DISCERNMENT GIFTS

'The good news is that nearly everyone develops talents as they grow up, although sometimes they are a little harder to identify due to certain life experiences. Another way of thinking of these talents is that they aren't what you can do, but what you can't help yourself doing.'

James Lawrence in Nay Dawson, She Needs: Women flourishing in the church, p.20.

WHERE TRUE WISDOM LIES

'...to deviate from the truth for the sake of some prospect of hope of our own can never be wise, however slight the deviation may be. It is not our judgment of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God. Here alone lies the power of God's faithfulness and help. It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide soley by the Word of God in all simplicity.' 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Eugene H Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p.30. 

THEOLOGICAL DISAGREEMENT

'We learn most, it seems, from those with whom we differ. They may see what we have missed. They may see correctly what we have misperceived. And even when we are convinced that the misconceptions are theirs, the raising of fresh questions invigorates our reading of familiar texts...' 

Stephen Westerholm, Justification Reconsidered, p.vii. 

PRAYER

'...prayer is not simply the solitary exploration of your own subjectivity. You are with Another, and he is unique. God is the only person from whom you can hide nothing. Before him you will unavoidably come to see yourself in a new, unique light. Prayer, therefore, leads to a self-knowledge that is impossible to achieve any other way.' 

Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Intimacy with God, p.12. 

PRIVATE PRAYER

'Of all the evidences of the real work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books, and make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his secret closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is serious.'

JC Ryle in Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy, p.11. 

SELECTING CHRISTIAN LEADERS

'...if one recalls how he acted as a layperson, he suddenly knows if he will be able, as a leader, to do well. For no one is able to acquire humility while in the position of authority if he did not refrain from pride when in a position of subjection. He does not know to flee from praise when it abounds if he yearned for it when it was absent, just as no one is able to conquer his greed when he is given the role of sustaining many if he was unable to sustain himself on his own resources. Therefore, let everyone discover what he is from his past life, so that the fantasy of his thoughts does not deceive him because of his desire to lead. For its is very often the case that the discipline of good works, which was maintained in a time of tranquility, is ruined in the assumption of leadership. For an inexperienced sailor can steer a ship in calm waters, but even an experienced seaman is disordered by a storm. For what, indeed, is a position of spiritual authority but a mental tempest in which the ship of the heart is constantly shaken by storms of thoughts, tossed back and forth, until it is shattered by a sudden excess of words like hidden rocks of the sea?' 

Gregory the Great, The Book of the Pastoral Rule (Trans: George E Demacopoulos), p.42. 

DISCERNMENT

'...when there is a question as to whether a man is good, one does not ask what he believes, or what he hopes, but what he loves.'

Augustine of Hippo in Steven Garber, The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving together belief and behavior, p.35.  

CHRISTIAN MATURITY

'Is their love increasing toward the church? Do they sympathise more with her in all her trials; have they a less censorious spirit towards those who fall; have they greater compassion for all, feeling the troubles and afflictions of others as though they were suffering them themselves?' 

William Williams, The Experience Meeting, p.40.

THE FALSE TEACHER

'This poor specimen (carrying his poisonous foods around with him) is upset by any disappointment, offended at every slight, displeased at every poor reception and difficult to please in any way  - there is hardly food, drink, fire in the grate, or bed that will please him. He will grumble, condemn, criticize and trample people underfoot because he cannot get enough love, generosity and courtesy for himself. He wants to be fetched and carried, to be made much of and cherished - in a word, he wants the preacher to be worshipped rather than the God whom he preaches.'

William Willams, The Experience Meeting, p.29.

MINISTRY

'The great task of awakening people's conscience is a mark of authentic Christian ministry. When pastors and ministers teach and preach without awakening the conscience of their hearers, there is something badly wrong.'

Christopher Ash, Pure Joy, p.91.

RICHES

'Only in the past half-century, first in the United States and then more recently in Western Europe and the old "white Commonwealth", have prosperity and security been so entrenched and widespread as to make the pursuit of an interesting life available, not just to the artist and the aristocrat, but to the overwhelming majority of the upper and middle classes.'

Ferdinand Mount, Mind the Gap: The New Class Divide in Britain, p.97.

DISCERNMENT

'One of the things that can be applied to determine whether a movement is of God - though certainly it is not the only one - is to observe to what degree those affected are making it their aim to be known for gentleness. In this, they are becoming more like their Master.'

DA Carson, Basics for Believers, p.110.

GUIDANCE

'In general, he [God] guides and directs his people by affording them, in answer to prayer, the light of his Holy Spirit, which enables them to understand and love the Scriptures. The Word of God is not to be used as a lottery, nor is it designed to instruct us by shreds and scraps, which detached from their proper places, have no determinative import; but it is to furnish us with just principles, right apprehensions to regulate our judgments and affections, and thereby to influence and direct our conduct.'

John Newton in Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something, p.86.

DISCERNMENT

'We can best know what is wrong by first knowing what is right. Experts on counterfeit currency know this as well. They train others first to know the traits of genuine currency because such knowledge will make apparent what is fraudulent. Christians need to dedicate themselves to learning and knowing truth so that what is evil and abnormal will appear obvious.'

Tim Challies, The Disciple of Spiritual Discernment, p.101.

DISCERNMENT

'For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like...Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, "What comes into your mind when you think about God?" we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.'

AW Tozer in Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.96.

DISCERNMENT

'Discernment is a skill. It is no an inherent ability like breathing or chewing but a skill like reading or public speaking that must be practiced and must be improved. There is not a person on earth who has been born with a full measure of discernment or who has all of the discernment he will ever need. There is not a person who has attained a level of expertise that allows him to move on and to leave discernment behind. Like the master musician who practices his skills more as his acclaim grows, a discerning person will see with ever-greater clarity his need to increase in discernment. He will want to sharpen and improve this skill throughout his life.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.61.

WISDOM & DISCERNMENT

'Wisdom is a prerequisite to discernment. Discernment is wisdom in action.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p.57.

DISCERNMENT

'...biblical discernment looks beyond the will of God to the truth of God. We can only know God's will when we first know God's truth, for what God desires and requires of us must always be consistent with his character. Wise decisions are those that are made on the firm basis of what is true about God and, thus, what is true about the world, about life, and about ourselves. Those who make decisions that honour God are those who have invested effort in studying what God says to be true.'

Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, p. 54.

MEDITATION

'...meditation does not let us down into the viod and abyss of loneliness; it lets us be alone with the Word. And in doing so it gives us solid ground on which to stand and clear directions as to the steps we must take.'

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p.61.

TRUTH

'It is not he that receives most of the truth into his head, but he that receives most of the truth affectionately into his heart, that shall enjoy the happiness of having his judgment sound and clear...'

Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Agaisnt Satan's Devices, p.93.