the necessity of the languages for ministry

“One outstanding difficulty in theological education today is that the students persist in regarding themselves not as specialists, but as laymen. Critical questions about the Bible they regard as property of men who are training themselves for theological professorships or the like, while the ordinary minister, in their judgment, may content himself with the most superficial layman’s acquaintance with the problems involved. The minister is thus no longer a specialist in the Bible, but has become merely a sort of general manager of the affairs of a congregation. … If on the other hand, the minister is a specialist – if the one thing that he owes his congregation above all others is a thorough acquaintance, scientific as well as experimental, with the Bible – then the importance of Greek requires no elaborate argument.”
- Machen

sharing the gospel out of guilt

Our evangelism is often unbelievable because we don't listen at all. All too often the gospel we share is an information download, not a loving articulation of how the good news fits into the needs, fears, hopes, and dreams of others' lives. We content ourselves with "name dropping" Jesus, which gets us a √ in performance-based Christianity---unless, of course, we mention the cross, which bumps us up to a √+. This kind of evangelism, however, is more about clearing our evangelical conscience than compassionately sharing the good news with fellow sinners. Very often our gospel is unbelievable because we are motivated by unbelief in the gospel.
- Jonathan Dodson

my safety and obedience to Jesus

Do you choose your neighborhoods to be safe?  Do you go to the suburbs to be safe?  Is your first thought in a call to ministry “will my kids be safe?”  I got so tired of hearing that question when we were looking for associates at my church.  “Is your neighborhood safe?”  NO!  And who cares!  Good grief, what does that question have to do with obedience to Jesus?!
- John Piper, “The Supremacy of God in Missions” 

unbelief and theology

When historians of religion look back at the second half of the 20th century they will marvel at how its theologians could have written so much while believing so little.
- Steven Webb, Christian Century (Dec 4-17, 2002)

never been lost

I've never been lost, but I was mighty turned around for three days once.

- Daniel Boone

Or perhaps it was:
"I've never been lost, but I was mighty bewildered once for three days."

set goals

The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.
-Bill Copeland

plan and act!

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.
- General George Patton

personal development

Reading makes a full man;
conference a ready man;
writing an exact man.
- Bacon

(and the holy spirit a new man!)

Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.

Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.

- Fortune cookie

only two kinds of people in the world

There are only two kinds of men: the righteous, who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners who believe themselves righteous.

Pascal

don't try to get god on your side

My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side.

Lincoln's call to fasting and humility

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

- Abraham Lincoln

we are too sensual and earthly... immediately terrified when hungry!

“Let the doctrine which proceeds from thy mouth be sound. For he expressly uses this word, because it is the means of upholding us in true integrity, that the word of God, which is preached to us, be our spiritual pasture. This will not be perceived at first sight, but such is the fact. And why do we not perceive it? Because we are too sensual and earthly. For when we are in want of food for our body, we are immediately terrified, we become alarmed, we have not a moment of repose, for it touches us nearly. We are sensitive as to this fading life, but we are insensible to all that affects our souls; there is such brutal stupidity that we do not know our wants, though they press heavily upon us. Yet let it be observed that there is nothing but weakness in us, if we are not fed with the doctrine of God. And that is the reason why it is called ‘sound,’ for in this consists the health of our souls. As our bodies are kept in their proper condition by well-regulated nourishment, so our souls are supported by that doctrine which serves not only for nourishment but for medicine. For we are full of vices which are worse than diseases; and therefore our soul must be purged, and we must be healed of them. The method of doing this is, that we profit by the word of God. And so it is not without good reason that Paul gives to it this designation, that it is ‘sound,’ or that it is ‘wholesome.’” — Fr. Ser.

Footnote from ET of Calvin’s commentary on Titus 2:1

“Fr. Ser.” = French Sermon?

holiness and sin

[The Christian religion] teaches men both these truths: that there is a God of whom we are capable, and that a corruption in our nature makes us unworthy of Him. It is equally important for us to know both these points; for it is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness, and to know his wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can cure him of it. Knowledge of only one of these points leads either to the arrogance of the philosophers, who have known God and not their own wretchedness, or to the despair of the atheists, who know their wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer.

