Do not have your concert first, and then
tune your instrument afterwards.
Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer,
and get first of all into harmony with Him.
~ Hudson Taylor

When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself.

~ Oswald Chambers
When you have exhausted all the possibilities,
remember this -
you haven't.
~ Thomas Edison
Planting seeds
inevitably
changes my feelings
about rain.
~ Luci Shaw (from her poem "Forecast")
Poetry takes something
that we know already
and turns it into something new.
~ T.S. Eliot
Beware of paying attention
or going back to what you once were,
when God wants you to be something
that you have never been.
~ Oswald Chambers

"Maybe you've not yet tasted
your favorite food"
(regarding the feast prepared for us in heaven) 

~ Randy Alcorn in Tell Me About Heaven
The first demand any work of art
makes upon us is surrender.
Look.  Listen.  Receive.
Get yourself out of the way.
~ C.S. Lewis

You will ask me where I get my ideas...I cannot tell you with certainty; they come unsummoned...in the silence of the nights, early in the morning... tones that sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.

~ Ludwig Von Beethoven

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves,
for they shall never cease to be amused.

~ unknown

Start by doing what's necessary,
then what's possible,
and suddenly you are doing
the impossible.

~ St. Francis of Assisi

When writing,
be more or less
specific

~ unknown

Even if you're on the right track
you'll get run over if you just sit there.

~ Will Rogers
If you're going through Hell,
don't stop!
~ a great song I can't remember (anyone know?)

One good thing about being wrong
is the joy it brings to others.

~ unknown
a children's book is
any book
a child will read.
~ Madeleine L'Engle

Experience is something you don't get
until just after you need it.

~ unknown

Remember that
the darkest hour
only lasts 60 minutes

~ on the girls' bathroom wall/Gordon College
Creativity
is a way
of living
Life
~ Madeleine L'Engle

Hope means hoping
when things are hopeless,
or it is no virtue at all.
Faith means believing the incredible,
or it has no virtue at all.

~ G.K. Chesterton
It is the nature of grace
always
to fill spaces
that have been empty.
~ Goethe
All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.
~ Julian of Norwich
I would like to
paint the way a bird sings.
~ Claude Monet

Use what talents you possess:
the woods would be very silent
if no birds sang there
except those that sang best.

~ Henry Van Dyke

Don`t cry yet;
there`s still God!

~ Carissa Cooper
The best translation of the word "love"
is the name Jesus;
That will tell us everything about love
we need to know.
~ Canon Tallis
Two classes of human beings defy
psychological categorizing
and are full of surprises:
Poets and Saints.
~ Sigmund Freud

Spiritual warfare
isn't just casting out demons;
it's Spirit-controlled thinking
and attitudes.

~ Dean Sherman/YWAM
I loved Christmas
until I grew up and realized
I had to make it happen!
~ an exasperated customer at the Living Cornerstone bookstore
Doubt comes from a struggling mind.
Unbelief comes from a struggling will.
~ Chuck Missler

My best friend is a person who
will give me a book
I have not read.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Is prayer your steering wheel
or your spare tire?

~ Corrie Ten Boom

The Holy Bible

      The Holy Bible is the Best Book on Earth.  It is so because it is more than just a book of stories, or allegories, or deep thoughts, as so many of the books in my “favorites” list are.  Every person has to come to grips with two questions in this life, if you’re going to be real about what you feel about Christianity.  One:  Is Jesus Christ God?  And Two:  Is the Bible the Word of God?  If you are honest about researching these two questions, I believe you will come to the same conclusions I have:  yes and yes.  But I will remind you of one of the quotes from the talking bubble on the front page: 

“Doubt is a question of the mind.  Unbelief is a question of the will.”  (Chuck Missler)   

It is good to have questions and look into important questions about God and man.  But it is also important to recognize when your will is stopping you from believing in any of the evidence that might be there.  Be honest with yourself about whether you are struggling with doubt or unbelief.   

The Holy Bible was not written in English.  So any translation is just that: a translation.  I believe that the Holy Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek to be the infallible Word of God.  Since I am not fluent in Hebrew and Greek, I have studied enough of the English translations to accept them as the representation of the infallible Word of God.  Each English translation has qualities that I like, but these are my favorites for these reasons: 

      NASB (New American Standard Bible) was translated in 1971 and revised in 1995.  It has a higher reading level (11th grade) but is considered to be the most accurate translation.  I have been in numerous situations where a speaker/preacher has said, “the original meaning of this word is such and such” only to look down at my NASB and see that word used as its translation.  It is not as fluid to read but remains my trusted companion.  My grandmother gave me my copy when I was a teenager and her writing is still in the front of it.  She’s not here to encourage me anymore, but seeing her handwriting in my Bible does just that.  My copy is also well worn.  It is underlined, and has notes in the margins and my drawings on certain pages.  It is well used and well loved.  A Bible that is not read will not reveal its secrets to you. 

      The Message was first just a modernized version of the New Testament by pastor Eugene Petersen in 2002.  He has since translated the whole Bible, with a very contemporary flavor. Some people don’t care for it because it’s a “paraphrase,” not a translation, which simply means it’s translated thought-for-thought instead of word-for-word.  For me (and many others!) it is a refreshing look at a text that sometimes we know too well.  Sometimes it jars me out of my complacency with words that are so familiar.  Some have called this the Bible they turn to when they “just want to read it.”  I use it that way, too.  But I also read it in comparison with a translational version. For example, here are both of my favorite translations as they depict John 3:16: 

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (NASB) 

“This is how much God loved this world:  He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, any one can have a whole and lasting life.” (The Message) 

One is poetry.  One is practical. 

One is a familiar.  One is plain and simple. 

One is the most-quoted sentence in the Bible.  One is the simplest explanation in today’s language. 

Both are powerful. 

Both are life changing.

That’s the point. 

For more on The Holy Bible in any of the translations, visit www.Biblegateway.com

(This link will take you to The Message, but you can hunt around after you get there.)