Promises, Promises

"God promises forgiveness for repentance; He does not promise tomorrow for procrastination." Augustine of Hippo

Mentoring Bold Leaders

"Reward spectacular failure; punish mediocre success." This traditional leadership-development maxim has long been attributed to Ramses II, but it was probably adapted from a folk saying by the Greek-Christian redactors and curators of the great Alexandrian library sometime around the middle of the third century.

Petty Tyrannies

“We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain bad laws.” G.K. Chesterton

“There is no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.” Will Rogers

“The worst thing in the world, next to anarchy, is government.” Henry Ward Beecher

“Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.” Robert Heinlein

“The most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Ronald Reagan

“If I knew that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.” Henry David Thoreau

“Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely expressed for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent busybodies.” C.S. Lewis

“When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.” G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton's Ballad of the White Horse

Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass.

Before the gods that made the gods
Had drunk at dawn their fill,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was hoary on the hill.

Age beyond age on British land,
Aeons on aeons gone,
Was peace and war in western hills,
And the White Horse looked on.

For the White Horse knew England
When there was none to know;
He saw the first oar break or bend,
He saw heaven fall and the world end,
O God, how long ago.

For the end of the world was long ago,
And all we dwell to-day
As children of some second birth,
Like a strange people left on earth
After a judgment day.

For the end of the world was long ago,
When the ends of the world waxed free,
When Rome was sunk in a waste of slaves,
And the sun drowned in the sea.

Alfred the Great

it was on this day in 878 that the young, inexperienced Christian king of Wessex, Alfred the Great, defeated the pagan Viking warlord Guthrum at the Battle of Ethandun. The unlikely victory not only ensured that Christianity would survive in England, it made the unification of that land possible for the first time since the departure of Roman legions in the fifth century.

True and Solid

"It is to be steadily inculcated, that virtue is the highest proof of understanding, and the only true and solid basis of greatness." Samuel Johnson

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

TableTalk

The May issue of TableTalk Magazine offers a fascinating examination of the seven deadly sins and the seven heavenly virtues. The varied contributors include R.C. Sproul, Thabiti Anyabwile, Robert Carver, Chris Donato, Ron Gleason, Ken Jones, Robert Rayburn, Carol Ruvolo, R.C. Sproul Jr., Gene Edward Veith, and Yours Truly.

If you’ve never read—or better yet, used—this very fine monthly devotional magazine from Ligonier Ministries, I highly commend it to your attention. And if you are a pastor or a Sunday School teacher, this is precisely the kind of tool you can put into the hands of your parishioners, students, friends, brothers and sisters, and fellow-workers in the faith to encourage them to walk in the fulness and richness of the Gospel. Just to encourage you, Ligonier is currently offering a free Three Month Trial.

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For the Common Good

"We know that all men were created to busy themselves with labor for the common good." John Calvin