A good ol’ quote or two

“The ultimate purpose of marriage is the greater glory of God — and God is most greatly glorified when His gifts are rightly celebrated and received, and His covenants are rightly honored and pledged.”

- from this dreamy eyed fellow, Albert Mohler, via the marriage blog

“Marriage is the source of great and unspeakable happiness. Yet because of sin it is not unmixed happiness. But marriage is not first and foremost about making us happy. It is for making us holy. And through the covenant of marriage two Christians pledge to live together so as to make each other holy before God, as a testimony to Christ.”

- not sure who this is from, but I think it’s the same guy

Retarded

Consider the word “retarded.” Though the term is not technically incorrect – it is still found in some medical dictionaries – it is deemed problematic. But maybe the real problem is not with the term but the fact that we have heaped onto it all our pro-smart bias and our great awkwardness with people who are obviously not smart. Maybe the problem is that we live in a society in which smart equals good. Maybe the problem is that it’s hard for us, despite our presumably enlightened state, not to see people who are “slow or limited in . . . intellectual development” (the Webster definition for retarded) as inferior. Maybe if we truly felt it was okay to be retarded, then the word would be okay, too.

- Will Braun, Posing as Progressive: The Problem with PC, Geez Magazine

We shape our lives.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt.

How much do I believe this?

Elegance in design

Click for bigger.

Growth

If growth as a general rule in nature is messy, organic, erratic and sporadic why would spiritual growth be any different?

-Shawn Wood

Counting the Cost

Few things in life are more humbling than running for public office, raising adolescents, or leading a small group.

- Dan B. Allender

Not your typical email signature

Never believe what the lines on your hand predict about your future,

because people who do not have hands also have a future…

leprosy.ca

From the email signature of a guy at my church who works for the leprosy mission.

What a Sermon Should Be

The sermon should prompt people to some sort of action, or it should warn people of their behaviors or it should invite people into movement that is already taking place. Look at Jesus’ first sermon: “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff” (Luke 4:28-29, TNIV).

From this article on the Poets, Prophets and Preachers Conference

When I wake up

Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”

Love Hurts

C.S. Lewis said in his book The Four Loves: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one. Not even an animal. Wrap it carefully with hobbies and luxuries, avoid all entanglements and keep it safe in the casket of your selfishness. But in the casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”