn't have any of those translations we have over 30,000 quotations of the New Testament from the early church fathers with which who could reconstruct virtually the entire New Testament many times over again. Nabeel, we know with certainty the message of the original New Testament."" Nabeel Qureshi sharing part of his conversion story from Islam to Christianity where his friend David Wood challenged his belief that the New Testament had been tainted over time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0D8Uz4oQck starting at 25:08

Truth by definition is exclusive; whenever you make a certain affirmation or an assertion, you are excluding the opposite, and when you make a statement and then start qualifying it ends up dying the death of a thousand qualifications and sub-qualifications. When Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," he didn't say "except in" & follow it with a few other ideas. And then he looked at the same disciple and said, "Because I live, you also shall live: the author and giver of life." Ravi Zacharias https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amun1RBONPw at 55:45

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. - Socrates (while I cannot agree on absolute terms, since doing so in absolute terms would be a denial of the reality of objective truth & likely a departure from Socrates’ original intent, I appreciate the thought in relative terms as in Job 38. I add "*RA" to subsequent similar relative appreciation)

Be the change you want to see in the world. -Gandhi [while I cannot agree on absolute terms, as our desires aren't perfect (if you don't understand what I'm saying, think about whether it would be good for Hitler to abide by this statement, then remember that every imperfection we have impacts our desires), I like the thought, especially as our desires align with God's and with His will for our lives in our part in the healing of a broken world.]

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, 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." -C.S. Lewis

“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.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

When someone says, "Jesus was just a great moral teacher," that's rather like saying, "You know Mozart wrote some rather pretty tunes." Just say, "Well Mozart did write some pretty tunes, but if that's all you can hear in his music, than you need to sit down and learn what those symphonies are really all about." And saying that Jesus was just a great moral teacher is a way of disinfecting Him, of saying, "We can have Him on our terms rather than on His terms." N.T. Wright - The Case for Faith

Some Christians behave arrogantly; they really do. The thing about arrogance though-it's so silly. Because if, as Paul says, everything we have is a gift of grace, we haven't got anything to be arrogant about. It isn't that we've got it all together; it's somewhere that God's got it all together, and we are privileged to be called to be a little part of that. And as long as we keep that perspective, we will cut the root of arrogance and we will be able to bear humble but clear witness to the truth. - N.T. Wright - The Case for Faith

If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more.

- Harriet Tubman

If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, it would have recollapsed before it reached its present size. On the other hand, if it had been greater by a part in a million, the universe would have expanded too rapidly for stars and planets to form. - Stephen Hawking

This quote is one of those that I don't believe in absolute terms, but appreciate the thought. One of the aspects of this quote that I like is the acknowledgment of the statistical improbability of sapient life in our universe. The rate of expansion is just one of many variables that were fine tuned for intelligent life to exist in a given random universe. Lee Strobel's book & movie "The Case for a Creator" goes into this idea more. Scientists have come up with a number of potential hypothesis for how sapient life exists in our universe, but ultimately none of them actually qualify for a theory, even the most popular hypothesis, the "multiple universe theory", because of the tremendous lack of evidence.

Benjamin Franklin said, "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." I disagree. To truly believe Franklin's statement in the simple terms of the quote, not qualified in any capacity, I propose that you would actually have to be insane, particularly in the realm of extreme paranoia. For instance, to merely take a breath of air, one must have some measure of faith. One must have the faith that there is not any invisible, odorless, & lethal substance that has gone airborne in your area. To eat or drink something prepared by others, such as at a restaurant, one must have the faith that no one has poisoned your food. You can certainly examine your food prior to eating it, but to run a countless number of tests to see if it is poisoned in a way that is undetectable by sight, scent, or taste is ridiculous on a daily basis & there are poisonous substances that could remain undetected. Regardless of your belief in God, gods, atheism, or agnosticism, to completely abstain from faith in life as we know it would make the movie "Bubble Boy" seem like child's play. No, Franklin misunderstands faith and in haste has put a box around reason whose exclusion of faith can't rationally exist in order to further try to justify his disbelief in God including the perceived allowance for self-determination of morality.

The man who has no faith in anything is unreasonable, and the man who has no reason is incapable of faith.

The only freedom that is of enduring importance is freedom of intelligence, that is to say, freedom of observation and of judgment exercised in behalf of purposes that are intrinsically worth while. - John Dewey (while I cannot agree on absolute terms [i.e. Gal 5], I appreciate the thought.)

Our notions of wisdom are relative stupidity by comparison to divine omniscience. I know that God still speaks, yet my life too seldom reflects this reality.

"People who urge you to be realistic generally want you to accept their version of reality." - Unknown

Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

Can you see God? You haven't seen him? I've never seen the wind. I see the effects of the wind, but I've never seen the wind. There's a mystery to it.

