PROSPERITY

'In my experience, 95 percent of the believers who face the test of persecution pass it, while 95 percent who face the test of prosperity fail it.'

Anonymous in Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.46.

MATERIALISM

'Wherever true Christianity spreads, it must cause diligence and frugality which, in the natural course of things, must beget riches! And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every temper that is destructive of Christianity. Now, if there be no way to prevent this, Christianity is inconsistent with itself and, of consequence, cannot stand, cannot continue long among any people; since, wherever it generally prevails, it saps its own foundations.'

John Wesley in Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.38.

MATERIALISM

'God created us to love people and use things, but materialists love things and use people.'

Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.33.

MONEY

'To regard money as evil, and therefore useless for purposes of righteousness, is foolish. To regard it as good and therefore overlook its potential for spiritual disaster is equally foolish.'

Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.19.

MONEY

'If silver and gold are things evil in themselves, then those who keep away from them deserve to be punished. But if they are good creatures of God, which we can use for the needs of neighbor and for the glory of God, is not a person silly, yes, even unthankful to God, if he refrains from them as if they were evil?'

Martin Luther in Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.15.

FAITH OR WORKS?

'Are we considered worthy to enter the kingdom because of faith in Christ's death or because of our persevering good works? Are we saved by faith in Christ plus good works? An analogy might help explain.

You must pay money in order to obtain entry to a professional football game. In order to enter the stadium, however, you must present a ticket at the gate. Is it the money that provides access to the game or the ticket? Both! But are the money and the ticket equal "causes" that get you in? Ultimately, the money paid is what really gets you in, but you must have the ticket as evidence that you really paid the price for the game. Likewise, true Christians are those on behalf of whom Christ has paid the penalty of sin, but they must have the badge of good works as evidence that Christ paid their purchase price in order to be considered worthy of passing through the final judgment and entering the kingdom. Therefore, both faith in Christ and human good works are absolutely necessary for being considered worthy of salvation, but the former is the ultimate cause of the latter. At the last judgment people will not be able to say that they have benefitted from Christ's redemptive work only because they have believed; they will have to show evidence of their belief through their good works (Mt 7:21).'

GK Beale, 1-2 Thessalonians (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series), p.184.

MONEY

'...our handling of money is a litmus test of our true character. It's an index of our spiritual life. Our stewardship of our money and possessions becomes the story of our lives.'

Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.8.

LIFE

'Each of our lives is positioned like a bow, drawn across the strings of a cosmic violin, producing vibrations that resound for all eternity. The slightest action of the bow produces a sound, a sound that is never lost. What I do today has tremedous bearings on eternity.'

Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.xv.

FAITH

'The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend on that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do on the last day.'

AW Tozer in Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions & Eternity, p.xv.

PREACHING

'To preach the Word of God well, one must already have cultivated, at a minimum, three sensibilities: the sensibility of the close reading of texts, the sensibility of composed communication, and the sensibility of the significant.'

T David Gordon, Why Johnny Can't Preach, p.106.