Our Sanctification

"Brother Lawrence, who was a kitchen worker and cook, remarks, Our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works, but in doing that for God's sake which we commonly do for our own. . . It is a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to adhere to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the season of prayer." from The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

Prayer Trains Us To Reign

"Prayer as kingdom praying is an arrangement explicitly instituted by God in order that we as individuals may count, and count for much, as we learn step by step how to govern, to reign with him in his kingdom. To enter and to learn this reign is what gives the individual life its intended significance. This high calling also explains why prayer frequently requires much effort, continuous effort, and on some matters possibly years and years of effort. Prayer is, above all, a means of forming character. It combines freedom and power with service and love. What God gets out of our lives - and indeed, what we get out of our lives - is simply the person we become. It is God's intention that we should grow into the kind of person he could empower to do what we want to do. Then we are ready to 'reign for ever and ever' (Rev. 22:5)." from The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

Definition of Prayer

"Prayer is a matter of explicitly sharing with God my concerns about what he too is concerned about in my life. And of course he is concerned about my concerns and, in particular, that my concerns should coincide with his. This is our walk together. Out of it I pray." from The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

Conspiracy of Silence

"The adult members of churches today rarely raise serious religious questions for fear of revealing their doubts or being thought of as strange. There is an implicit conspiracy of silence on religious matters in the churches. This conspiracy covers up the fact that the churches do not change lives or influence conduct to any appreciable degree." Clyde Reid

The Discipline of Secrecy

"The discipline of secrecy will help us break the grip of human opinion over our souls and our actions. A discipline is an activity in our power that we do to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort. Jesus is here leading us into the discipline of secrecy. We from time to time practice doing things approved of in our religious circles – giving, praying, fasting, attending services of the church, and so on – but in such a way that no one knows. Thus, our motivation and reward for doing these things cannot come from human beings. We are liberated from slavery to eyes, and then it does not matter whether people know or not. We learn to live constantly in this way." from The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

Be Ye Perfect

"The command 'Be ye perfect' is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command." C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Cornerstone of Human Government Upon the First Precepts of Christianity

"Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth. That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity" - John Quincy Adams. On July 4, 1837

Hard Working Are Best At Math

"We should be able to predict which countries are best at math simply by looking at which national cultures place the highest emphasis on effort and hard work." from Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Satisfying Work

"Autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying." from Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

God Chooses Our Time

"The sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not just from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our particular place in history presents us with." from Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Parenting Matters

"The plain truth of the Terman study, however, is that in the end, almost none of the genius children from the lowest social and economic class ended up making a name for themselves." Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

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10,000 hrs of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. Daniel Levitin

"the values of the world we inhabit & the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are." Outliers-Malcolm Gladwell

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There is a time for everything, but with 12" of snow on top of what's left of the 14" last weekend, I think it is time to stop.

"If ever a man made war in the Christian spirit, that man was Abraham Lincoln." Horace Greeley in Abraham Lincoln by G. Frederick Owen