I found a number of quotations on http://www.thinkexist.com/ that are excellent motivators to instill courage in you. I hope you find them as beneficial as I do.
“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.”
Raymond Lindquist
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
C.S. Lewis
“Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway.”
Dr. Robert Anthony (more…)
I received an email from Rev. Chris Curry, the webmaster of http://livingwaterscanada.com/ this week and I thought, as he did, that this was a very timely letter. With his permission, I’m posting it here for your benefit.
Dear friends, after much research, and experience addressing the subject, I was compelled to write the following article. I believe it is a timely word and hope it will be a blessing to you.
THE POST-MODERN SCARE
Reaching a post-modern world without post-modern methods
By Rev. Chris CurryThis is the new buzz word among evangelicals, “post-modernism.” It has developed a certain shock value as its usage has picked up momentum over the past couple years. This term has come up so often, I’m convinced it’s Satan’s latest weapon in his attempts to stifle the churches evangelistic potential. It’s a spiritual stop sign, calculated to threaten the attempts of traditional soul-winning evangelists. Just hearing the term can bring fatigue and discouragement to any Christian who has allowed it to threaten them. (more…)
I really like the last few paragraphs of the article by Jonathan Sarfati regarding Bishop Spong. I’d like to post them here as I think they are worth repeating.
Spong was not prepared by the church of his youth to answer the questions thrown at him by modern society. When he went to university, he was challenged to defend a faith he was never taught to defend. Naturally, like the raw recruit ordered to defend a hill against a well-trained and heavily armed enemy with a weapon he was never taught how to use, Spong capitulated. Having done so, he feels cheated by his church and disappointed by his literal faith, and now seeks to challenge and destroy both.
In this sense, a study of Spong’s life and work should be mandatory reading for Christian pastors and parents. It is a testimony to the failure of our churches to instruct their children and young people in the defence of the faith and the Bible. If we fail in our duty to enable our young people always to be ready to give an adequate explanation for the faith that is in them (1 Peter 3:15) we may well be responsible for raising up a future generation of Spongs.
I just finished reading a book by now retired Anglican Bishop John Shelby Spong entitled “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture” that my atheist (although he would rather call himself a secular humanist) neighbour loaned me. I was very interested in this book because I felt that it would help me to get into my neighbour’s mind so that I could communicate the gospel with him more effectively. If you have ever read any of Spong’s work you will probably have reacted strongly to many of his assertions. I marked many of his statements that stood out to me as I read the book intending to go through them and comment on them, even if only for my sake.
Always allow challenges to your faith to drive you deeper into the word of God. You will never be disappointed if you seek God for His wisdom, and He promises to give it to us without finding fault to all those who ask with faith (James 1:5-6).
Jonathan Sarfati, whom I have come to respect, published this excellent response to Spong’s work here. If you want to see a very solid yet winsome defense of the “Fundamental” Christian Faith both with scriptural support and through other secular sources (refuting several of Spong’s claims), I highly recommend reading this article.