Extremists... for love!

“The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?” Martin Luther King Jr.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:43-48

No righteous act is fruitless

"The Christian walks through the world with a hidden smile, knowing that by God's grace each act of love and sacrifice is eternal though the world cannot see it. As we see the world through the eyes of Scripture we know that each day and every moment is lived for eternity and, thus, that no righteous act is fruitless and no sacrifice is vain (1 Cor. 15:58). The life of faith embraces God's promise of enduring righteousness, allowing us to walk in the constant joy of knowing that our efforts and sacrifices do not escape his notice.....

Our Savior says that no act of divine commitment and no person who serves him will ever be forgotten, no matter what their significance from a worldly point of view. Such a biblical perspective will make us 'content to fill a little space if thou be glorified' and will assure us of the value of every duty done for Christ. If we think that the battle is not worth fighting because the odds against us are too great or the failures of the past are too overwhelming, then we must consider again the provisions of our God. He promises us an eternal rescue, and a reckoning to us of his own character, so that we can commit ourselves to the only purposes that are eternal." Bryan Chapell

Burden of my neighbour’s glory...

“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken…. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.“ CS　Lewis

Holiness...

’Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists of in thinking as God thinks and willing as God wills.’ John Brown – 19^th century Scottish theologian

the American dream and the Christian dream

"I realized there's a difference between the American dream and the Christian dream. The American dream says work hard and have all you can in this life. The Christian dream says lay down your life and pick up your cross."

Read this great article on Christian commitment to the poor. Soul providers

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.”

God Moves in a Mysterious Way, William Cowper

※Cowper was known for his intense emotional struggles.