- pascal

finding contradictions in the bible is not "bold" and "courageous" but "lazy"

Here's a methodological driving principle that I hope remains at the foundation of our education for centuries, if Jesus tarries: namely, that it is not bold and courageous to oppose sacred tradition by finding contradictions in the Bible. Sometimes people will be described: "He's a courageous scholar!" and then he says something negative about the Bible or points out a contradiction and therefore he's "courageous" and "bold."

My assessment of that is that it's not courage but laziness, and a failure to go deep for the unity that is there. It will make a superficial institution of higher learning if we opt for the cheap solution of finding contradictions, instead of saying "If I work long enough and hard enough with all my might and as much help as I can get by the Holy Spirit I can find the unity beneath this apparent problem."

- Piper

truth in language

We simply must acknowledge that even though our finite understanding of God is limited, it is no less true! We possess exhaustive knowledge of very little; all reality, including the visible and physical, remains something of a mystery to us. Our talk of spiritual matters, including those of our own souls, is necessarily metaphorical, figurative, poetic. But this does not mean that what we say is untrue and incorrect. On the contrary, real poetry is truth, for it is based on the resemblance, similarity and kinship that exist between different groups of phenomena. All language participates in this rich interpenetration of visible and invisible. If speaking figuratively were untrue, all our thought and knowledge would be an illusion and speech itself impossible.

- Bavinck

the sinfulness of man

"In the worst of times, there is still more cause to complain of an evil
heart than of an evil world."

Robert Fleming (1630-1694)

knowledge and wisdom

There are those who desire to acquire knowledge for its own value – and this is a base vanity. But there are others who desire to have it to edify others – and this is charity. And there are others who desire it so that they may be edified – and this is wisdom.
Bernard of Clairvaux, The Song of Solomon

be unconventional, don't always choose "safe"

The path to effectiveness is often unconventional. The conventional approach is often the easy, risk-free, uninspiring path of low impact. It often seems safer, but actually isn’t. Organizations that make a difference are those that “stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where [their] industry should be going.” (Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win)

- Matt Perman

dream big and then push hard to get to those dreams. they may fail, but you may also achieve something previously unthinkable, even in failure.

management

It’s not your role to “motivate” and closely supervise people, but to hire people who are self motivated, make sure they know the purpose of their role, make sure they have the knowledge they need, and make sure there are some helpful (but not overbearing) structures and systems that provide a context for the work. And then let them direct themselves.

matt perman

never give up

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Thomas A. Edison

the job of ministers

Ministers are set as guides and teachers, and are represented in Scripture as lights set up in the churches; and in the present state meet their people from time to time in order to instruct and enlighten them, to correct their mistakes, and to be a voice behind them, saying, “This is the way, walk in it” [Is. 30:21]; to evince and confirm the truth by exhibiting the proper evidences of it, and to refute errors and corrupt opinions, to convince the erroneous and establish the doubting.
- Jonathan Edwards, “Farewell Sermon”

the need for preaching

It is authority that the world chiefly needs and the preaching of the hour lacks, an authoritative Gospel in a humble personality.

PT Forsyth, Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, (1907) p. 136, cited in Stott, Between two Worlds, p. 59

preach with your words too

Unless you preach everywhere you go, there is no use to go anywhere to preach.

- Francis of Assisi

motives

motives are a funny thing. everyone's motives are pure in their own mind.

Laura

insane sports

Mountain climbers are roped together to keep the sane ones from going home.

- quoted in Dave Harvey, Rescuing Ambition,

you always marry the wrong person

Destructive to marriage is the self-fulfilling prophecy that assumes marriage and family are primary institutions of personal fulfillment. The assumption today is that there is someone just right for you to marry and if you look close enough you will find that right person. This fails to appreciate a simple fact: that you always marry the wrong person. We may never know whom we marry, we just think we do. Or, if you do marry the right person, just give it time and they will change. For marriage, being the enormous thing that it is, means that we are not the same person ourselves, even after we have entered into it. That means the primary challenge of marriage is learning how to love and care for the stranger to whom you often find yourself married.
- Stanley Hauerwas

"...scholars are divided on the issue..."

...more and more evangelical churches and institutions are overthrowing their heritage, sometimes on the superficial basis that scholars are divided on the issue. The truth is that scholars are divided on most theological issues, including even the doctrines of God's incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ that validates him as the Son of God. In other words, giving up a doctrine on the basis that scholars differ in their opinions shows that no doctrine is secure and the more liberal perspective and practice will prevail.

- Watlke, An OT Theology, p. 236

mean christians don't disprove christianity

Take the case of a sour old maid, who is a Christian, but cantankerous. On the other hand, take some pleasant and popular fellow, but who has never been to Church. Who knows how much more cantankerous the old maid might be if she were not a Christian, and how much more likeable the nice fellow might be if he were a Christian? You can't judge Christianity simply by comparing the product in these two people; you would need to know what kind of raw material Christ was working on in both cases.

CS Lewis, God in the Dock

resolving moral conflicts

Unless you have been trained in the areas where the commandments clearly apply, you are really not prepared to deal with a conflict situation. Unless you are trained in the value of truthfulness, unless you are used to telling the truth, and unless veracity is one of your personal characteristics, you will not see the dilemma when protection of innocent life is at stake. If you lie every day for convenience, then it is certainly not going to be a problem to lie for some beneficial purpose. So, it is only people who have been trained in veracity and truthfulness who, when they are faced with this dilemma in an emergency situation, recognize it is a dilemma.

- David Jones, Christian Ethics, Lecture 13

anxiety

Pray, and let God worry.

- Luther

the emperor's new clothes

"... At worst it is simply playing to a sympathetic audience who will always tend to assume that scholarly emperors would never parade naked in public."

Trueman, Wages of Spin, p. 91, criticizing Thiselton's misrepresentation of Warfield

reconciliation

It is a poor reconciliation which is obtained only by agreeing never to speak of the past. (xii)

A generation that was distinguished by its wars is followed by one that is devoted to the arts of peace; and sons may be proud of the deeds of their fathers, and yet not think it a part of loyalty to keep alive their hatreds. (xiii)

- Henry M. Field, introduction to The Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson)

communion with God, Trinity

The revelation of the Trinity, as opposed to the implied unitarianism of Judaism, can be explained only by the transformation of perspective brought about by Jesus. The Trinity belongs to the inner life of God, and can be known only by those who share in that life. As long as we look at God on the outside, we shall never see beyond his unity; for, as the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine realized, the external works of the Trinity are undivided. This means that an outside observer will never detect the inner reality of God, and will never enter the communion with him which is promised to us in Christ. Jews may recognize God's existence, and know his law, but without Christ they cannot penetrate the mystery of that divine fellowship which Christians call the Holy Trinity.

- Gerald Bray, The Doctrine of God, pp. 119-120

getting buzzed vs. being drunk

"It is possible to tolerate a little elevation, when a man takes a drink or two too much after working hard and when he is feeling low. This must be called a frolic. But to sit day and night, pouring it in and pouring it out again, is piggish... all food is a matter of freedom, even a modest drink for one's pleasure. If you do not wish to conduct yourself this way, if you are going to go beyond this and be a born pig and guzzle beer and wine, then, if this cannot be stopped by the rulers, you must know that you cannot be saved. For God will not admit such piggish drinkers into the kingdom of heaven [cf. Gal. 5:19-21]... If you are tired and downhearted, take a drink; but this does not mean being a pig and doing nothing but gorging and swilling... You should be moderate and sober; this means that we should not be drunken, though we may be exhilarated."

- Luther, Sermon on Soberness and Moderation, May 18, 1539

on robes

“...no creature looks more stupid than a Dissenting preacher in a gown which is of no manner of use to him. I could laugh till I held my sides when I see our doctors in gowns and bands, puffed out with their silks, and touched up with their little bibs, for they put me so much in mind of our old turkey-cock when his temper is up, and he swells to his biggest. They must be weak folks indeed who want a man to dress like a woman before they can enjoy his sermon, and he who cannot preach without such milliner’s trumpery may be a man among geese, but he is a goose among men.”

- C.H. Spurgeon, John Ploughman's Talk

preaching-only is not good preaching

If you put in too much time in your study on your sermon you put in too little time being out with people as a shepherd and a leader. Ironically, this will make you a poorer preacher. It is only through doing people-work that you become the preacher you need to be–someone who knows sin, how the heart works, what people’s struggles are, and so on. Pastoral care and leadership (along with private prayer) are to a great degree sermon preparation. More accurately, it is preparing the preacher, not just the sermon. Through pastoral care and leadership you grow from being a Bible commentator into a flesh and blood preacher.

- Keller

weakness

The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly.

-Theodore Roosevelt

sacrifice

The English bible was made in blood.

- David Daniell, speaking about William Tyndale's work

leadership

To lead is to choose.

- JFK (probably)

death bed conversion

The thief on the cross repented at the very last, but as a wise Puritan put it, God gave us one last minute conversion in Scripture so that no one would despair, but only one so that no one would presume.

- Doug Wilson

teaching truth, confronting error

A pastor needs two voices, one for gathering the sheep and the other for
driving away wolves and thieves. The scripture supplies him with the means
for doing both.

- Calvin
from: 2 Corinthians, Titus, 1-2 Timothy, Philemon
Qtd. in Strauch, Biblical Eldership, p. 236

signed: Anonymous

Never write what you dare not sign. An anonymous letter-writer is a sort of assassin, who wears a mask, and stabs in the dark. Such a man is a fiend with a pen. If discovered, the wretch will be steeped in the blackest infamy.


- CH Spurgeon

Correction and humility

"The heart of a fool can always find an excuse for ignoring correction."

"If we wait for perfect people to show up to point out our errors and our flaws, we'll die as fools."

- Josh Harris

history

History repeats itself because nobody listens.

- Laurence Peter

redeeming suffering

It is faith that transforms suffering into a cross.

- Gene Veith, God at Work (153).

concerning gleaning laws

...the biblical laws encourage landholders to be generous, sharing harvest blessings with less fortunate members of the community through regulations for the sabbatical year, gleaning, tithing, and ’scrumping’... (i.e.) entering an orchard without permission and helping oneself to fruit.... Israelites are reminded that they do not have absolute rights over the land and its produce, but have been privileged to live there by the divine owner and are dependent on him for its fertility.

- David Baker, Tight Fists or Open Hands?: Wealth and Poverty in Old Testament Law

quoted at Leithart.com

jonah

The primary purpose of the book of Jonah is to engage readers in theological reflection on the compassionate character of God, and in self-reflection on the degree to which their own character reflects this compassion, to the end that they become vehicles of this compassion in the world that God has made and so deeply cares about.

- Mark Futato, ESV Study Bible

Christian maturity

A mature Christian is easily edified.

- Harold Best

don't try to be clever when you preach

The true teacher should not seek to soar on the gaudy wings of brilliant oratory, pouring forth sonorous polished sentences in rhythmic harmony, but should endeavor to speak pointed Truths of God—things that will strike and stick—thoughts that will be remembered and recalled, again and again, when the hearer is far away from the place of worship where he listened to the preacher’s words.

- CH Spurgeon

on "Conservatism"

This is a party which never 'conserves' anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of 'conservatism'; it is now 'conservative' only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity; and will be succeeded by some third revolution, to be denounced and then adopted in its turn.

American 'conservatism' is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt hath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted?

- RL Dabney

faith

In Torgau a wretched little woman once came to me and said, 'Ah, dear Doctor, I have the idea that I'm lost and can't be saved because I can't believe.' Then I replied, 'Do you believe, dear lady, that what you pray in the Creed is true?' She answered with clasped hands, 'Oh, yes, I believe it; it's most certainly true!' I replied, 'Then go in God's name, dear lady. You believe more and better than I do.' It's the devil who puts such ideas into people's heads and says, 'Ah, you must believe better. You must believe more. Your faith is not very strong and is insufficient.' In this way he drives them to despair. We are so constructed by nature that we desire to have a conscious faith. We'd like to grasp it with our hands and shove it into our bosom, but this doesn't happen in this life

-Martin Luther, Table Talk

tenacity

The word impossible is not in my dictionary.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

the love of god

God is not the kind of father who casts off sick and erring children; if he were, he would have no children.