- Billy Graham

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crack-pot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.

-Thomas J. Watson

Acts 22:3-21

Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. And I persecuted the followers of the Way (Christians), hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

“As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’ The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

“I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’ “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles (Non-Jewish people)!’”

(For those unaware, Paul authored more books of the Bible than any man and is the central figure spoken about in the book of Acts, a book written by Luke who also authored the Gospel of Luke)

1 Corinthians 15: 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead... (Paul was uniquely suited to say these words. See also 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 for context of the many near death experiences & various persecution he suffered for Christ in addition to the 180 degree turn of his life that he speaks of in going from physically persecuting Christians including supporting their public execution to encountering the risen Jesus mentioned in Acts 22:3-21 above)

Ecclesiastes 2

Psalm 1

Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Luke 1:1-4

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you... that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.

Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome - Tacitus - Roman Historian & Senator - writing in Annals 15.44 in AD 116 - While I certainly don't agree with his perspective on Jesus Christ, I think it's disappointing that many still assume that there is no historical record outside of the Bible and other Christian authors regarding Jesus & early Christians. See also Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and Josephus.

3. Truth & Love Mixed

"...if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2)." If Jesus was not raised from the dead, the Bible says that our faith "is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:13-15 - see context of author of 1 Cor. by seeing Acts 26 - Paul of Tarsus, who went from persecuting Christians to death to becoming the author of more books of the Bible than anyone after a vision from Jesus on the road to a new city to lead the efforts of persecution after which he was blinded for 3 days in part to reduce the possibility of him believing that it was not a vision from God. See also the persecution he himself faced as he held to that testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28).

Conviction that is not under-girded by love makes the possessor of that conviction obnoxious and the dogma possessed becomes repulsive. - Ravi Zacharias https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amun1RBONPw 54 minutes in

There is a type of war that every Christian is involved in. It is a spiritual war. It is a war of ideas. Every true Christian is a fighting passifist. In a very profound passage, which has been often misunderstood, Jesus utters this. He says “Think not that I am come to bring peace. I come not to bring peace, but a sword.” {Mt 10:34-36} Certainly he is not saying that he comes not to bring peace in the higher sense. What he is saying is: “I come not to bring this peace of escapism, this peace that fails to confront the real issues of life, the peace that makes for stagnant complacency.” Then he says, I come to bring a sword—not a physical sword. Whenever I come a conflict is precipitated between the old and the new, between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. “I come to declare war on evil. I come to declare war on injustice. MLK https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/when-peace-becomes-obnoxious

Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, 'I did not know.' -William Wilberforce - the man who led the effort to end slavery in the British Empire

Conflict becomes sinful when our responses to it are destructive, hurtful, abusive, or violent.

There are good ways to disagree & there are also unhealthy ways. Even people who are right sometimes...about the issue... can deal w it in a way that is very unloving. Being faithful to Christ involves more than taking the right stance or being on the right side of an issue. It also requires engaging those with whom we disagree in positive respectful dialogue. - Regent class professor Dr. James Flynn

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.- Isaiah 53:5-6 (See the rest of Isaiah 53 for more - written centuries before Christ was born. Through the Dead Sea Scrolls we have a copy that dates at 100 BC, 1100 years before the Masoretic text which was our previous earliest copy. These copies are very similar, contradicting the assumptions of over a billion people including entire religions that believe that many texts of the Bible were deliberately and substantially changed over time by the Church to fit its own ends. As in many cases, it is important to look at the data prior to formulating an informed opinion.)

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. - Albert Einstien (*RA See Matthew 22:36-40. A life lived for others yet not knowing truth could be unwittingly negative, such as a life lived for Nazis in WWII, yet living in the service of God & others in line with truth is extremely positive & in line with Matthew 7:12)

Without freedom, both the possibilities for people to love and to destroy would be eliminated. The problem of evil is the problem of freedom. God is Love incarnate (1), and despite the high amount of choice that He allows, He also is bursting to lavish His Love not merely on the perfect, which existed solely in Christ, but on the imperfect who could never deserve it by virtue of their imperfection (2). He does not completely shield the more deserving, not even the sole perfect One in all of human history, from destruction, yet He loves to redeem and restore, even through death at times as with His only begotten Son (3). His love is completely undeserved for the imperfect, despite their notions at times of amassing karma by their good deeds, yet He loves to pour out grace on the undeserving (4). Everything good in our existence, including the very life that we have, the air that we breathe, and even the good things that we do are by His mercy and grace (5). May all praise be to the One who has lavished loving-kindness on us in times of plenty and in times of want, who even seeks to grow us in the darkest of times when the cost of freedom is most clear, who remains with those who have found Him even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (6).

