Nothing So Powerful as Truth

"There is nothing so powerful as the truth."
-Daniel Webster

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:32

 

These two quotes were the the most popular slogans found printed in the mastheads of American newspapers.

At The Crossroads

He stood at the crossroads, all alone,
The run rise in his face.
He had no thought for the world unknown-
He was set for a man race.

But the road stretched east and the road stretch west,
And the boy did not know which road was best,
So he took the wrong road and went down,
And he lost the race and the victor's crown.

But the road stretched east and the road stretched west,
And the boy did not know which road was best,
So he took the wrong road and went down,
And he lost the race and the victor's crown.

He was caught at last in an angry snare
Because none stood at the crossroads there
To show him the better road.

Another at the selfsame place
A boy with high hopes stood;
He too was set for a manly race
He was seeking the things that were good.
But one was there who the roads did know,
And that one showed him which way to go.
So he turned away from the road that went down,
And he won the race and the victor's crown.
He walks today the highways fair
Because one stood at the crossroads there,
To show him the better way.

"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."  Proverbs 13:20

Keeping Friends Like Misers

"I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship."
Pietro Aretino

"A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle."   Proverbs 18:19

Do Not Pray for Easy Lives!

"Do not pray for easy lives!  Pray to be stronger men.  Do not pray  for tasks equal to your powers.  Pray for powers equal to your tasks.  Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle."
- Phillip Brooks

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." 1 Cor. 16:13

Finding Safety in the Right Place

"To try to be safe everywhere is to be strong nowhere."
Winston Churchill

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."

Psalm 20:9

Making a Name Here, but What about a Name in Heaven?

"Nevertheless, a watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest while we are building ideal monuments of Renown and Bliss here we neglect to have our names enrolled in the annals of Heaven."
James Madison from a letter in his autobiography

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."  Rev. 2:17

How God Punishes a Nation

"When God wishes to punish a people or a kingdom, he takes away from it the good and godly teachers and preachers, and bereaves it of wise, gody, and honest rulers and counselors, and brave, upright, and experienced soldiers, and of other good men."
-Martin Luther

"For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." Isaiah 3:1-3

A Tendency to Close the Eyes to a Painful Truth

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth... For my part I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst; and to provide for it."
-Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it."  Jeremiah 5:1

God Does Big Things Through Babies

"We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions abroad, when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies at home.  When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it.  That is why long, long ago, a Babe was born in Bethlehem."
-Frank Boreham

"And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against." Luke 2:34

Great Efforts Bring Criticism

"The man who is anybody and who does anything is surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood.  This is a part of the penalty for greatness, and every great man understands it; and understands, too, that it is no proof of greatness.  The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure contumely without resentment."
- Elbert Hubbard

"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." Luke 6:26

Necessity Brings Creativity

"Necessity is the mother of invention."


"He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him." Proverbs 16:26

Men that Are Like Beasts Don't Know It

"A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast the less he knows it." 
- George MacDonald

"The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws."  Daniel 4:30-33

 

A Christian is Most Free, Yet a Dutiful Servant

"A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one." 
- Martin Luther

"Though I be free from  all men, yet have I made myself servant of all..." 1 Cor. 9:19

It Is Not Work that Kills Men, But Worry

"It is not work that kills men, but worry.  Work is healthy; you can can hardly put more on a man than he can bear.  But worry is rust upon the blade.  It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction."
-Henry Ward Beecher

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Philippians 4:6

The Clock

The clock of life is wound but once,
    And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
     At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,
     To lose one's health is more.
To lose one's soul is such a loss
     That no one can restore.
              -Auther unknown

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Matthew 16:26

The Difference Between Profession and Confession

"If I profess with the loudest voice  and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield  besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."
 -formally attributed to Martin Luther
It is now believed that this quote is by Elizabeth Rundle Charles, from her book The Chronicles of the Schoenberg Cotta Family (Thomas Nelson, 1864).

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 10:33