” Self-acceptance can be realized only from a transcendent source- The Creator of the universe. God’s pronouncement of acceptance takes into account the defects of sin, defects which psychology glosses over. God’s acceptance promises forgiveness and restoration, the opportunity to become somebody.” Darius Salter.
“My core fear is that we are, as a culture, as a species, becoming shallower, that we have turned from depth-from the Judeo-Christian premise of unfathomable mystery- and we are adapting ourselves to the ersatz security of a vast lateral connectedness. That we are giving up on wisdom, the struggle for which has for millennia been central to the very idea of culture, and that we are pledging instead to a faith in the web.” Sven Birkerts
These quotes are not from the book I am currently reading. They are from this morning’s sermon by Pastor Brad Hackett, Cornerstone’s youth pastor. I thought they were both prophetical and priestly.
” Be cause of the promise of the the resurrection, we have all the more reason to stay true to the Lord.” Brad Hackett
“If you don’t seek after God for help, then His promises aren’t for you!” Brad Hackett
“When people are having a dumb argument, we need to help them stay true to the Lord.” Brad Hackett
” Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord.” Charles Spurgeon
“Christianity is about progress not perfection.” Brad Hackett
“”There is no place in our lives that is of no concern to God.” Brad Hackett
“Sin is a time waster while prayer is a people-saver.” Brad Hackett
“There is no more time for offense, no more time for dumb arguments, no more time for sin.” Brad Hackett
“The personal desire to be pure and holy, the personal consciousness of power to be pure and holy through Christ, reveals the possibility of other men.” Lyman Beecher
“First of all, before a man can value the soul of other men, he must have learnt to value his own soul…He who preaches to the inner life of others must himself have an inner life.” Phillips Brooks
“We have received the oracles of God, the greatest gift that can be given a people. Yet we live between having received and fully comprehending the Word.” Darius L. Salter
“What is preaching-without turning to God? It is daily unction that we want, that the word may be like a hammer and fire from our mouths to break hearts and to kindle life and fire.” Francis Asbury
For me literature must have ethical dimension. the aim of literature…is to disturb. I disturb the reader because I dare to put questions to God, the source of all faith. I disturb the miscreant because despite my doubts and questions, I refuse to break with the religious and mystical universe that has shaped my own. Most of all, I disturb those who are comfortably settled within a system-be it political, psychological, or theological. If I have learned anything in my life, it is to distrust in intellectual comfort.” Elie Weisel
When It All Seems Like Too Much, Pray!
