DESIRE

'The Christian says, "Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let in get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of my life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same."'

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, p.115.

HEAVEN

'Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.'

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, p.113.

PREACHING

'When we listen to an MP3 recording of a sermon we are not listening to preaching, but to an echo of preaching that happened in the past. Listening on my own to a recording can never be more than a poor second-best to actually being there with the people of God in a local church. It is better to listen to the pastor you know, and who knows you, than to hear a recording of the well-known preacher you don't know, and who doesn't know you.'

Christopher Ash, Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons, p.13

MINISTRY

'What contradictions meet
In ministers' employ!
It is a bitter sweet,
A sorrow full of joy.'
John Newton, Olney Hymn No. 26.

THE PSALMS

'The Psalms live in your city, on your street, in your family. The Psalms tell your story. It is a story of hope and disappointment, of need and provision, of fear and mystery, of struggle and rest, and of God's boundless love and amazing grace. People in the Psalms get angry, grow afraid, cry out in confusion, survive opposition, hope for better days, hurt one another, help one another, run from God, trust in God, make foolish choices, ask for forgiveness, and grow wiser and stronger. They are people just like you and me.'

Paul David Tripp, A Shelter in the Time of Storm: meditations on God and trouble, p.7.

GREED

'...in Luke 12 Jesus says, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." That is a remarkable statement. Think of another traditional sin that the Bible warns against - adultery. Jesus doesn't say, "Be careful you aren't committing adultery!" He doesn't have to. When you are in bed with someone else's spouse - you know it. Halfway through you don't say, "Oh, wait a minute! I think this is adultery!" You know it is. Yet, even though it is clear that the world is filled with greed and materialism, almost no one thinks it is true of them. They are in denial.'

Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, p.57.

SINGLENESS & MARRIAGE

'There are many people in the world who have not found a romantic partner, and they need to hear the Lord say, "I am the true Bridegroom. There is only one set of arms that will give you all your hearts desire, and await you at the end of time, if only you turn to me. And know that I love you now." However, it is not just the those without spouses who need to see that God is our ultimate spouse, but those with spouses as well. They need this in order to save their marriage from the crushing weight of their divine expectations. If you marry someone expecting them to be like a god, it is only inevitable that they will disapoint you. It's not that you should try to love your spouse less, but rather that you should know and love God more.'

Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, p.44.

TEARS

'...some people mistake the tears for pain, when of course they're not, they're the pain coming out.'

Timothy Knatchbull, From a Clear Blue Sky: Surviving the Mountbatten Bomb, p.240.

GOD'S LOVE

'God saw Abraham's sacrifice and said, "Now I know you love me, because you did not withold your only son from me." But how much more can we look at his sacrifice on the Cross, and say to God, "Now we know that you love us. For you did not withold your son, your only son, whom you love, from us."'

Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: When the emopty promises of love, money and power let you down, p.18.

PREACHING

'The great preachers you hear or that you read about in your church history books are almost never those who were preaching great sermons from the very beginning of their ministries.
Great preachers are the ones who preach really bad sermons. The difference is that they preach really bad sermons when they’re young, and are sharpened for life by critique.

Mediocre preachers are those who start off with sermons that are, eh, pretty good, but they’re never critiqued and thus never grow.'

Russell Moore at: http://www.russellmoore.com/2009/10/30/a-word-to-young-preachers/