God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
Randy Alcorn
In the silence punctuated only by their footsteps, both men thought not of themselves but of a Man who once made a long, lonely march up a hill, who in the world's worst hour did the most courageous thing ever done. At the end of His climb, He spread out His arms and permitted guilty men to drive nails into His hands and feet. He endured untold agony to give undeserving men- like Mike Hollis, Derrick Freeman, Nathan Hayes, and Adam Mitchell- a second chance. To most people none of this - not what these men were doing now, nor what He did two thousand years ago-made sense. From the outside, grace and truth, honor and courage, seldom do.
chance honor silence grace footsteps man people men truth courage sense thought drive end adam agony hands lonely courageous made arms worst christian thing give
The most tragic strain in human existence lies in the fact that the pleasure which we find in the things of this life, however good that pleasure may be in itself, is always taken away from us. The things for which men strive hardly ever turn out to be as satisfying as they expected, and in the rare cases in which they do, sooner or later they are snatched away.. For the Christians, all those partial, broken and fleeting perfections which he glimpses in the world around him, which wither in his grasp and he snatches away from him even while the wither, are found again, perfect, complete and lasting in the absolute beauty of God.
life men beauty human lies existence inspirational world heaven good tragic perfect christians broken pleasure find things found fact absolute god christian
For the Christian, death is not the end of adventure but a doorway from a wold where dreams and adventures shrink, to a world where dreams and adventures forever expand.
dreams adventure death inspirational world heaven end forever adventures christian
Jesus' miracles provide us with a sample of the meaning of redemption: a freeing of creation from the shackles of sin and evil and a reinstatement of creaturely living as intended by God.
miracles creation meaning inspirational sin living evil redemption god christian
The conflicting missions of the two armies seemed to have no fog, no gray, only black-and-white clarity. I had lived my life in terms of compromise, rule-bending, trade-offs, concessions, bargaining, striking deals, finding middle ground. In these two great armies, there was no such thing. Good was good, and evil was evil, and they shared no common ground.
faith
If economic catastrophe does come, will it be a time that draws Christians together to share every resource we have, or will it drive us apart to hide in our own basements or mountain retreats, guarding at gunpoint our private stores from others? If we faithfully use our assets for his kingdom now, rather than hoarding them, can't we trust our faithful God to provide for us then?
trust protection sharing faith christianity stewardship hoarding provision
sharing money faith christianity giving stewardship hoarding
Why ask for your daily bread when you own the bakery?
wealth faith self-sufficiency temptation dependence materialism
Heaven isn't an extrapolation of earthly thinking; Earth is an extension of Heaven, made by the Creator King.
faith inspirational
Earth is a in-between world touched by both Heaven and Hell. Earth leads directly into Heaven or directly into Hell, affording a choice between the two. The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell.
Abundance isn't God's provision for me to live in luxury. It's his provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with his money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build his kingdom in heaven.
poverty luxury sharing wealth money help christianity heaven kingdom abundance riches stewardship god provision
Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving. (Look again at 2 Corinthians 8: 14 and 9: 11).
sharing christianity giving scripture stewardship excess income god
If we were to gain God's perspective, even for a moment, and were to look at the way we go through life accumulating and hoarding and displaying our things, we would have the same feelings of horror and pity that any sane person has when he views people in an asylum endlessly beating their heads against the wall.
wealth christianity perspective clarity insanity sanity possessions materialism pity stewardship horror hoarding
Wealth is a relational barrier. It keeps us from having open relationships.
wealth transparency christianity honesty relationships communication openness stewardship
I've heard it said that healing after losing someone you love is like learning to live with an amputation. You do heal, but you're never the same. But those who go through this and trust the Lord find comfort and intimacy with God that others never experience. Now, you've got to give yourself time to grieve. But you also need to make efforts to move forward with your life.
suffering grief
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