- Martin Luther

revenge

The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

preach the gospel

If the pope himself would lend me his pulpit, I would gladly proclaim the righteousness of Jesus Christ therein.

- George Whitefield

accomodation

Fellowship between faith and unbelief must sooner or later be fatal to the former.

- Horatius Bonar

teaching

The whole art of teaching is only awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.

--Anotole France

teaspoon battles

A civilization may be wrecked without any spectacular crimes or criminals but
by constant petty breaches of faith and minor complicities on the part of men
generally considered very nice people.

- Herbert Butterfield

preach the gospel

If the pope himself would lend me his pulpit, I would gladly proclaim the righteousness of Jesus Christ therein.

- George Whitefield

read, study, teach, live

"In truth you cannot read too much in Scriptures;
and what you read you cannot read too carefully,
and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well,
and what you understand well you cannot teach too well,
and what you teach well you cannot live too well."

--Martin Luther, WA 53, 218;

fashion

The great guide of the world is fashion and its god is respectability--two phantoms at which brave men laugh! How many of you look around on society to know what to do; you watch the general current and then float upon it; you study the popular breeze and shift your sails to suit it. True men do not so! You ask--Is it fashionable? If it be fashionable, it must be done. Fashion is the law of multitudes, but it is nothing more than the common consent of fools.

- CH Spurgeon

Don't try to sound profound

It is not difficult to make easy things appear hard, but to render hard things easy is the hardest part of the work of preachers.

- Archbishop James Ussher

On the Lord's Supper

I would rather drink blood with a papist than mere juice with the Zwinglians.

- Luther, after Marburg in 1530

when tradition is wrong

Custom should yield to truth.

- Zwingli

perseverance

A great tree will fall with many small chops. Pray for daily grace to keep chopping.

- Piper

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

- Spurgeon

we preach christ crucified...

Don’t preach in a way that a Muslim would approve. Preach a divine crucified Christ.

- Piper

faith and doubting

My mother [spoke to me] in those dark hours when the lamp burned dim, when I thought that faith was gone and shipwreck had been made of my soul. "Christ," she used to say, "keeps firmer hold on us than we keep on him."

My mother's word meant...that salvation by faith does not mean that we are saved because we keep ourselves at every moment in an ideally perfect attitude of confidence in Christ. No, we are saved because having once been united to Christ by faith, we are his forever. Calvinism is a very comforting doctrine indeed. Without its comfort, I think I should have perished long ago in the castle of Giant Despair.

- J. Gresham Machen, Selected Shorter Writings, 561

comforting, theology, and thoughtfulness

There is a way of using theology and theological arguments that wounds rather than heals. This is not the fault of theology and theological arguments; it is the fault of the "miserable comforter" who fastens on an inappropriate fragment of truth, or whose timing is off, or whose attitude is condescending, or whose application is insensitive, or whose true theology is couched in such culture-laden cliches that they grate rather than comfort.
...at the very least we ought to examine ourselves, our attitudes, and our arguments very closely lest we simultaneously delude ourselves and oppress others.

- Carson, For the Love of God, February 17 (on Job 16-17)

the hard work of learning

Whoever passes by what is over his head condemns his head to its present low altitude; for nothing can elevate a mind except what is over its head; and that elevation is not accomplished by capillary attraction, but only by the hard work of climbing up ropes, with sore hands and aching muscles.

Mortimer Adler

waiting on the lord

Let us not think that waiting on the Lord will mean getting less done. The truth is that by doing the Lord's work in the Lord's way we will accomplish more, not less. You need not fear that if you wait for God's Spirit you will not get as much done as if you charge ahead in the flesh. After all, who can do the most, you or the God of Heaven and earth?

- Francis Schaeffer, No Little People

new persuasions/beliefs

If ever I am inclined to turn to the opinion of any other sect: Resolved beside the most deliberate consideration, earnest prayer, etc, privately to desire all the help that can possibly be afforded me from some of the most judicious men in the country, together with the prayers of wise and holy men, however strongly persuaded I may seem to be that I am in the right.