1: 1 John 4:16;

2: Romans 3:9-31; 9:16, 23-29; 11:5-6

3. Job, Isaiah 53:3-6, 11 (prophesied centuries before Christ with a copy that is before Christ), Romans 3:24-26, 2 Corinthians 5:21

4. Romans 5:6-8; 11: 35-36, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:7-9, Psalm 50:7-15

5. James 1:17, Romans 2:4

6. Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:3-10, James 1:2-5, Philippians 4:4-9, Psalm 23, Deuteronomy 31:8

Our greatest blessing, which is the free will that we have, the ability that we have to make choices, moral choices, also is our greatest choice because I often choose the wrong thing, and so does everybody else, and people get hurt out of that both intentionally and unintentionally. - Rick Warren - The Case for Faith

The cross says, "I understand." - Lou Giglio

Amazing grace,

how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost,

but now I'm found,

was blind, but now I see.

John Newton - former captain of slave ships before he encountered God on the water during a very strong storm one night

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." -Mother Teresa (See also Matthew 7:1)

Acts 3:1-4:22

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked toreceive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the nameof Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right handand raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walkingand leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praisingGod, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, rantogether to them in the portico called Solomon's. And when Peter saw it headdressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stareat us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God ofAbraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author oflife, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faiththat is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of youall.

“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may beblotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven mustreceive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever hetells you… God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of thetemple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because theywere teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody…

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together… And when they had set them in themidst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ThenPeter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, bywhat means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all thepeople of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which hasbecome the cornerstone And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that theywere uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that theyhad been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them toleave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do withthese men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it mayspread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone inthis name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in thename of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in thesight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot butspeak of what we have seen and heard.”… the man on whom this sign ofhealing was performed was more than forty years old.

(Many are unaware of the presence of a plethora of healings in the Name of Jesus today in ways that cannot be faked or accomplished through psychosomatic means. For instance, before my wife was born, my father in law, a general & vascular published surgeon, had a life threatening illness that medicine did not have the ability to treat yet. He was watching the 700 Club one night, where someone on the show “had a word” for him. That person on the show prayed, and within the next day, his jaundice was gone, and he was healed. Jessica is alive today because of the present reality of Jesus’ continued ability to heal. While it is certainly true that there are plenty of examples of “healings” that are a hoax, the assumption that all supposedly miraculous healings include no element of the supernatural is false. Those who hold to that assumption and would like to further research the matter can easily do so if they are dedicated to the task, including but not limited to a trip to Mozambique with Heidi Baker’s ministry, where my wife has seen God’s power in action in that country. Many dismiss the woman in light of various statements and practices, however when one is looking at the evidence of actual healings performed, such as the deaf being healed, the evidence speaks for itself, unblurred by other things that she says or does that do not conform to cultural norms. My wife has seen God’s power through Heidi’s ministry firsthand, although I have never personally been to Pemba, Mozambique. However, I remember hearing directly from Heidi speaking on one occasion where some Ivy League medical doctors sought to expose her as a charlatan, and tested the deaf before and after supposed healings. As one after the other person received healing, with their assumptions disproven, they wept as they continued to see people get healed.

Today, no matter the good that Christians do, if they are as “dogmatic” as Peter here, they are likely to suffer some degree of persecution. My beliefs have led to my persecution before, even though that has never been physical persecution save the following time I included in a paper for Regent:

“I remember an occasion where I met an African American Christian in a bus station. We sat on the bus in close proximity to each other and kept up conversation. A white man intruded into the conversation, barraging us with an attack on Christianity. At one point, he pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket, exposed the blade, put it up to my neck, and asked me if I thought that God could save me from him. I responded with a genuine smile by the grace of God, and told him that the Lord could stop him from an attempt, but that even if God did not, that I would be going to Heaven, so his threat was of minimal consequence anyways. He said that he was a bounty hunter. After we got off the bus, he was having some difficulties with security, and I publicly defended him. My turning the other cheek in love brought an immediate change in his treatment of me. He asked me if I wanted to talk to him some more while he went out of the bus station to smoke. It was at night, and I invited the other Christian to join us. He said that he did not want to go, and that “that guy’s got issues man!” I responded that I have issues as well, for we certainly all have our own issues. I proceeded to go outside alone with the bounty hunter while he smoked. At one point in the conversation, he broke down, and told me that he would buy me any meal that I wanted at the restaurant there, asking if I could go there and tell him about Jesus. He opened his heart up about how his children just wanted his money in his eyes, and he opened the door for me to minister Jesus to him.”

