"A real Christian is an odd number, anyway. He feels supreme love for the One whom he has never seen; talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another; empties himself in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest and happiest when he feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order to have; gives away so he can keep; sees the invisible; hears the inaudible’ and knows that which passeth understanding. — A. W. Tozer"
4 basic principles of peacemaking
1. Glorify God: How can I please and honor the Lord in this situation?
2. Get the log out of your eye: How can I show Jesus’ work in my by taking responsibility for my contribution to this conflict?
3. Gently restore: How can I lovingly serve others by helping them take responsibility for their contribution to this conflict?
4. Go and be reconciled: How can I demonstrate the forgiveness of God and encourage a reasonable solution to this conflict?
From The Peacemaker by Ken Sande
Thomas Brooks on losing earthly things
God sometimes strips His people of their nearest and dearest earthly mercies—that they may the more prize, and the better taste—of spiritual and heavenly mercies!
God takes away uncertain riches—that His people may the more prize certain riches!
God takes away natural strength—that His people may the more prize spiritual strength!
God takes away the creature—that His people may more prize their Savior.
Spurgeon on Local Church Missions
This generation, under God, must have salvation given to it through our ministry, through our evangelists, through our Sunday-schools, through our missionaries, through our preachings and teachings; and if we do it not, the world will not stay from perishing while we are staying from laboring. Men will not live on until another generation worthier than we are shall have taken our places, but this generation must go down to the tomb, muttering curses between its lips against the faithless, wicked, unbelieving, inactive Church; and we must go down too, to meet the doom of those who had no real faith in Christ, or else they would have had a love for the souls of men; who had not the spirit of Jesus, or else they would with wooing entreaties, and with earnest efforts have brought men to the cross of Christ. Ah, beloved! I know that we have some in the Church who are but a drag to it. There are some in all Churches who are of this kind, but let me solemnly remind you—we must address the Church as a body—let me again remind the Church that it is with her and with no one else that the world has to deal as to its conversion. We must never think of leaving Christ’s work to societies. They have had their day, and have supplied a great lack created by the loss of the apostolic spirit, but it is now time that the aroused and revived Church should assume her true position and do her own work. Fifty years or more, missionary societies have been trying to convert the world, and albeit that many souls have been saved, and therefore the effort has been far from useless, yet, compared with apostolic success, they have been a miserable failure. All these years we have spent ten times the money, with not a tenth of the success, of early evangelistic effort. In my inmost soul, I believe that the Lord is not with the most of our foreign missions. And why? Because God never called the missionary societies to the work. He never bade the missionary society become the spouse of Christ, and bring forth sons unto him. His offspring, his seed which shall reward him for his soul’s travail, must spring from his own well-beloved bride. Much as I value all good societies, I cannot hesitate to declare that the Church is the ordained agent, and that all beside is human, and derives authority only from man. Hence I say of a society for the conversion of the heathen, it is a man-constituted body, and not of God. The Lord will work, not by committees, but by his Churches. The Church must do her own work, and when all our Churches are thoroughly aroused to this fact, and every congregation shall send out its own men, pray for their own men, and support their own men, we shall see greater things than we have ever dreamed of, and “the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.” But it lies with the Church. O ye that are in the Church and sleep, what mean ye? Arise, and call upon your God.
(Source: biblebb.com)
This could be useful to transcribe recorded sermons
