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From The Relinquished Life by Oswald Chambers:

"When one really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ."

"It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keep us back from God's best. To discern that natural virtues antagonize surrender to God is to bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle."

Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence."

From Followers, Not Admirers by Soren Kierkegaard:
"It is well know that Christ consistently used the expression, 'follower.' He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is after."

"What then, is the difference between an admirer and a follower? A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires."

"The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in word he is inexhaustable about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, will not reconstruct his life, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires. Not so for the follower. No, no. The followers aspires with all his strength to be what he admires. And then, remarkably enough, even though he is living amongst a 'Christian people,' he incurs the same peril as he did when it was dangerous to openly confess Christ. And because of the follower's life, it will become evident who the admirers are, for the admirers will become agitated with him. Even these words will disturb many - but then they must likewise belong to the admirers."

From Truth to Tell by Barbara Brown Taylor:
"Jesus stood at the center of the stage like a mirror in which all those around him saw themselves clearly for who they were.......and they were so appalled by what they saw that they smashed it. The smashed him every way they could."

"I remember being at a retreat once where the leader asked us to think of someone who represented Christ in our lives. When it came time to share our answers, one woman stood up and said, 'I had to think hard about that one. I kept thinking, Who is it who told me the truth about myself so clearly that I wanted to kill him for it?'"

"What happened then goes on happening now. In the presence of his integrity, our own pretense is exposed. In the presence of his constancy, our cowardice is brought to light. In the presence of his fierce love for God and for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed. Take him out of the room adn all those things become relative. I am not that much worse than you are nor you than I, but leave him in the room and there is no room to hide. He is the light of the world. In his presence, people either fall down to worship him or do everything they can to extinguish his light."

A cross and nails are not always necessary. There are a thousand ways to kill him.....insert your personal method here - we all have at least one (italics mine).


From Shared Hells by Peter Kreeft:
"Calvary is Judo. The enemy's power is used to defeat him."

"We needed a surgeon, he came and reached into our wounds with bloody hands. He didn't give us a placebo or a pill or good advice. He gave us himself."

"He sits beside us not only in our sufferings but even in our sins. He does not turn his face from us, however much we turn our face from him."

"He came. He is here. That is the salient fact. If he does not heal all our broken bones and loves and lives now, he comes into them and is broken, like bread, and we are nourished. And he shows us that we can henceforth use our very brokenness as nourishment for those we love. Since we are his body, we too are the bread that is broken for others. Our very failures help heal other lives; our very tears help wipe away tears; our being hated helps those we love."

Amen and amen......may it be so.