The Nature of Faith

“I tried to represent faith as falling into Christ’s arms, and I thought I made it so plain that the wayfaring man could not err therein. When I had finished preaching, a young man came to me and said, “But, sir, I cannot fall upon Christ’s arms.” I replied at once, “Tumble into them anyhow; faint away into Christ’s arms, or die into Christ’s arms, so long as you get there.” Many talk of what they can do and what they cannot do, and I fear they miss the vital point. Faith is leaving off can-ing and cannot-ing, and leaving it all to Christ, for he can do all things, though you can do nothing.” -Charles Spurgeon, Talks to Farmers

Advertisements

Biblical Faith is Not a Leap in the Dark (Unless You Have a Low View of God)

“True faith is never unreasonable, because its object is always trustworthy.” -John Stott, Understanding the Bible

Your God-Given Spam Folder

“Scientists estimate that for every hundred pieces of information that enter our brains, ninety-nine end up in the spam folder.1 Noticing only one thing out of every hundred is a good thing. As many suffering autistic people will tell you, if you don’t have a good mental spam filter, you can be overwhelmed with useless and harmful data.” -David Murray, The Happy Christian

You Have To Do It Awhile, First

“There are a great many things [in Christianity] that cannot be understood until after you have gone a certain distance along the Christian road.” -C.S. Lewis

Calm, Better Than Any Drug Could Give

“Stronger than any chemical tranquilizer is trust in our all-knowing God.” -John Stott

The Focus of Counseling

“If my counseling does not help others rely upon Another (upon whom I also rely), I will inevitably teach them to rely on themselves— or on me, or other friends, or medications, or techniques, or pablum “truths” (that are in fact empty or even fictional).” -David Powlison

Calvin: Sometimes It’s Better to Limp Than to Sprint

“For we should so reason that the splendor of the divine countenance, which even the apostle calls ‘unapproachable’, is for us like an inexplicable labyrinth unless we are conducted into it by the thread of the Word; so that it is better to limp along this path than to dash with all speed outside it.” -John Calvin