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December 30, 2017 by kevinstilley

America’s Christian Heritage

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were … the general principles of Christianity…. Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.
~ John Adams, in The Works of John Adams: Second President of the United States, vol. 10 (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1856), page 43.

Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
~ John Adams, in a message on October 11, 1798, to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts

The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible.
~ John Quincy Adams

Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men, with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.
~ Samuel Adams, in a letter to John Adams, 1790. In Four Letters: Being an Interesting Correspondence Between Those Eminently Distinguished Characters, John Adams, Late President of the United States; and Samuel Adams, Late Governor of Massachusetts. On the Important Subject of Government. (Boston: Adams and Roads, 1802), pages 90

Let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly acknowledge the power and goodness of Almighty God who presides over the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our country’s history, let us invoke His aid and His blessings upon our labors.
~ Grover Cleveland, 22nd President of the United States

The strength of a country is the strength of its religious convictions.
~ Calvin Coolidge

We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.
~ Justice William O. Douglas, in a Supreme Court decision, March 1952

When England grew corrupt, God brought over a number of pious persons and planted them in New England, and this land was planted with a noble vine.
~ Jonathan Edwards, in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1.

The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth–that God governs in the Affairs of Men.
~ Benjamin Franklin, addressing the Constitutional Convention on June 28, 1787

In the year of Chist, 1755, This building was piously founded,
for the relief of the sick and miserable.
May the God of mercies bless the undertaking.
Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.
~ Benjamin Franklin, composed for a cornerstone inscription for the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1751

The Bible is the anchor of our liberties.
~ Ulysses S. Grant

The Bible is the cornerstone of American liberty. A student’s perusal of this sacred volume will make them a better citizen.
~ Thomas Jefferson. According to Daniel Webster, Jefferson said this to him in regard to why the Bible was foundational in the educational plan he helped program for the school system in Washington D.C. Daniel Webster to Professor Peace, June 15, 1852 in The Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster, edited by Edward Everett, (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 1903).

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.
~ Thomas Jefferson

Almighty God … hath diffused the glorious light of the Gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of His eternal glory.
~ Thomas Jefferson, November 11, 1779, in a Day of Prayer proclamation while Governor of Virginia. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 3, 18 June 1779 – 30 September 1780. ed. Julian P. Boyd (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), pages 177-179

Let us look forward tot he time when we can take the flag of our country, and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribe for our motto, “Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,” and exclaim, Christ first, our country next!
~ Andrew Johnson, America’s 17th President

The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.
~ Patrick Henry

The general diffusion of Christian knowledge hath a natural tendency to correct the morals of men, restrain their vices, and preserve the peace of society.
~ Patrick Henry

It is announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
~ Abraham Lincoln, March 30, 1863, in his Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day. In the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.

We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, int he deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace too proud to pray to the God that made us.
~ Abraham Lincoln, proclaiming a National Day of Prayer, March 30, 1863.

We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government. Far from it. We have staked the future on the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, control ourselves, and to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.
~ James Madison

The Bible is the Constitution of Christian civilization.
~ Gordon Palmer, in By Freedom’s Holy Light (NY: Devin-Adair Co., 1964), page 4

Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.
~ William Penn,

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. And this be our motto – “In God is our Trust.”
~ The Star Spangled Banner

I believe that no one can read the history of our country, without realizing the Good Book, and the Spirit of the Savior, which have, from the beginning, been our guiding genius. Whether we look at the first Charter of Virginia, or the Charter of New England, or the Charter of Massachusetts Bay, or the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the same objective is present, a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and a belief in it. Freedom of Belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under the law, and the reservation of the people, I would like to believe that we are living today in the Spirit of Christian religion. I would also like to believe long as we do, no great harm can come to our country.
~ Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. In an interview with Time Magazine, February 14, 1954.

I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion. But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of public institutions.
~ Alexis de Tocqueville

Whatever makes a person a good Christian makes him a good citizen.
~ Daniel Webster

If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we or our prosperity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.
~ Daniel Webster

Let us not forget the religious character of our origin.
~ Daniel Webster

The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles…to this we ow our free constitutions of government. The Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.
~ Noah Webster, in the preface to Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828

America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scriptures.
~ Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, on May 7, 1911 in a speech delivered in Denver, Colorado

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Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: American History, Blog, Christianity, deists, Jefferson, Madison, Quotes, Washington, Webster, Worldview

August 8, 2013 by kevinstilley

Christian Worldview book recommendations

What are some of the best books on developing and/or maintaining a Christian Worldview?  Below you will find lists of book recommendations from Michael Craven, Chris Leland, Del Tackett, David Noebel, Chuck Edwards, Ron Nash, Paul Copan and others.

