MARRIAGE

'Very soon the shadow will give way to the Reality. The partial will pass into the Perfect. The foretaste will lead to the Banquet. The troubled path will end in Paradise. A hundred candle-lit evenings will come to their consummation in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And this momentary marriage will be swallowed up by Life. Christ will be all and in all. And the purpose of marriage will be complete.' 

John Piper in Charlie Cleverly, The Song of Songs, p.154. 

JESUS

'He is a jewel more worth than a thousand worlds, as all know who have him. Get him, and get all; miss him and miss all... The soul can crave nothing. nor wish for anything, but which is to be found in this Portion. He is light to enlighten the soul, wisdom to counsel the soul, power to support the soul, goodness to supply the soul, mercy to pardon the soul, beauty to delight the soul, glory to ravish the soul, and fullness to fill the soul.' 

Thomas Brooks in Charlie Cleverly, The Song of Songs, p.120. 

COMMUNICATION

'I love that you can ask people what they meant right after they've said the most obvious things and almost invariably they'll think they are the ones who've failed to be clear and go to elaborate lengths to make themselves understood.' 

Greg Jackson, 'Wagner in the Desert' in Prodigals, p.22. 

DIVINE HUMOUR

'"Father Peregrine, won't you ever be serious?"

"Not until the good Lord is. Oh don't look so terribly shocked, please. The Lord is not serious. In fact, it is a little hard to know what else He is except loving. And love has a lot to do with humour, doesn't it? For you cannot love someone unless you put up with him, can  you? And you cannot put up with someone constantly unless you can laugh at him. Isn't that true? And certainly we are ridiculous little animals wallowing in the fudge-bowl, and God must love us all the more because we appeal to his humour." 

"I never thought of God as humorous," said Father Stone. 

"The Creator of the platypus, the camel, the ostrich, and man? Oh, come now!" Father Peregrine laughed.' 

Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles, p.153. 

SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN HATE

'Enemies, he knew, often tell the truth. And these days, enemies. honest enemies, are few and far between. Nobody says anything unpleasant. Enemies will often tell you unsuspected truths about yourself, just as a photograph or a double mirror will show you your snoutish nose.' 

Walker Percy, The Second Coming, p.170. 

SONG OF SONGS

'The historical books I may compare to the outer courts of the Temple; the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Psalms, bring us into the holy place or the Court of the priests; but the Song of Solomon is the the most holy place: the holy of holies, before which the veil still hangs to many an untaught believer...The Song is a golden casket, of which love is the key rather than learning.' 

Charles Spurgeon in Charlie Cleverly, Song of Songs: Exploring the Divine Romance, p.15.

SPIRITUAL PARENTING

'In Acts, the Genesis 1:28 language of "be fruitful and multiply" marks the growth of the Church:

And the word of God continued to be fruitful and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. (Acts 6:7; our translation). 

But the word of God bore fruit and multiplied (Acts 12:24; our translation)

So the word of the Lord continued to bear fruit and prevail mightily. (Acts 19:20; our literal translation 

....Genesis 1:28 likely does not have in mind only physical children, but children who were also to be spiritual image bearers of God.'
GK Beale and Mitchell Kim, God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth, p.36. 

UNITING CONSERVATIVES & LIBERALS AROUND GOD'S ORDER OF THINGS

'At present "conservative" Christians are often vociferous on issues like abortion and homosexuality while embodying a Western consumer lifestyle and laughing off global warming. Liberal Christians tend to take environmental issues more seriously but are more cautious on "sin" and tend to be pro-choice and in favor of blessing same-sex unions. A recovery of the biblical notion of creation order and its allied motif of the antithesis that runs through the whole of creation would go a long way toward challenging this polarity. God's order applies as much to marriage and sexuality as it does to how we care for the earth. So, just as it is important that Christians hold onto God's order for marriage and sexuality and thus refuse to affirms same-sex relationships as normative, and just as they uphold the sanctity of human life and refuse to condone most practice of abortion, so too Christians must be clear that environmental destruction and Western-style consumerism is downright sin.' 

Craig G Bartholomew, Where Mortals Dwell, p.312. 

IDENTITY, PEOPLE & PLACE

'We necessarily live much of our lives in exile, so to be able to spot the people and places that re-establish our true identity is so important.' 

Eugene Peterson, in Craig G Bartholomew, Where Mortals Dwell, p.304. 

GOD'S LOVE

''Nothing! Nothing can separate us from Christ's love! Why? Because God loves us simply because of his choice, not because of anything in us (which may change), nor anything around us (which may change). He loves us because he loves us.' 

Timothy Keller, Romans for You, p.54.