Category Quotes & Verses

A Quint of Quotes #2

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Fellow travelers,

I started a new thing on the blog last week: “A Quint of Quotes” from my collection.  Five quotes somewhat related to each other, but not exactly in agreement.  These are also related to last weeks.  Enjoy!

“In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” – Yogi Berra

“Grace without truth would be deceitful, and truth without grace would be condemning.” – Warren Wiersbe

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” – William Bruce Cameron

“It is better to will the good than to know the truth” – Petrarch

“My lord, I leave the infinite to Thee, and pray Thee to put far from me such a love for the tree of knowledge might keep me from the tree of life.” – Charles Spurgeon

More to come!

A Quint of Quotes #1

Todd R 4 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Starting a new thing on the blog today: “A Quint of Quotes” from my collection.  Five quotes somewhat related to each other, but not exactly in agreement.  Enjoy!

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” – Pascal (in 1670)

“People often use statistics like a drunk uses a lamppost; not for illumination but rather for support.” – Unknown

“When somebody persuades me that I am wrong I change my mind. What do you do?” – John Maynard Keynes

“Dogma does not mean the absence of thought, but the end of thought.” – G.K. Chesterton

“People are often willing to produce a lot of collateral damage if they can retain their theory” – Jordan Peterson

More next week.

Keep Your Eyes on the Road

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“The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
            but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” – Proverbs 17:24

Wisdom keeps us on the path of life but doesn’t always mark it out for us far into the future.  Even if the fool identifies a correct future destination or goal, the path to get there might bend in ways they won’t see by looking only at the end goal.  The discerning focus on the daily task and the daily bread.

Today matters.

God Wants to Hear Everything

Todd R 2 Comments

Not everyone has a good friend they can talk to anything about at any time.  But we always have God.  As David tells us in Psalm 62:8 –

“Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah”

When do we need a refuge?  When we have troubles.  He wants to hear from us at all times and strengthen and guide us.  Martin Luther, commenting on the verse, wrote:

“Strength fades, courage fails; God remains firm.  If you are lacking something, well, here is good advice: ‘Pour out your heart before him’ Voice your complaint freely, and do not conceal anything from him.  Regardless of what it is, just throw it in a pile before him, as you open your heart completely to a good friend. He wants to hear it, and he wants to give you his aid and counsel. Do not be bashful before him. Out with everything.”[1]

The word Selah at the end of the verse is mysterious, but many believe it is a signal to pause and reflect.  What do you want to “throw in a pile before him” now?

[1] Quoted in McKim, Donald K.  Everyday Prayer with the Reformers (2020).  P. 37.

Do You Do Well to Be Angry?

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The prophet Jonah was angry after God’s grace came to the Gentile city of Nineveh, when they repented and avoided disaster:
“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’” – Jonah 4:1-4

Jonah claimed to know God’s character, but also wanted to determine who else could know God and who couldn’t, who gets “justice” and who doesn’t, preventing him from rejoicing in the salvation of Nineveh.

Do we do well to be angry, or do we prefer joy in knowing the God who is sovereign knows what He’s doing? Be glad in the salvation of God, even if He gives it to someone you don’t think deserves it. He knows better.