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David Noebel and Chuck Edwards

The following books are some of those recommended in Countering Culture: Arming Yourself to Confront Non-Biblical Worldviews, written by David Noebel and Chuck Edwards.

Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs (John Ankerberg and John Weldon)

See The Gods Fall (Francis Beckwith and Stephen Parrish)

The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview (John Newport)

The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue

Emergence: The Rebirth of the Sacred (David Spangler)

America’s Real War: An Orthodox Rabbi Insists that Judeo-Christian Values are Vital for our Nation’s Survival (Daniel Lapin)

Death By Government ( R.J. Rummel)

The Quest For Cosmic Justice (Thomas Sowell)

America’s 30 Years War (Balint Vazsonyi)

The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (D.A. Carson)

Feminism and the Bible: An Introduction to Feminism for Christians (Jack Cottrell)

The Feminist Gospel: The Movement to Unite Feminism with the Church (Mary Kassian)

Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood (George Grant)

The Death of Truth (Dennis McCallum)

The Menace of Multiculturalism (Alvin Schmidt)

The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially (Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher)

Cloning of the American Mind ( B.K. Eakman)

Life at the bottom: The Worldview that makes the Underclass (Theodore Dalrymple)

Poverty and Wealth: Why Socialism Doesn’t Work (Ronald Nash)

You Can Trust The Communists [to be Communists] (Fred Schwarz)

Postmodern Times (Gene Edward Veith)

The Law (Frederic Bastiat)

The Revenge of Conscience: Politics and the Fall of Man (J. Budziszewski)

Cloning of the American Mind: Eradicating Morality Through Education (B.K. Eakman)

In Defense of Natural Law (Robert George)

Clergy In the Classroom: The Religion of Secular Humanism (David Noebel, J.F. Baldwin, and Kevin Bywater)

Democracy and the Renewal of Public Education (Richard John Neuhaus)

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (Michael Behe)

Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology (William Dembski)

Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Michael Denton)

Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong (Jonathan Wells)

By Design: Science and the Search for God (Lary Witham)

Body & Soul: Human Nature and the Crisis in Ethics (J.P. Moreland and Scott Rae)

Clergy in the Classroom: The Religion of Secular Humanism (David Noebel, J.F. Baldwin, and Kevin Bywater)

The Intellectuals Speak Out About God (Roy Varghese)

Thieves of Innocence: Protecting Our children From New Age Teachings and Occult Practices (John Ankerberg, Craig Branch, and John Weldon)

Apologetics in the New Age ( Norman Geisler and David Clark)

Humanist Manifesto I and II (Paul Kurtz)

Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for a New Planetary Humanism (Paul Kurtz)

The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels)

Mind Siege: The Battle for Truth in the New Millenium (Tim LaHaye and David Noebel)

Understanding the Times: The Religious Worldviews of Our Day and the Search For Truth

How Now Shall We Live? (Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey)

Children at Risk: The Battle For the Hearts and Minds of Our Kids (James Dobson and Gary Bauer)

How Should We Then Live? (Francis Schaeffer)

Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air (Frank Beckwith and Greg Koukl)

True For You, But Not For Me: Deflating The Slogans that Leave Christians Speechless (Paul Copan)

That’s Just Your Interpretation (Paul Copan)

Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists (Benjamin Wiker)

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Chris Leland

The following books are required reading in the course “Christian Worldview Studies” taught by Dr. Chris Leland at Focus on the Family Institute.

Boa, K. D. (2001). Faith has its reasons: An integrative approach to defending Christianity. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Colson, C. & Pearcey, N. (1999). How now shall we live? Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Guiness, O. (2000). Time for truth: Living free in a world of lies, hype, & spin. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Co.

Hunter, J. D. (1991). Culture wars. The struggle to define America. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Lewis, C.S. (2001). The Abolition of Man. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins
Publishers, Inc.

Medved, M. (1992). Hollywood vs. America. Popular culture and the war on traditional values. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.

Moreland, J. P. (1997). Love your God with all your mind. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress Publishing Group.

Paine, T. (1989). The age of reason. Lyle Stuart Publishers (paperback ed.).

Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Romanowski, W. D. (2001). Eyes wide open. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.

Sanders, J. O. (1994). Spiritual leadership. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishing.

