Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from January 11, 1999

First, Seek God

So I say to you, seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in your life. Without Him all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without Him life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with Him we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St. Augustine was right—we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in Him.

—Martin Luther King, Jr., in The Words of Martin Luther King Jr., compiled by Coretta Scott King

Of Faith and Science

To look up out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith.

—Astronaut John Glenn at a news conference following his 1998 shuttle flight

God Shows Himself Everywhere

Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time. That is not just fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows Himself everywhere, in everything—in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It’s impossible. The only thing is is that we don’t see it.

—Thomas Merton in a 1965 audiotape

What the Poor Need

What the poor need, even more than food and clothing and shelter (though they need these, too, desperately), is to be wanted. It is the outcast state their poverty imposes upon them that is the more agonizing.

—Mother Teresa in Something Beautiful for God

What Really Matters

We have to give ourselves wholeheartedly to God, and if we fail, we must give ourselves again. We all need daily forgiveness for our sins and failures. But what matters is whether we want to be faithful—faithful to the end of our lives. This means surrendering everything—our self-will, our hopes for personal happiness, our private property, even our weaknesses—and believing in God and in Christ. This is all that is asked of anyone. Jesus does not expect perfection, but he wants us to give ourselves wholeheartedly.

—J. Heinrich Arnold in Discipleship: Living for Christ in the Daily Grind

Finding Grace

The moment of grace comes to us in the dynamics of any situation we walk into. It is an opportunity that God sews into the fabric of a routine situation. It is a chance to do something creative, something helpful, something healing, something that makes one unmarked spot in the world better off for our having been there. We catch it if we are people of discernment.

—Lewis Smedes in A Pretty Good Person

God Is Our Fuel

God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

—C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

A Life of Grace

All Christians are considered to have a call to what is commonly termed “the priesthood of all believers”; all are expected to use their lives so as to reveal the grace of the Holy Spirit working through them. It’s a tall order, to literally be a sacrament, and it helps to remember Jesus’ statement in the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel: “You did not choose me; I chose you.”

—Kathleen Norris in Amazing Grace

The Power of Love

No cord or cable can draw so forcibly or bind so fast as love can do with a twined thread.

—Robert Burton in Anatomy of Melancholy

Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Are You Tolerant? (Should You Be?) Christians are seen as the pit bulls of the culture warsโ€”small brains, big teeth, strong jaws, and no interest in compromise. Is this indictment fair? It's time to deconstruct the gospel of tolerance.

Cover Story

Are you tolerant? (Should you be?)

Church Listens to the Profits

My Spice Girl Moment

Can the Dead Be Converted?

The Hard Songs of Fernando Ortega

In His Steps: How to Become an Apprentice of Jesus

The Sky Isnโ€™t Falling

Churches Join 'Prayer Evangelism'

At-Home Dads Gather and Bond

Top Religion Stories of 1998

Angels of the Night

Religious Leaders Tell Clinton to Quit

Family-Friendly Titanic Irks Hollywood

Conservative Texans Form New Group

In Brief: January 11, 1999

Christians Killed, Churches Burn

Christians Want Shock Rocker Manson Banned

Relief Groups Struggle to Aid Churches

Raising Funds While Helping the Poor

In Brief: January 11, 1999

Communist Crackdown Stymies Growing Church

Wire Story

Orthodox Land Use Angers Laity

Poisonous Gospel

Are You Satisfied?

Letters

A Gospel Gold Mine or a Sinking Pyramid?

Investigative Report: It's not in the Greek Does Greater Ministries Misuse Scripture?

States Pass New Protections

Evangelicals Press Political Leader to Focus on Poverty Issues

Reconciling the World Through Painful Stories

Wire Story

Ecumenism: Orthodox Push for WCC Reform

Jonestown: Twenty Years Later, Cults Still Lethal

Editorial

Reconnecting with the Poor

Editorial

When Church and State Cooperate

The Coming Secular Apocalypse

Y2K Preparation Guide

The Bible Jesus Read

The Fatted Faithful

It's Hard to Hug a Bully

View issue

Our Latest

Latino Churchesโ€™ Vibrant Testimony

Hispanic American congregations tend to be young, vibrant, and intergenerational. The wider church has much to learn with and from them.

Review

Modern โ€˜Technocultureโ€™ Makes the World Feel Unnaturally Godless

By changing our experience of reality, it tempts those who donโ€™t perceive God to conclude that he doesnโ€™t exist.

The Bulletin

A Brief Word from Our Sponsor

The Bulletin recaps the 2024 vice presidential debate, discusses global religious persecution, and explores the dynamics of celebrity Christianity.

News

Evangelicals Struggle to Preach Life in the Top Country for Assisted Death

Canadian pastors are lagging behind a national push to expand MAID to those with disabilities and mental health conditions.

Excerpt

The Chinese Christian Who Helped Overcome Illiteracy in Asia

Yan Yangchu taught thousands of peasants to read and write in the early 20th century.

What Would Lecrae Do?

Why Kendrick Lamarโ€™s question matters.

No More Sundays on the Couch

COVID got us used to staying home. But itโ€™s the work of Godโ€™s people to lift up the name of Christ and receive Godโ€™s Wordโ€”together.

Review

Safety Shouldnโ€™t Come First

A theologian questions our habit of elevating this goal above all others.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube