Prayer for leadership
Tennyson observed, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day.”
So why aren’t more people praying and fewer posturing? Maybe they believe criticism raises more money for their organizations than prayer. Perhaps, but do they achieve their stated objectives?
Bill Clinton’s public policies should be critiqued. But … the chances of his doing the right thing are improved when he knows that people are praying for him.
—Cal Thomas in the Tampa
Tribune-Times (Jan. 17, 1993)
Now what, God?
In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew’s devastation, as my grandson, Stephan—Nelson, was working night and day helping the survivors to get water and food, he noticed a sign on the roof of one house which read: “Okay, God. You’ve got our attention. Now what?”
I see storms of apocalyptic proportions on the horizon. God is beginning to get our attention. Now what?
—Billy Graham in
Storm Warning
Meeting needs or meeting God?
As the church today gets more and more hip—more and more need-oriented, responding to the buttons that people push in their pews—I find myself longing for more of a historical faith. I find myself not wanting to have everything explained to me in simple terms.…
I’m not even sure I want all my needs met as much as I want to meet God, and sometimes I wonder if he’s really interested in the noise of our contemporary clamoring. Like my dog who can’t seem to get anywhere because he keeps having to stop and scratch his fleas, I wonder if we are so busy scratching where everybody itches that we aren’t taking anybody anywhere significant.
—John Fischer in “Longing for Something Old” (Covenant Companion, Oct. 1992)
The wisdom of foresight
Foresight is the beginning of holiness. If you learn this art of foreseeing, you will be more and more like Christ, for his heart was sweet and he would always think of others.
—Mother Teresa in Heart of Joy
Burning the ties
Our lusts are cords that bind us. Fiery trials are sent to burn and consume them. Who fears the flame which will bring him liberty from intolerable bonds?
—Charles Spurgeon in The Quotable Spurgeon
Acid test
You can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one.
—Gordon MacDonald at a Mastering Ministry Conference (January 1993)
Giving back the gift
People have often said, “You could have made it in the secular music world—why didn’t you pursue that?”
But I’m not interested. Something my dad said to me years ago settled that question for me: “Whatever gift you have been given, it is your responsibility to burnish it, shine it, and make it the best it can be; then give it back to the One from whom you received it.”
—Kurt Kaiser in notes accompanying a recording,
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs
