"Once great cities lie in ruins. One great city is eternal."

Thrivent "Inspirations" Desk Calendar for September 6th

Hebrews 13:14

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

Rev John Wesley

Founder of the Methodist Church

"I don't like people to send me something because they want to get rid of it. Giving is something different. It is sharing. ...This is something all of us need to learn. The chance to share our love with others is a gift from God. May it be for us as it was for Jesus. Let's love one another as He has loved us. Let's love one another with undivided love. Let's experience the joy of loving God and loving one another."

Mother Theresa

No Greater Love

"...with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Thomas Jefferson

American Declaration of Independence

""Dear Brothers and Sisters,
After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you."

Joseph Ratzinger

First Message of Benedict XVI

"Practicing resurrection begins with resurrection practices. Two in particular are deeply rooted in the stories of the season. Both bring life out of death: They leap from the tomb and into a life of ministry. One is the practice of discipleship. The other is the practice of forgiveness."

Dr. Martha E. Stortz

Living in Resurrection -- The Lutheran May 2005

"Man affirms himself most completely by giving of himself. This is the fulfillment of the commandment of love. If we cannot accept the prospect of giving ourselves as a gift, then the danger of a selfish freedom will always be present."

John Paul II

Crossing the Threshold of Hope -- Human Rights

"In Lent the ice of our souls melts away and what's left is the foundation. If we're willing to be vulnerable -- porous -- during Easter, the work of creation can begin in us."

Debra K. Farrington

Resurrection Living
The Lutheran
April 2005

"For the sacrificed -- in the hour of sacrifice -- only one thing counts: faith -- alone among enemies and skeptics. Faith, in spite of humiliation which is both the necessary precondition and the consequence of faith, faith without any hope of compensation other than he can find in a faith which reality seems so thoroughly to refute. Would the Crucifixion have had any sublimity or meaning if Jesus had seen Himself crowned with the halo of martyrdom? What we have later added was not there for Him."

Dag Hammarskjold

Markings -- 1957

"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Charlotte Elliot

1835

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/u/justasam.htm

"Friendship between the church and the world is not normal, but abnormal. The community must suffer like Christ, without wonderment. The cross stands visible over the community." ... "Sanctification through the seal of the Holy Spirit always places the church in the midst of struggle." ... "...the holiness of the church is necessary for the redemption of the world."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- No Rusty Swords and Discipleship

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University -- Taproot Summer 2004

http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/research.htm

"As a member and pastor of this church I will disagree with many others but I will not abandon. I will pray for those with whom I disagree in this church, and I will stand with them because my Lord died and rose for them, his crucified and risen life fills them, they cry ‘Abba Father’, the Holy Spirit has brought us together into this church, and we are blood brothers and sisters, except it is not our blood."

The Rev. James F. Mauney

Bishop of the Virginia Synod -- ELCA

http://www.vasynod.org

"The light died in the low clouds. Falling snow drank in the dusk. Shrouded in silence, the branches wrapped me in their peace. When the boundaries were erased, once again the wonder: that I exist."

Dag Hammarskjold

Markings -- 1955

http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html

"Love has a hem to her garment
That reaches the very dust.
It sweeps the stains
From the streets and lanes,
And because it can, it must."

Mother Teresa

No Greater Love

http://www.ewtn.com/motherteresa/

"A Providence watches over each man's wandering through life. It provides him with two guides. The one calls him forward. The other calls him back. They are, however, not in opposition to each other, these two guides, nor do they leave the wanderer standing there in doubt, confused by the double call. Rather, the two are in eternal understanding with each other. For the one beckons forward to the Good, the other calls man back from evil."

Soren Kierkegaard

Purity of Heart -- 1846

Preparation for a Christian Life

"To clutch at everything or to cast away everything is the reaction of one who believes fanatically in death. But wherever it is recognized that the power of death has been broken, wherever the world of death is illumined by the miracle of the resurrection and the new life, there no eternities are demanded of life but one takes of life what it offers, not all or nothing but good and evil, the important and the unimportant, joy and sorrow; one neither clings convulsively to life nor casts it frivolously away. One is content with the allotted span and one does not invest earthly things with the title of eternity; one allows to death the limited rights which it still possesses. It is from beyond death that one expects the coming of the new man and of the new world, from the power by which death has been vanquished."

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ethics

http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/

"’Tis winter now; the fallen snow Has left the heav’ns all coldly clear; Through leafless boughs the sharp winds blow, And all the earth lies dead and drear. And yet God’s love is not withdrawn; His life within the keen air breathes; His beauty paints the crimson dawn, And clothes the boughs with glittering wreaths. And though abroad the sharp winds blow, And skies are chill, and frosts are keen, Home closer draws her circle now, And warmer glows her light within. O God! Who giv’st the winter’s cold As well as summer’s joyous rays, Us warmly in Thy love enfold, And keep us through life’s wintry days. "

Samuel Longfellow

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/i/tiswintr.htm

"Midnight is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most inspiring word that the church must speak is that no midnight long remains. The weary traveller by midnight who asks for bread is really seeking the dawn. Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come.... Faith in the dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment."

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Based on Luke 11:5-6 Published in "Strength to Love" -- 1963

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermonsFrame.htm

"The connections we share with one another -- and most significantly with God -- are more important that anything else in the life of the congregation. The building does not matter. The time of worship does not matter. Relationships matter. Jesus said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself' (Luke 10:27). The rest will fall into place."

Pastor Robert F. Holley and Pastor Paul E. Walters

Called by God to Serve -- Reflections for Church Leaders -- Chapter 26 -- Spreading like Wildfire

"This Gospel is so clear that it requires very little explanation, but it should be well considered and taken deeply to heart; and no one will receive more benefit from it than those who, with a calm, quiet heart, banish everything else from their mind, and diligently look into it. It is just as the sun which is reflected in calm water and gives out vigorous warmth, but which cannot be so readily seen nor can it give out such warmth in water that is in roaring and rapid motion. Therefore, if you would be enlightened and warmed, if you would see the wonders of divine grace and have your heart aglow and enlightened, devout and joyful, go where you can silently meditate and lay hold of this picture deep in your heart, and you will see miracle upon miracle."

Martin Luther

Sermon for Christmas Day 1521; Luke 2:1-14

"So we are to despair of our own efforts and cleave to Christ, relying upon him alone. Gracious, indeed, and comforting is this message, and readily welcomed by hearts despairing of their own efforts. "Evangelium," or Gospel, implies a loving, kind, gracious message, fitted to gladden and cheer a sorrowing and terrified heart."

Martin Luther

Christmas Eve Sermon 1522

"Dear Jesus, now is the time to live productive lives. Now is the time to use our gifts. Now is the time to do our part. Spare us from the temptation to become so spiritually minded that we are no earthly good. Forgive us for burying our talents. Use us in building up your kingdom. In Jesus' name. Amen."

Pastor Kerry Nelson

http://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?RevKerry+143

"How grateful we Christians should be for that gift of the cross. This Christmas gift of birth — Christ's and our own, Christ's cross and our own — means our lives of joy, suffering and, finally, death and rebirth are in the hands of a God who loves us and expects us to love others."

William Matthews

The Lutheran -- December 2004 "The Greatest Gift of All"

"All across America, we gather this week with the people we love to give thanks to God for the blessings in our lives. We are grateful for our freedom, grateful for our families and friends, and grateful for the many gifts of America. On Thanksgiving Day, we acknowledge that all of these things, and life itself, come from the Almighty God. ...Thanksgiving is also a time to share our blessings with those who are less fortunate."

George W. Bush

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041123-4.html

"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

Abraham Lincoln

Proclamation of October 3d, 1863

"...let him attend to his work and find joy in it, let him love his wife, rejoicing in her, let him raise his children to be a joy to him, and let him love his fellow-men and enjoy life. God will surely let him know if more is demanded of him, and will also help him to accomplish it; for in the terrifying language of the law this sounds so terrible because it would seem as if man by his own strength were to hold fast to Christ, whereas in the language of love it is Christ that holds fast to him."

Soren Kierkegaard

Preparation for a Christian Life

"What you give, give freely and without price, that others may prosper and have increase from you and your goodness... We give this rule: the good things which we have from God ought to flow from one to another and become common to all, so that every one of us may, as it were, put on his neighbor, and so behave towards him as if he were himself in his place. They flowed and do flow from Christ to us; He put us on, and acted for us as if He Himself were what we are. From us they flow to those who have need of them..."

Martin Luther

Concerning Christian Liberty -- 1520

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

Jude

Apostle of Christ

"The goals of the earth and the kingdoms of this world shall profit me nothing."

Ignatius of Antioch

A.D. 115

"The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. ... How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD . I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. ... I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD . I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.."

Psalm 116

"In all these islands there is no difference in the appearance of the people, nor in the manners and language, but all understand each other mutually; a fact that is very important for the end which I suppose to be earnestly desired by our most illustrious king, that is, their conversion to the holy religion of Christ, to which in truth, as far as I can perceive, they are very ready and favorably inclined.... Therefore let the king and queen, the princes and their most fortunate kingdoms, and all other countries of Christendom give thanks to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has bestowed upon us so great a victory and gift. Let religious processions be solemnized; let sacred festivals be given; let the churches be covered with festive garlands. Let Christ rejoice on earth, as he rejoices in heaven, when he foresees coming to salvation so many souls of people hitherto lost."

Christopher Columbus

Admiral of the Ocean Fleet

14 March 1493

http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/columbus/

"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

Francis of Assisi

1182-1226

"Be in no doubt...go forward with faith and confront the enemy's ferocity; and fear not, for God will be on your side."

Sergius of Radonezh

1313-1392

"Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment."

Dag Hammarskjold

Markings -- 1957

"Stewardship is not about money; it is about being a person of character who is worthy to be given a great trust and being found faithful as we carry out the will of the master. Even if money is involved in carrying out our trust, it is only a tool that is used as we carry out the will of God."

Pastor Jim Bliss

Resurrection Lutheran Church, Dublin CA

"You see this goat that is going by? Does the goat understand what is going on in your head? No! Because it is a goat, and you, you are men. Because you are men you have other, far higher thoughts than a goat. Isn't that true? As with men, so with God. We cannot understand all the thoughts of God."

Albert Schweitzer

1930

Missionary to Africa

"We are God's house of living stones, Builded for His habitation; He through baptismal grace us owns, Heirs of His wondrous salvation...."

Nikolai Grundtvig

1783-1872

Danish Bishop

"Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures."

Martin Luther

1522

An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

"I am blessed, but I do not magnify myself, my soul doth magnify the Lord. What I am, I am through His grace, which He has bestowed upon me, unworthy as I am."

Mary, Mother of our Lord

Martin Luther's Meditations on the Gospels

Holy Gospel According to Luke 1:46-55

"For a pilot caught in a swirling disorienting mass of clouds or an impenetrable fog, there is only one saving course of action: Trust the gyroscopes! ... Amidst all the swirling messages that bombard us on a daily basis, surrounded as we are with a cacophony of conflicting and unharmonious melodies and messages, our way forward as faithful leaders is to be found in trusting God's ever-dependable gyroscopes, pointing the way toward justice and shalom."

Rev. Dr. Michael L. Cooper-White

On a Wing and a Prayer

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

"When the conflicting currents of the unconscious create engulfing whirlpools, the waters can again be guided into a single current if the dam sluice be opened into the channel of prayer -- and if that channel has been dug deep enough."

Dag Hammarskjold

Markings -- 1950

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-bio.html

"What is truth? ... It is not that you ask for the truth, but the truth asks for you."

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer

24 July 1932

http://www.luther95.org/NELCA/internos/moeller.htm

"Everybody longs to be loved. And the greatest thing we can do is let somebody know that they are loved and capable of loving."

Fred Rogers

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/aiaward/2003_march.php

"My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die ."

Paul's letter to the Philippians 1:20

http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1089284263-49.html#20

"...with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

American Declaration of Independence

http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

"I opened my mouth, and drew in the Spirit, and I give myself and my all to the Spirit, my action and speech, my inaction and silence, only let Him hold me and guide me, and move both hand and mind and tongue whither it is right, and He wills: and restrain them as it is right and expedient. I am an instrument of God, a rational instrument, an instrument tuned and struck by that skilful artist, the Spirit.... Therefore I now consent to share in the cares of my excellent father, like an eaglet, not quite vainly flying close to a mighty and high soaring eagle. But hereafter I will offer my wing to the Spirit to be borne whither, and as, He wills: no one shall force or drag me in any direction, contrary to His counsel. For sweet it is to inherit a father's toils..."

Gregory of Nazianzus
Cappadocian Father

http://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Evandersp/Courses/texts/cappadoc/gnazor12.html

"If all the children of our country studied together all of the many religions in our country, wouldn't they learn greater tolerance of each other's beliefs? If children prayed together, would they not understand what they have in common, and would this not, indeed, bring them closer, and is this not to be desired?"

Ronald Reagan

http://www.aclj.org/news/040607_reagan_speech_religion.asp

"What can I do to help in the war on terror?" The answer: Overcome evil with acts of goodness."

George W. Bush

USA Weekend article September 8th, 2002

"As he gives himself for us with his body and blood in order to redeem us from all misery, so we too are to give ourselves with might and main for our neighbor. Whoever knows this and lives accordingly is holy, and has not much more to learn"

Martin Luther

As quoted by William Matthews in The Lutheran

http://www.thelutheran.org/0406/page7.html

"For encountering God means encountering transcendent security and transcendent eternity. He who participates in God participates in eternity. But in order to participate in Him, you must be accepted by Him and you must have accepted His acceptance of you."

Paul Tillich

The Courage to Be

"Good morning. This is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help...so have a good day."

From an inspirational book by Joyce Meyer (the thought is the title).

Matthew 6:25-34

"We were made in the likeness of God. But in course of time that image has become obscured, like a face on a very old portrait, dimmed with dust and dirt. When a portrait is spoiled, the only way to renew it is for the Subject to come back to the studio and sit for the artist all over again. That is why Christ came -- to make it possible for the divine image in man to be recreated. We were made in God's likeness; we are remade in the likeness of his Son."

Athanasius

Bishop of Alexandria

A.D. 298 - 373

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/152.html

"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I don't know."

W. H. Auden

http://www.audensociety.org

"We praise You, Lord, for all Your creatures..."

Francis of Assisi

Please read through the Canticle of the Creatures (Canticle of Brother Sun) at:
http://prayerfoundation.org/canticle_of_brother_sun.htm

"I seek not to understand in order that I may believe;
Rather, I believe in order that I may understand."

Anslem
Archbishop of Canterburry
1033-1109

Love wins!

Pastor Rob Bell, Jr.
Teaching Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandville, Michigan

Sermons available on-line at:

http://www.mhbcmi.org/listen/index.php

"I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it."

Thomas A' Kempis

http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/imitation/imitation.html#toc

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings"

Saint Paul
Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 3

"What you are is God's gift to you;
What you do with yourself is your gift to God."

Danish Proverb
As cited in Chapter 32 of "A Purpose Driven Life"

"The worth of any task is determined by the Love with which it is performed."

From Let the Servant Church Arise by Barbara and David Sorenson

http://moluf.us/thankful/