THE FOLLY OF IDOLATRY

'Idolatry is the folly of expecting a gift to be a giver. The good things of this life are not meant to generate joy in and of themselves. Rather, they are to be gratefully received as they bring our eyes up to our greatest treasure, the one who provides all things and seeks our deepest joy, the Triune God. Idolatry always disappoints, God never does.'

Dane Ortlund, In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms, p.373.

WHAT HISTORY TEACHES US

'First, whom the gods would destroy they must first make mad with power. Second, the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small. Third, the bee fertilizes the flower it robs. Fourth, when it is dark enough you can see the stars.'

Charles A Beard in Martin Luther King Jr., 'The Death of Evil upon the Seashore', p.86.

EVIL DESTROYS ITSELF

'...evil carries the seed of its own destruction. In the long run right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.'

Martin Luther King Jr., 'The Death of Evil upon the Seashore' in The Gift of Love, p.86.

CAESAR VS. CHRIST

'Caesar occupied a palace Christ a cross, but the same Christ so split history into A.D. and B.C. that even the reign of Caesar was subsequently dated by his name.'

Martin Luther King Jr., 'The Death of Evil upon the Seashore' in The Gift of Love, p.81.

THE PRESENCE OF EVIL

'Is anything more obvious that the presence of evil in the universe? Its nagging, prehensile tentacles project into every level of human existence. We may debate the origin of evil, but only a victim of superficial optimism would debate its reality. Evil is stark, grim, and colossally real.'

Martin Luther King Jr., 'The Death of Evil upon the Seashore' in The Gift of Love, p.79.

WORLD TRANSFORMING CHRISTIANITY

'We need to recapture the gospel glow of the early Christians who were nonconformists in the truest sense of the word and refused to shape their witness according to the mundane patterns of the world. Willingly they sacrificed fame, fortune and life itself on behalf of a cause they knew to be right. Quantitively small, they were qualitatively giants. Their powerful gospel put an end to such barbaric evils as infanticide and bloody gladiatorial contests. Finally they captured the Roman Empire for Jesus Christ.'

Martin Luther King Jr., 'Transformed Nonconformists' in The Gift of Love, p.16.

WHERE OUR ULTIMATE LOYALTY LIES

'Living in the colony of time, we are ultimately responsible to the empire of eternity. As Christians we must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality - God and his kingdom of love - to which we must be conformed.'

Martin Luther King Jr., 'Transformed Nonconformist' in The Gift of Love, p.12.