"The unfolding of your words gives light ..." (Psalm 119:130a)
“Those were great days, and great victories were won. We always managed a riot or a revival. Sometimes a riot and no revival, but never a revival without a riot!” — William P. Nicholson, a.k.a., “the tornado in the pulpit” (Irish evangelist, 1876-1962)
“… calling subverts the deadly modern idolatry of choice. Choice in modern life is central, powerful, unquestioned, and enshrined in how we think and all we do–so much so that it cannot be undermined merely by an appeal to another choice. Choice for modern people is a right that overwhelms both responsibility and rationality. … Arguments against choice need to recognize the special, godlike power of choice. But ultimately only one thing can conquer choice–being chosen. Thus, for followers of Christ, calling neutralizes the fundamental poison of choice in modern life. ‘I have chosen you,’ Jesus said, ‘you have not chosen me.’ We are not our own; we have been bought with a price. We have no rights, only responsibilities. Following Christ is not our initiative, merely our response, in obedience. Nothing works better to debunk the pretensions of choice than a conviction of calling. Once we have been called, we literally ‘have no choice.'” (Oz Guinness, The Call, p.167, emphasis mine)
“Another great mystery in the way of sanctification, is … our being in Christ, and having Christ Himself in us … I may well call this a mystical union … It is one of the three mystical unions that are the chief mysteries in religion. The other two are, the union of the Trinity of Persons in one Godhead, and the union of the divine and human natures in one person, Jesus Christ, God and man.” (Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, p.21)
“… when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (Job 23:10b)
“Whatever else we may have, if we do not have character we have nothing. It is character that determines destiny. The only failure that matters in the end is the failure to build character. In ordinary life character is formed by overcoming difficulties. . . . We might be tempted to ask whether God can build character without suffering. That is a hypothetical question. He has not chosen to do so.” (John J. Murray, Behind a Frowning Providence, 14-15)
“I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word said she,
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me!”
–Robert Browning Hamilton
(William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, 1:89)
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