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There are twenty beggars in the street and I determine to give one of them a shilling. But will anyone say that I determined to give that one a shilling, that I elected him to have the shilling, because I foresaw that he would have it? That would be talking nonsense. In like manner, to say that God elected…

A “richly supplied” entrance has sometimes been illustrated in this way. You see yonder ship. After a long voyage, it has neared the haven, but is much injured; the sails are rent to ribbons, and it is in such a forlorn condition that it cannot come up to the harbor: a steam-tug is pulling it in with…

The law ceases its office as pedagogue when it comes to be written on our hearts. Boys have their lessons on slates, but men have their laws in their minds. We trust a man where we would carefully watch a boy. When the child becomes a man, his father and mother do not write down little rules for him,…

We ought to pray with thanksgiving in its highest of all senses, by thanking God that we have the mercy which we seek. I wish we could learn this high virtue of faith. When I was conversing lately with our dear friend George Müller, he frequently astonished me with the way in which he mentioned that…

When he didn’t get the sauce with his Chicken McNuggets, Robert Golwitzer allegedly called McDonalds to threaten to blow the place up. The satisfaction he might have felt was short-lived however, because the Ankeny, Iowa police arrested him for the bomb threat. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bomb-threat-mcdonalds_n_60da2b7be4b09ead19f713ce…

In his book, Bezonomics: How Amazon Is Changing Our Lives and What the World's Best Companies Are Learning from It, Brian Dumaine writes, “Bezos embodies three characteristics that separate him from all other mere mortal entrepreneurs. He believes that resourcefulness is the greatest virtue. He faces…

Historian Tom Holland’s new book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (Basic, 2019) tells the amazing story of how a culture that had esteemed only big winners began to care about (in worldly terms) big losers. This is the story of the Gospels. One example begins with a description…

It never ceases to me how critical we can be of some things we might consider bad, wrong, or sinful, while embracing other things that are equally so, that we do not take into consideration. Indeed, we are all hypocrites in one way or another. For example, we live in an age where being “woke” (the latest…

They say, “Patience is a virtue,” in the case of a New Zealand man, it pays. The anonymous man was waiting in line to purchase a lotto ticket, when a man cut in line in front of him. “I wasn’t in any hurry,” he said, “so I let them go ahead and didn’t say anything.” You guessed it—the patient man won…

In Religulous, Bill Maher says, “Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It’s nothing to brag about, and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are our intellectual slaveholders keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned so much lunacy and destruction! Religion…

New research suggests your fears can actually make a problem look bigger. A study done on those with a fear of spiders found that those with sever arachnophobia thought the spiders were larger than those with less sever forms of the disorder. Researchers say they were puzzled as to why so many people…

Background: This is an excerpt from an unpublished book by Brad Berglund. It explores the Christian adage: Wise men still seek him. What would it be like if modern seekers were with the wise men when they worshiped Jesus? Higher-Status was the young adult son of a nobleman. He represented the next generation…

Robert Farrar Capon wrote in Christianity Today: You're worried about permissiveness--about the way the preaching of grace seems to say it's okay to do all kinds of terrible things as long as you just walk in afterward and take the free gift of God's forgiveness. ... While you and I may be worried about…

Even though Ben Franklin did not really accept Christianity personally, he still tried to be moral. In fact, he had settled on 13 particular virtues. Among them were these Silence: "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation." Frugality: "Make no expense but to do…

Posted: 06/29/11 07:58 PM ET The Pew Research Center recently conducted a survey of global evangelical leaders which yielded some interesting results. For one thing, 92 percent of those surveyed believe taking a yoga class is incompatible with being a good evangelical. Seriously? We're against yoga?…

Posted: 06/29/11 07:24 AM ET Several days ago, a historic vote in the state of New York, pushed aggressively by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, legalized the practice of same-sex marriage. Such an action was certainly a momentous decision for marriage equality rights in the LGBT community. The vote was not exactly…

Getting Your Life Back Books: The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John climacus Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila The Ascent of Mount Carmel by John of the Cross Spiritual formation is rooted in the virtues. Choosing virtue is choosing to submit our will to God and…

THREE KINDS OF PRIDE Subject: PRIDE Lewis B. Smedes affirms that hubris comes in three basic models: pride of power, pride of knowledge, and pride of virtue. And then he explains: ♦ A person with pride of power believes that his power itself gives him the right to do anything with his power that he gets…

Patience The alarm clock screams at you at an ungodly hour. Your kids can't find their socks, won't look for them and expect you to know where they are. The milk and your husband have something in common . . . they are both spoiled. He's upset because he wants to hear "snap, crackle and pop" while he…

“The church is not incidental to the great cosmic struggle for the hearts and souls of modern men and women. It is the instrument God has chosen for that battle – a battle we are called to by virtue of being members of His body.” Charles W. Colson (1992), The Body

In christian theology, Bill Gothard has informally specified a set of forty-nine virtues, organized around the gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in Romans 12:6-8. Others propose different sets of virtues, organised by Stages of Life, by Leadership Perspectives, and so forth. The 49 virtues are not references…

THOUGHTS “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” grandma used to say. She may have been closer to correct than we supposed. Psychological Science is publishing a study in which Katie Liljenquist, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management claims they have proved you…

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.—Benjamin Franklin Many years ago, a senior executive of the Standard Oil Company made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. John D. Rockefeller was running the firm. On the day the news leaked out, most of the executives…

BUSYNESS In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest writes, “The Bible affirms the virtues of “faith, hope, and love” (I Corinthians 13:13), and to that many Christians add a fourth virtue: busyness for God. Many find that the crush of daily life prevents them from really relating even to their spouse…

Author(s): Stephanie Paul Motorists take heed: If you ever find yourself driving at night through rural parts of Pennsylvania, state law requires that you stop every mile to send up a rocket signal. It's true. And if you see a skittish team of horses coming toward you, be sure to take your car apart,…