Our character is determined not by our circumstances but by our reaction to those circumstances.
The Bible teaches that there is a holy God whose law constitutes a transcendent, universally valid standard of right and wrong. Our choice has no effect at all on this standard; our choice simply determines whether we accept it, or reject it and suffer the consequences.
A Christian writer has summed this up well: “The ‘Christian state’ is one that gives no special public privilege to Christian citizens but seeks justice for all as a matter of principle.”6.
The lure of power can separate the most resolute of Christians from the true nature of Christian leadership, which is service to others. It’s difficult to stand on a pedestal and wash the feet of those below.
One of the most startling commentaries on this century is the fact that millions more have died at the hands of their own governments than in wars with other nations – all to preserve someone’s power.
If Christians today understood this distinction between the role of the private Christian citizen and the Christian in government, they might sound less like medieval crusaders. If secularists understood correctly the nature of Christian public duty they would not fear, but welcome responsible Christian political involvement.
Powerful people were about to make Nien Cheng their favorite sacrificial lamb – or to die trying. They thought she could be used to discredit their opponents. The ransacking of her house had been only a first step.
I’d always follow Nixon’s orders, but you can’t order somebody to be happy.
S. Lewis, coined the phrase “The.
How magnificently has God honored the covenant of our forefathers. How richly has he blessed our nation. So deep are our religious roots, but so far have we strayed.
For most of us, life is messy and confusing, filled with paradoxes. We wake up in the night, worrying about our jobs, our kids, or the best laid plans, which suddenly unravel due to the pressures of living in our high-tech, fast-moving world. One day we seem to have things under control; the next day we get steamrollered by events. If you haven’t experienced this, please write me; you would be the first person I know to have life all together.
Suffering is rightly called “the school of faith,” for it is only through trouble, difficulties, and setbacks that we are brought to the end of ourselves. The normal human tendency, particularly for strong-willed people, is to rely on our own strength and resources. But when those are not available to us, when everything has failed, when we have to abandon every other hope, we are forced to trust God alone.