- Jonathon Edwards, diary, May 21, 1725

Luther on prayer

Always make a good and hearty ‘Amen,’ and never doubt that God hears you and says ‘Yes!’ to your prayer. Further, always bear in mind that you are not standing or kneeling alone but the whole of Christendom is standing or kneeling with you. It is the Word of God and His promise which makes good your prayer, not your own devotion.

- Luther

I defy the pope and all his laws [against the Bible in the vernacular]. If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scripture than thou dost, and than the pope does.

- William Tyndale

persecution and suffering

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out.

- Hugh Latimer, Oxford, 1555, to Nicholas Ridley as they were both about to be burned

sovereignty and responsibility

Gentleman, trust god and keep your powder dry.

- Oliver Cromwell

cultural interaction

Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.

Karl Barth

spurgeon the pastor

I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan's day. I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business. I am engaged in personally-conducted tours to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest: I am glad he is still alive and active. And there is Christiana, and there are her children. It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants' heads, and lead on the timid and trembling. I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings. I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God's grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river's edge. Oh, how many have I had to part with there! I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City.

- Charles Spurgeon

Languages

One of the best preparations for death is a thorough knowledge of the Greek grammar.
- Prof. Philip Lindsay, quoted by Charles Hodge

The main point is, with all and above all, study the Greek and Hebrew Bible, and the love of Christ.
–John Wesley

Feel ‘poured out’ over a great many interests with intense desire to do but so little power and time to accomplish . . . Hebrew: I can think of nothing I’d like better than to be able to pick up a page of the Hebrew Old Testament and read it at sight. Greek loses a lot of its challenge when one gets to know a little.
– Jim Elliot, College Journals

For the devil smelled a rat, and perceived that if the [biblical] languages were revived a hole would be knocked in his kingdom which he could not easily stop up again. Since he found he could not prevent their revival, he now aims to keep them on such slender rations that they will of themselves decline and pass away. They are not a welcome guest in his house, so he plans to offer them such meager entertainment that they will not prolong their stay. Very few of us, my dear sirs see through this evil design of the devil.
—Martin Luther, 1524

In all sciences, the ablest professors are they who have thoroughly mastered the texts. A man, to be a good jurisconsult, should have every text of the law at his fingers’ ends; but in our time, the attention is applied rather to glosses and commentaries. When I was young, I read the Bible over and over and over again, and was so perfectly acquainted with it, that I could, in an instant, have pointed to any verse that might have been mentioned. I then read the commentators, but I soon threw them aside, for I found therein many things my conscience could not approve, as being contrary to the sacred text. ‘Tis always better to see with one’s own eyes than with those of other people.
– Martin Luther, Table Talk 33

I now studied much, about 12 hours a day, chiefly Hebrew . . . [and] committed portions of the Hebrew Old Testament to memory; and this I did with prayer, often falling on my knees . . . I looked up to the Lord even whilst turning over the leaves of my Hebrew dictionary.
– George Mueller, 1829 (twenty-four years old)

The more a theologian detaches himself from the basic Hebrew and Greek text of Holy Scripture, the more he detaches himself from the source of real theology! And real theology is the foundation of a fruitful and blessed ministry."
– Heinrich Bitzer, Light on the Path

In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah (Hebrew), but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair . . .
—Nehemiah 13:23-25

No second hand knowledge of the revelation of God for the salvation of a ruined world can suffice the needs of a ministry whose function it is to convey this revelation to men, commend it to their acceptance and apply it in detail to their needs–to all their needs, from the moment they are called into participation in the grace of God, until the moment when they stand perfect in God’s sight, built up by his Spirit into new men. For such a ministry as this the most complete knowledge of the wisdom of the world supplies no equipment; the most fervid enthusiasm of service leaves without furnishing. Nothing will suffice for it but to know; to know the book; to know it at first hand; and to know it through and through. And what is required first of all for training men for such a ministry is that the book should be given them in its very words [Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek] as it has come from God’s hand and in the fullness of its meaning, as that meaning has been ascertained by the labors of generations of men of God who have brought to bear upon it all the resources of sanctified scholarship and consecrated thought.
—B. B. Warfield

religious freedom

I do not agree with them. I do not support their teaching. I think it is wrong and false. But to burn up with fiery flame the living bodies of men who err through blindness of judgment rather than deliberate will is a hard thing and belongs more to the spirit of Rome than to the Spirit of the Gospel.

