“There is no reason why, in the Bible as in Shakespeare, the minute study of parts should not be dangerous to the conception of the whole.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 105
Stay Away from Flattering Doctors
“Medical science is supposed to be about the pursuit of truth, not the pursuit of tolerable truths”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 64
Heat Lightning
“The preaching which is wholly exposition men are apt to find dull and pointless. It is heat lightning that quivers over many topics but strikes nowhere”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 104
You’re Gonna Punish Somebody
“When a constitution was drafted for a free and virtuous people, and we try to make it work for a dissolute and wasted people, this will have the effect of declaring war on the few remaining citizens who want to live in a virtuous way.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 58
All the Doctrine You Know
“The truth is, no preaching ever had any strong power that was not the preaching of doctrine. The preachers that have moved and held men have always preached doctrine. No exhortation to a good life that does not put behind it some truth as deep as eternity can seize and hold the conscience. Preach doctrine, preach all the doctrine that you know, and learn forever more and more; but preach it always not that men may believe it; but that men may be saved by believing it.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 103
So Take It Away Already
“Take away the safety net, and it is likely that the number of people experimenting with the trapeze bar will decrease significantly.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 57
Remember the Point
“Much of our preaching is like delivering lectures upon medicine to sick people. The lecture is true. The lecture is interesting . . . But still the fact remains that the lecture is not medicine, and that to give the medicine, not to deliver the lecture, is the preacher’s duty.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 102
I Mean, Look Straight at It
“The way the push for legal pot is happening now, the pressure is on us to increase the liberty of the irresponsible citizens while simultaneously decreasing the liberty of the responsible ones. That fact all by itself should reveal the play that is being run on us.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 49
Yeah, Remember That
“Remember how rapidly we progressed from homosexuality simply being decriminalized to the point now where its celebration is mandated in virtually every public space.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 47
Big Handles
“When the people are dissolute, this means they are slaves to their sins. And one of the things that despots found out a long time ago is that slaves to sin have handles that can be used by rulers.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 44