Schaeffer, F. A. (1984). The great evangelical disaster. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Sire, J. W. (2004). The universe next door. A basic worldview catalog (4th ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

White, H. (2006). Postmodernism 101: A first course for the curious Christian. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.

The syllabus describes the course as follows – – –

DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of this course is to provide academic instruction on the importance of and ability to communicate God’s truth to others in Christian love. In this course, that means exploring the issues of truth, how we arrive at truth, and what we do with truth. In order to accomplish this, one must (1) believe what it is to have an “ultimate purpose in living,” (2) be able to “know” God, and (3) be willing and able to impact the individuals, families and communities around us. A significant part of this evangelistic perspective is better understanding what we believe and why, as well as knowing what the other, prevailing worldviews in society propose and why. Ultimately, we must be fully prepared to give the world an answer to questions about life and death and truth and love and God, or as the Scriptures say, to “know how you should respond to each person” who asks us about such things (Col. 4:6, NAS trans.).

The Christian Worldview Studies course is designed, therefore, to deepen and broaden the student’s understanding of the core presuppositions of the Christian worldview, and to equip them to evaluate those presuppositions in contrast with other, competing worldviews. The goal is to enable students to think more clearly and critically about the ultimate issues of human existence, so that they may live more purposeful lives and participate more constructively in the larger socio-cultural debate.

The study of worldview constitutes a window through which we can view the nature of man and the nature of his conduct. To that extent, it’s as close as we can get to the core reality or truth of who we are and what we do in life. Knowledge of worldviews is commensurate with acquiring a powerful form of wisdom, that most precious of Biblical commodities that characterized the sons of Issachar, “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do …” (1 Chron. 12:32, NAS trans.). Thus are we also charged with the privilege of understanding our times, that we might instruct America, in both love and truth, what we all together need to do.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:
1. To further enhance students’ awareness of the preeminence of evangelism.
2. To further enhance the students’ understanding of the Christian worldview, especially as it contrasts with the other predominant worldviews of today.
3. To empower the student to effectively communicate with those whose worldview differs from the Christian perspective, especially regarding one’s understanding of Jesus Christ and the meaning of truth in today’s world.
4. To further enhance the students’ inner spiritual life, Christian character, and love relationship with God and others.

TOPICS:
• Worldviews in Conflict
• The Christian Mind
* Worldview Leadership
• Christian Theism
• Classical Deism
• Atheistic Naturalism
• Pagan Mysticism
• The Postmodern Crisis
• Feminization of worldviews
• Counterfeit Gods
• Communicating Effectively
• Mass Media Influences
• Contemporary Strategies

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Michael Craven

Michael Craven of the Center For Christ and Culture recommends the following books on understanding and developing a Christian Worldview;

Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity

Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity

Christ and Culture

The Opening of the Christian Mind: Taking Every Thought Captive to Christ

Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture

How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

What Is Truth?: A Comparative Study of the Positions of Cornelius Van Til, Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry, Donald Bloesch, Millard Erickson

Building a Christian Worldview

Clash Of Orthodoxies: Law Religion & Morality In Crisis

How Now Shall We Live?

Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It

Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth

The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the

Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia–and How It Died

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Paul Copan

The following books are recommended for further reading in the Introduction to How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong?: Responding to Objections That Leave Christians Speechless, by Paul Copan.

On Jesus (Douglas Groothuis)

Love Your God With All Your Mind (J.P. Moreland)

Philosophical Foundations for a Chrstian Worldview (J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig)

Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did ( Randy Newman)

The Divine Conspiracy (Dallas Willard)

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Del Tackett

The following books are required reading in the course Cultural Issues In Christian Perspective taught by Dr. Del Tackett and Dr. Chris Leland, at Focus on the Family Institute.

Boa, K.D. & Bowman, R. M. (2001). Faith has its reasons: An integrative approach to defending Christianity. Colorado Spring, CO: NavPress.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1954). Life together. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

Briner, Bob. (1993). Roaring lambs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Colson, C. (1999). How now shall we live? Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Colson, C. (2003). Being the body. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group.

de Tocqueville, Alexis. (1835). Democracy in America, (Vol 1). (Reprinted by Vintage Books, New York, 1990).

Dobson, J. (2004). Marriage under fire. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

Ellis, E. S. (1884). Not yours to give. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates (Reprinted by Conservative Printing, 2003).

