[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″]
In Christ and Christ Alone!
[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] David Bryant:
A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely winds his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional, into a single pattern of self-giving. That voice is Jesus Christ.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″]
Hannah Whitall Smith.
The standard of practical holy living has been so low among Christians that very often the person who tries to practice spiritual disciplines in everyday life is looked upon with disapproval by a large portion of the Church. And for the most part, the followers of Jesus Christ are satisfied with a life so conformed to the world, and so like it in almost every respect, that to a casual observer, there is no difference between the Christian and the pagan.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms:
Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason. I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]
FRANCIS OF ASSISI: THOUGHTS ON CHARACTER
What a man is in the sight of God, so much he is, and nothing more.
St. Francis (of Assisi) walked the world like the Pardon of God. G.K. Chesterton
Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.
Lord, make me an instrument of your . . . .
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″]
Wilbur Reece
I would like to buy 3 dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of him to make me love a (person of another race) or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I’d like to buy 3 dollars worth of God, please.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
Jesus has many who love His heavenly Kingdom, but few who bear His Cross. Many desire His comfort, but few desire His suffering. He finds many to share His feast, but few His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer for His sake. Many follow Jesus to the Breaking of Bread, but few to the drinking of the Cup of His Passion. Many admire His miracles, but few follow Him in the humiliation of His Cross. Many love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them . . . They who love Jesus for His own sake, and not for the sake of comfort for themselves, bless Him in every trial and anguish of heart, no less than in the greatest joy. And were He never willing to bestow comfort on them, they would still always praise Him and give Him thanks. How powerful is the pure love of Jesus, free from all self-interest and self-love! Are they not all mercenaries, who are always seeking comfort? Do they not betray themselves as lovers of self rather than of Christ, when they are always thinking of their own advantage and gain? Where will you find one who is willing to serve God without reward?
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and allegiance to God – the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people?
.
[/vc_column][/vc_row]
