Tag: Chrestomathy

“Remembering the finitude of your labors will keep you humble. Recognizing that your labors have a place in God’s cosmic intentions for the universe will keep you from thinking that your tiny labors are stupid labors. They are nothing of the kind.”

Ploductivity, p. 74

“The privilege we have in this world is to yearn for the next.”

Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 89

“God designs the huge projects and He assigns all the bit parts to all the little people. He says to Smith that he is to stand in this particular spot, and when the whistle blows, he is to pull that lever. Why? Smith wonders. Just pull the lever, God replies” (Ploductivity, p. 72).

“This kind of thing can even reach pathological levels, where we take pride in how much more humbly we yearn for the transcendent than they do. Pride is an insidious sin, and it is capable of working with any materials.”

Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 87

“In the cosmic scheme of things, the work that is assigned to us, and which God has given us to do, is tiny. The work that we will do by the grace of God, and to which God will respond with ‘well done, good and faithful servant,’ will be work that is teeny tiny. Finitude is one of our glories. God will not say well done to any human whose work is the size of three galaxies. He will say well done to pipsqueaks with a couple of fists full of nanoworks . . . A short space of time looking through a telescope should convince you that we actually live in Whoville.”

Ploductivity, pp. 71-72

“Those who look to the means alone, stopping there, are superstitious and blind. They think Jesus is the bread and wine. They think salvation is the sinner’s prayer. They think God dwells in houses made with human hands.”

Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 83

“At the same time, although the faith can thrive in times of persecution, we are not to pray for persecution. We are instructed to pray for quiet and peaceable lives (1 Tim. 2:2). A Christian should be able to be content whether he is out in the cold, or inside by the fire (Phil. 4:12). But even so, everything else being equal, the apostle Paul knew enough to come in out of the rain. We know which way to go, which way to pray, which direction to set our sights as we work.”

Ploductivity, pp. 69-70

“Everyone in the world thinks he understands. That is what it means to think. In other to think, you have to think something. And whatever it is that you think, that is what you think.”

Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 81

“Would you rather work hard for seven unblessed days, or work hard for six blessed days? Would you rather try to live on 100% of an unblessed income or on 90% of a blessed income? Would you rather have smaller barns blessed or larger barns unblessed (Lk. 12:20)?”

Ploductivity, p. 69

“If the point of the world is for humanity to grow up into the perfect man, then the point of every part of the world is to grow up into its portion of that perfect man . . . the task of the church here on the Palouse is therefore birth and growth.”

Let the Stones Cry Out, p. 79