Grudem, W. A. (2003). Business for the glory of God: The Bible’s teachings on the moral goodness of business. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Kavanaugh, P. 1996. Spiritual lives of the great composers. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Lewis, C. S. (1974). The abolition of man. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancicso.

Minnery, T. (2001). Why you can’t stay silent: A biblical mandate to shape our culture. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishing/Focus on the Family.

Olasky, M. (1999). The American leadership tradition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Pollock, J. (1996). William Wilberforce: A man who changed his times. Mclean, VA: The Trinity Forum.

Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York: Penguin Books.

Schaeffer, F. A. (1984). The great evangelical disaster. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books

Schmidt, Alvin J. (2004). How Christianity changed the world. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Sire, J. W. (2004). The universe next door. A basic worldview catalog. 4th edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Schlossberg, H. (1990). Idols for destruction: The conflict of Christian faith and American culture.Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Sowell, T. (1995). The vision of the anointed: Self-congratulation as a basis for social policy. New York, NY: Basic Books.

White, H. (2006). Postmodernism 101. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Books.

* * *

The syllabus describes the course as follows – – –

DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this course is to deepen and broaden the student’s understanding of the core assumptions of the Christian worldview, and to apply this perspective to critical issues involving the contemporary family, church, and society. The goal is to enable students to think more clearly about the ultimate issues of human existence so that they may live more purposeful lives and participate more constructively in the calling of the Christians as a transformed and transforming community through which God heals individuals, families and societies.

The course focuses on the central issue of our understanding of the existence and nature of God, human beings, and the world around us. The aim is clearer insight into Christ’s ongoing redemptive work centered in the Christians and Christian community as God’s chief agent of societal change. Christ’s work extends beyond the individual to include all of created reality, especially the social aspects of human experience. Students are encouraged to go beyond mere understanding to actual participation in the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth.

OBJECTIVES
1. To awaken the student’s spirit, heart and mind toward God and the world which Christ came to restore.
2. To facilitate the understanding and communication of the essential elements of a Christian worldview, as it contrasts with other competing and counterfeit worldviews.
3. To equip students to develop a biblically and theologically informed understanding of the relationship between social institutions and God’s design for social order.
4. To expose the students to new ways of thinking about social institutions, current issues and pathologies and the Christian’s role in effecting transformation in each sphere of life.
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Ronald Nash

Ronald Nash taught a course on Advanced Worldview Analysis at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.

Recommended books for Ronald Nash’s class on Advanced Worldview Analysis included:

Ron Nash, The Closing of the American Heart: What’s Really Wrong with America’s Schools, Probe

Ron Nash, Poverty and Wealth: Why Socialism Doesn’t Work, Probe

Nash & Belli, Beyond Liberation Theology, Baker

Ron Nash, Why the Left is Not Right: The Religious Left: Who Are They and What Do They Believe?, Zondervan

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Why Am I Here?

The study Why: 40 Days Pursuing Answers To Life’s Biggest Questions recommends the following books for answering the question, “Why Am I Here?”

To Everyone An Answer: The Case for the Christian Worldview, by Frances Beckwith, William Lane Craig, & J.P. Moreland

Letters From a Skeptic, by Gregory A. Boyd

I’m Glad You Asked
, by Ken Boa and Larry Moody

That’s Just Your Interpretation, by Paul Copan

Reasonable Faith, by William Lane Craig

Why I Am A Christian, by Norman Geisler and Paul Hoffman

Give Me An Answer, by Cliffe Knechtle

Pocket Handbook Of Christian Apologetics
, by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli

Know Why You Believe, by Paul Little

How To Give Away Your Faith, by Paul Little

Scaling The Secular City, by J.P. Moreland

The Case For Faith, by Lee Strobel The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren

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RELATED BOOKS

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Your Turn

What books would you add to the lists above?  Share your suggested titles in the comment section below.

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Books to Help You Survive College with Your Faith Intact, by Douglas Grouthuis and Sara Geis

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Epistemology, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Theology, Worldview, Zeitgeist Tagged With: bibliography, book list, Culture, discipleship, recommended reading, Worldview

December 8, 2012 by kevinstilley

Happiness – select quotes

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True happiness… arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one’s self.
~ Joseph Addison

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you’re getting this down.
~ Woody Allen

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore guard accordingly.
~ Marcus Aurelius

The strength and the happiness of a man consists in finding out the way in which God is going and going in that way, too.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
~ Rita Mae Brown

Remember, happiness doesn’t depend on who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think.
~ Dale Carnegie

Seek to do good and you will find that happiness will run after you.
~ James Freeman Clarke

The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things.
~ Ernest Dimnet

Happy is the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own;
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have liv’d today.
~ John Dryden, in “Translation of Horace”

I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves — such an ethical basis I call more proper for a herd of swine.
~ Albert Einstein, in The World As I See It

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
~ Anne Frank

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours.
~ Tom Hopkins

It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed.
~ Kin Hubbard

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
~ Victor Hugo

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
~ Helen Keller

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
~ Abraham Lincoln

There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind — are always attained by giving them to someone else.
~ Peyton Conway March

Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so.
~ John Stuart Mill

How happy a person is depends upon the depth of his gratitude.
~ John Miller

As the astronauts soar into the vast eternities of space, on earth the garbage piles higher; as the groves of academe extend their domain, the alumni’s arms reach lower; as the phallic cult spreads, so does impotence. In great wealth, great poverty; in health, sickness; in numbers deception. Gorging, left hungry; sedated, left restless; telling all, hiding all; in flesh united, forever separate. So we press on through the valley of abundance that leads to the wasteland of stiety, passing through the gardens of fantasy; seeking happiness every more ardently, and finding despair even more surely.
~ Malcolm Muggeridge, in “The Great Liberal Deathwish”

Happiness is neither within or without us—it is in God and only when God is in us is happiness within and without us.
~ Blaise Pascal

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.
~ Blaise Pascal

If thou wouldst be happy, bring thy mind to thy condition, and have an indifferency for more than what is sufficient.
~ William Penn

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.
~ Ayn Rand

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.
~ Albert Schweitzer

Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation.
~ William Sheldon

Happiness is mostly a byproduct of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
~ Benjamin Spock

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.
~ Leon Suenens

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.
~ Martha Washington

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Filed Under: Blog, Quotes Tagged With: attitude, Blog, demeanor, depression, happiness, joy, Quotes, Worldview

October 28, 2012 by kevinstilley

What Do You Think?

If you could take back something you said in the last year, what would it be?

Filed Under: Blog, What Do You Think? Tagged With: age, art, Blog, childhood, cinema, civilization, Culture, debate, earth, Eschatology, Evangelism, Family, fear, film, God, Heaven, hell, History, immortality, interests, Jesus, milieu, movie, painting, Parenting, past, phobia, physiology, talkshow, tatoo, teaching, television, variety show, What Do You Think?, Worldview

October 23, 2012 by kevinstilley

All Truth Is God’s Truth?

A person who is a good and true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found, gathering and acknowledging it even in pagan literature, but rejecting superstitious vanities and deploring and avoiding those who ‘though they knew God did not glorify him as God or give thanks but became enfeebled in their own thoughts and plunged their senseless minds into darkness. Claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the image of corruptible mortals and animals and reptiles’ [Rom. 1:21-3].
~ Augustine of Hippo, In De Doctrina Christiana, Book II

Any statements by those who are called philosophers, especially the Platonists, which happen to be true and consistent with our faith should not cause alarm, but be claimed for our own use, as it were from owners who have no right to them.
~ Augustine of Hippo. In De Doctrina Christiana

Gold from Egypt is still gold.
~ Augustine of Hippo

All truth is God’s truth.
~ Arthur F. Holmes

Whatever things were rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians.
~ Justin, 2 Apology 13

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Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.

“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1 Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.

Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and merely knowing a truth to be God’s truth does not glorify him any more than the devil does.

All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.
~ John Piper

Filed Under: Blog, Epistemology, Quotes, Worldview Tagged With: Epistemology, truth, Worldview

October 21, 2012 by kevinstilley

Worldview – select quotes

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis

The world is not composed of religious and non-religious people. It is composed rather of religious people who have different ultimate concerns, different gods, and who respond to the living God in different ways…. All humans are incurably religious; we simply manifest different religious allegiances.
~ Ronald Nash, in The Closing of the American Heart, page 38

No man is religiously neutral in his knowledge of and his appropriation of reality.
~ Henry Zylstra, in Testament of Vision, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981, page 148

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Filed Under: Blog, Quotes, Worldview Tagged With: quotations, Quotes, Worldview

June 10, 2012 by kevinstilley

Storytelling / Narrative – select quotes

narrative

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Story is the primary way we impart what really matters to the next generation. Stories have the potential to embody biblical and theological content in ways that sink into the imagination, take root, and grow.
~ Sarah Arthur, in The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry

Stories are the natural soul food for children, their native air and vital breath….Let me tell the stories and I care not who writes the textbooks.
~ G. Stanley Hall

People are being changed by their media. In order to speak to changed people, the Church must speak in changed ways. Preaching must adopt a new kind of language–a language of narrative and emotion.
~ Richard Jensen, in Thinking In Story

The language of logical argument, of proofs, is the language of the limited self we know and can manipulate. But the language of parable and poetry, of storytelling, moves from the imprisoned language of the provable into the freed language of what I must, for lack of another word, continue to call faith. For me this involves trust not in “the gods” but in God.
~ Madeleine L’Engle, in A Circle of Quiet (NY: HarperCollins, 1972), page 194.

Storytelling is powerful because it has the ability to touch human beings at the most personal level. While facts are viewed from the lens of a microscope, stories are viewed from the lens of the soul. Stories address us on every level. They speak to the mind, the body, the emotions, the spirit, and the will. In a story a person can identify with situations he or she has never been in. The individual’s imagination is unlocked to drea what was previously unimaginable.
~ Mark Miller in Experiential Storytelling: (Re) Discovering Narrative to Communicate God’s Message

Stories are designed to embody–in their characters, plots, and imagery–patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind that’s unreachable in more direct ways, thus increasing our understanding and breadth of vision, in addition to fostering our ability to think critically. Stories activate the right side of the brain much more than… reading normal prose. The right side of the brain provides “context,” the essential function of putting together the different components of experience. The left side provides the “text,” or the pieces themselves.
~ Robert Ornstein, in a 2002 Library of Congress lecture

Story is the most natural way of enlarging and deepening our sense of reality, and then enlisting us as participants in it.  Stories open doors to areas or aspects of life that we didn’t know were there, or had quit noticing…. Stories are verbal acts of hospitality.
~ Eugene Peterson, in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
~ Muriel Rukeyser

If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Our lives as human beings are made up of stories that have shaped, or are shaping, who we are. The story of the Bible has the power to make sense of all the other stories of your life. When it is internalized and it becomes your story, it gives meaning in the midst of meaninglessness and value in the midst of worthlessness. Yoru personal story will find grounding in creation, guidance in crises, re-formation in redemption, and direction in its destination. People become Christians when their own stories merge with, and are understood in the light of, God’s story.
~ Preben Vang and Terry Carter, in Telling God’s Story: The Biblical Narrative from Beginning to End

God created man because He loves good stories.
~ Elie Wiesel

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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Quotes, Worldview Tagged With: frames, Leadership, narrative, quotations, Quotes, story, storytelling, Worldview

June 10, 2012 by kevinstilley

J.C. Ryle – select quotes

All heaven and earth resound with that subtle and delicately balanced truth that the old paths are the best paths after all.

I pity the man who never thinks about heaven.

Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct. Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys, — these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily, — these are the clues you must follow if you would ind the way to his heart.

Parents, do you wish to see your children happy? Take care, then, that you train them to obey when they are spoken to, –to do as they are bid…. Teach them to obey while young, or else they will be fretting against God all their lives long, and wear themselves out with the vain idea of being independent of His control.

Parents, if you love your children, do all that lies in your power to train them up to a habit of prayer. Show them how to begin. Tell them what to say. Encourage them to persevere. Remind them if they become careless and slack about it. Let it not be your fault, at any rate, if they never call on the name of the Lord.
~ in The Duties of Parents

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Filed Under: Blog, Quotes Tagged With: J.C. Ryle, Quotes, truth, Worldview

November 19, 2010 by kevinstilley

What Do You Think?

If you could be a contestant on any game show, which one would it be?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: art, Blog, childhood, cinema, civilization, Culture, debate, earth, Eschatology, Evangelism, Family, fear, film, God, Heaven, hell, History, immortality, interests, Jesus, milieu, movie, painting, Parenting, past, phobia, physiology, talkshow, teaching, television, variety show, What Do You Think?, Worldview

March 5, 2010 by kevinstilley

What Do You Think?

Time for another discussion question.  ”

“If you could wave a magic wand and stop any one thing, what would you stop?  Why?”

Do you think that framing the question as what you you stop rather than what would you “want” or “ask for” results in a qualitatively different response?  Do you think your response is less self-centered and more outwardly focused?

Does this question have practical implications for the way we live our life?  Would asking different questions result in a different focus for our life?  A different worldview?

Share your answers in the comments below.

Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, What Do You Think? Tagged With: desire, Magic, Wishing, Worldview

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