John Foxe, in defense of condemned Anabaptists

Lord's Supper

I would rather drink blood with a papist than mere juice with the Zwinglians.

- Luther, after Marburg

customs

Custom should yield to truth.

- Zwingli

leadership

Great leaders rally people to a better future.

Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing you need to know

old and new wineskins, old and new cloth

Right now, sorrow and fasting were frankly incongruous. The promised Messiah, the heavenly Bridegroom, was among them.
The truth, Jesus says, is that with the dawning of the kingdom, the traditional structures of life and forms of piety would change. It would be inappropriate to graft the new onto the old, as if the old were the supporting structure — in precisely the same way that it is inappropriate to repair a large rent in an old garment by using new, unshrunk cloth, or use old and brittle wineskins to contain new wine still fermenting, whose gases will doubtless explode the old skin. The old does not support the new; it points to it, prepares for it, and then gives way to it. Thus Jesus prepares his disciples for the massive changes that were dawning.

- Carson, For the Love of God, Vol. 1, commenting on Mark 2:18-22

whoever wants to be great among you...

Christian leadership is profoundly self-denying for the sake of others, like Christ’s ultimate example of self-denial for the sake of others. So the church must not elevate people to places of leadership who have many of the gifts necessary to high office, but who lack this one. To lead or teach, for example, you must have the gift of leadership or teaching (Rom. 12:6-8). But you must also be profoundly committed to principled self-denial for the sake of brothers and sisters in Christ, or you are disqualified.

- DA Carson
For the Love of God
commenting on Mat 20:26-27

blame someone else

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.

-Mark Twain

preaching

You reproach me for my lack of style. What has style to do with it? Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the secret of preaching.

- Girolamo Savanarola

on ecclesiastical reform

“We must not pass over in silence the decay in the church. Better to provoke a scandal than to abandon the truth.”

- Bernard of Clairvaux

leading leaders

"in doing good to one scholar, you may do good to a whole parish or city."

Henry Wilkinson, Three Decades of Sermons, pt. 2, 78.

qtd. in Tyacke, The History of the University of Oxford, in reference to Oxford's nightly devotional and catechizing

Nero, sit.

T.R. Glover, the British writer reminds us, that the day would come when we would name our cats Felix, our dogs Nero, and our sons Paul!

quoted by FF Bruce

purity of heart

Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.

- Augustine

taking counsel

Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction.

C.S. Lewis

Incarnation

The results of the incarnation of the Savior are such and so many, that anyone attempting to enumerate them should be compared to a person looking upon the vastness of the sea and attempting to count its waves.

Athanasius

mercy and correction

Let a man mercifully correct what he can; let him patiently bear what he
cannot correct, and groan and sorrow over it with love.

- Cyprian

the pastor's power

None of us will find this "pleasure of the Lord to prosper in our hands," except every effort is grounded upon the practical conviction, that no strength but the arm of Omnipotence is sufficient for the work.

Conscious helplessness sinks under the depressing weight of responsibility.

Thus discouragements, properly sustained and carefully improved, become our most fruitful sources of eventual encouragement...

Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, p. 16-17

study church history

Let us not bury in forgetfulness the grace of God.

- Calvin

scotland

The most important event in the history of Scotland was when John Knox went upstairs to pray.

- Charles Spurgeon

Why we always play music

"People today are afraid to be alone. This fear is a dominant mark of our society. Many now ceaselessly sit in the cinema or read novels about other people's lives or watch dramas. Why? Simply to avoid having to face their own existence... No one seems to want (and no one can find) a place of quiet -- because, when you are quiet, you have to face reality. But many in the present generation dare not do this because on their own basis reality leads them to meaninglessness; so they fill their lives with entertainment, even if it is only noise..."

Francis Schaeffer, No Little People

The Pride of Humility

"Its easy to be humble when you're the center of attention."

- John MacArthur


"pride and vanity have built more hospitals than all the virtues together."

- Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees

quit living by the polls

"I hear it said... leaders should keep their ears to the ground. All I can say is that the British nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are detected in that somewhat ungainly posture."


Winston Churchill, on leaders who are captive to public opinion