On the other hand, many around the globe face physical persecution daily for their convictions regarding the truth of Scripture, such as those in North Korea where simply being caught owning a Bible results in the death penalty. While on a mission trip to India, I remember seeing posters put up for a rally encouraging an end to physical persecution of Christians in the region. Upon asking about the posters, I discovered that Christians were having limbs lopped off by Hindu radicals and being thrown into the river. A month after I left India, the hospital compound where I had stayed for about 6 weeks, primarily to teach qualitative research and perform qualitative research for a needs assessment for the development of public health curriculum, was physically attacked by a mob of 100 radical Hindus. The leader of the hospital, who had taught neurosurgery in England prior to selling his possessions and establishing the only charitable medical facility in that region of India, an “untouchable,” low-caste, dark skinned Dhalit, was severely beaten along with one other person who tried to step in between the mob and Dr. Raju. In addition, the mob vandalized much of the hospital compound, which was the base of operations for school planting, well drilling, church planting, vocational skills training, dentistry, and other operations. It also included a “children’s hostel”, which was like a cross between an orphanage and a boarding school. The majority of the children, if I remember correctly, were in pre-K through primary school. I cannot imagine the fear of the children as that attack occurred.

Taking a stand for that which is both true and has a positive influence on the lives of many is worth suffering for. In the case of Christianity, as in certain other cases where the positive influence is highly substantive and can mean the difference of life or death in the lives of others, it is worth dying for. While my persecution has been miniscule when compared to that of many around the globe, I am reminded that God Himself, in Jesus, took a stand for Love, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and was whipped, beaten, and crucified for it. I am thankful that my God was willing to sacrifice Himself so that I could both know the truth and walk in the Truth to the degree that He gives me grace to do so despite my failures in that quest.)

4. Significance

Every man dies; not every man truly lives. - Braveheart

"What we do in life echoes in eternity." Russel Crowe- Gladiator

Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still. - Lou Erickso

If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I am meeting young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust. – Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. - Boondock Saints

God wants our obedience today more than He wants our significance tomorrow (1). We won’t be as significant apart from obedience anyways (2), and can even be negatively significant apart from obedience (3). It’s not just about our obedience either; He wants to be intimate with us. Don’t you remember that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (4)? No He doesn’t need us (5), but chooses to give us purpose out of His love for us (6). The way that we get in touch with purpose is by getting in touch with Him (7), and the way that we get in touch with Him is by feeling His warm embrace as we look into His eyes of fire (8). We get in touch with Him by pouring ourselves into His Word as He enables us to live it out (9), eliminating distractions from our eyes (10) as we see the incomparably beautiful nature of who He truly is. He is Love (11).

1. 1 Samuel 15:22, Romans 11:35-36, Esther 4:14

2. John 15:1-17

3. 1 Samuel 15

4. Psalm 50

5. Esther 4:14, Romans 11:35-36, Numbers 22:29, Luke 19:40

6. Romans 2:4, Romans 8, Ephesians 1:3-10

7. Ecclesiastes 2

8. Revelation 1:14; 2:18

9. Psalm 1

10. Hebrews 12:1-3

11. 1 John 4:16

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Without struggle there is no progress.

- Frederick Douglas

If you’re not living for something worth dying for, you’re not really living. - Brandon Shaw

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." TR

To squander time is to squander life, but more painfully it's to squander destiny... If you don't manage time effectively... you will not enter into your destiny... It is an issue of character and it is an issue of skill. - Mike Bickle

"While some dream to escape life; you dream to live. You see a life, a world, a future, so beautiful it takes your breath away. You must pursue this dream... It must become reality." Wide Awake by McManus

Aye, fight and you may die. ... And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom! - Braveheart

5. Miscellaneous

It is far easier to condemn your sin than it is to confess my own. - Unknown

“The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, when they stumble and fall, when they screw up, they run to God and not from him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death” ( pg. 211, Matt Chandler, "The Explicit Gospel").

Religion is what you're left with when the Spirit leaves the building. - Bono

The fruit of silence is prayer,

The fruit of prayer is faith,

The fruit of faith is love,

The fruit of love is service,

The fruit of service is peace.

- Mother Theresa

"There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours." -- C.S. Lewis

“I’m not, but He is,

And I’m in Him and He is in me .”

“I can’t, but He can,

And I’m in Him and He is in me .”

“I don’t want to, but He wants to,

And I’m in Him and He is in me."

“I didn’t, but He did,

Because I was in Him and He was in me.”

-Dick Woodward

Life teaches me that anything not growing is dead. Ashe Lee Stevens

"The only way to keep a broken vessel full is to keep it always under the tap." D.L. Moody

Richness does not lie in the abundance of (worldly) goods but richness is the richness of the soul (heart, self). - Muhammad, Zakat, Book 12, Number 157 (See derivative passage in Bible in Matthew 6: 19-34; see also "Caveat" near beginning of this section following the summary).

Proverbs 28:1 The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

“Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe