Favorite Quotes-Part 1

Well hello readers all! Some of you may know that on my sidebar is a scrolling collection of some quotes I put together, but as the list is far from complete I have decided to post a few more of my favorite quotes I have been putting together lately in my Commonplace Book, a quote book basically. So here they are, along with their author and location.

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. 
                                                   Thomas Paine (The American Crises Papers)

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade,all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to thing of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’; aim at earth and you will get neither.
                                                                        -C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity

He that cometh to seek after knowledge, with a mind to scorn, shall be sure to find matter for his humor, but no matter for his instruction. Advancement of Learning, Book I(1605)   -Francis Bacon


“To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinion which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”                                -Thomas Jefferson


All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in this world is for enough good men to do nothing.                                                     - (Edmund Burke)


“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.”                               
                                                                           -Martin Luther

 If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.                            -           
                                                             -C.S Lewis (Mere Christianity)

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall; but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel or man come in danger by it. F. B

Laws are made to guard the rights of the people, not to feed the lawyers. The laws should be read by all, known to all. Put them into shape, inform them with philosophy, reduce them in bulk, give them into every man's hand.                                           -Francis Bacon

Number itself importeth not much in armies, where the people are of weak courage; for (as Virgil says) it never troubles a wolf how many the sheep be.   -Francis Bacon

It may not always happen that our soldiers are citizens, and the multitude a body of reasonable men; virtue, as I have already remarked, it not hereditary, neither is it perpetual. Should an independency be brought about by the first of those means, we have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest, purest constitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months. The Reflexion is awful—and in this point of view, how trifling, how ridiculous, do the little paltry cavellings, of a few weak or interested men appear, when weighed against the business of a world.
                                          -Thomas Paine (The American Crises Papers)

I said just now that the question of Faith in this sense arises after a man has tried his level best to practice the Christian virtues and found that he fails, and seen that even if he could he would only be giving back to God was already God’s own…Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your action, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.   -C.S Lewis (Mere Christianity)                                                                              

The answer to that nonsense is that, if what you call your faith in Christ does not involve taking the slightest notice of what He says, then it is not Faith at all—not faith or trust in Him, but only intellectual acceptance of some theory about Him.          
                                                               -C.S Lewis  (Mere Christianity)

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,
                                        -- 2 Timothy 4:7 (The Bible)


Thank-you for reading! If you would like to share your favorite quote or quotes, please comment below!

'Son of God' and Beyond

I have seen several movies about the life of Jesus, including The Passion of the Christ, the Matthew Project and King of Kings along with a few others, but I believe that ‘Son of God’ is my favorite. I left the theater so encouraged and moved that I decided to write a post about it and show you what I took away from it, or rather, what He gave me through it. The movie had an unbelievable soundtrack, (composed by my favorite composer, Hans Zimmer) and a powerful message that went far beyond John 3:16, all the way to its fulfillment in the last lines of the Bible in Revelation. I have neither the time nor the desire to discuss plot, storyline, actors, etc. the things people usually discuss when writing a review and seem to think are the most important. I wanted, rather, to tell you why I think it is the best Jesus movie I have seen, to discuss its Biblical accuracy and how it affected the viewer, and to show you how it impacted me and what it left me with. I hope that I will have the space to fit all that in.

So then, why do I think it is the best Jesus movie I have seen? Firstly, the exterior factors. The soundtrack had a lot to do with my opinion of the movie. To me, soundtrack is one of the most crucial factors in determining a persons overall response to a movie, especially my response to a movie. Putting the right music in at that right moment is key to getting the emotions of the viewer and making your movie well remembered. In a future post, I will go into that in further detail. Soundtrack, acting, set, and filming are the most important external factors, I suppose, but they are boring and while they contributed each in their little share to my conclusion about the movie, they were not crucial. I will move on to the more important factors.

I prefer to think of movies as stories, not movies and that goes for ‘Son of God’ especially. I believe that people get caught up in action, special effects, filming, and fan-girling. ‘Son of God’ is a perfect example of how relatively unknown actors can produce a very good movie, but ah! stop right there…It is not a movie. It is a story, the best story ever told. Do not see it as a collection of random actors and filmstrips. It is the most important story ever told. That must be clear. Now that it has been made clear, we will move on.

Historical accuracy is very important, and some people have complained that the movie did not follow the Bible precisely. On the one hand, I would agree, and say, no it did not, (like when Jesus went into the tomb to raise Lazarus from the dead) but on the other hand, for the other things, I would say, “What does it matter?” The things that were omitted, paraphrased or changed were not major changes and did not undermine in any way the context or message of the Scriptures. Honestly, we do not know the exact chronology of the events written down in the Gospels and that is okay. What really matters is what Jesus said and why, not exactly where He said it. Even with the mistake of having Him go into the tomb to raise Lazarus instead of calling him out, I do not think that should affect too much the fact that He still held the power to raise Lazarus from the dead! As John himself said in closing his book, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” If you’re a Christian and up enough on your Bible trivia to know that something was left out or misplaced, but you also know that it did not take away from the message or twist Scripture, then that shouldn't matter that much. You know what’s being left out so you’re okay and the unbeliever coming in is not going to be thrilled with a three and a half hour long movie that details every miracle that Jesus performed or every word He said. I say this with the utmost respect, with the premise that Christ does not need three and a half hours to show the people His power.

I believe the directors realized that because there were so many Jesus movies, and the life of Jesus was so well known even among many secular circles in the modern world, it would be ‘just another preachy Jesus movie’ to many people. In that light, I think they did a fantastic job of producing a movie that broke some of the traditional boundaries set down in previous movies. The parables and words that Christ performed and preached were present at the right moment and the right time, allowing you to grasp their full power in light of the context they were presented in. I think they definitely produced a new Jesus figure, one whom I thought was far more accurate and like the Jesus of the Bible, not unlike him. That leads me back to the first point and also to the third topic, for they’re rather similar, the latter being the cause for the former. The things that stuck with me and made me give it a 5 star rating, are as follows.

Firstly, the power of Christ; not the power to perform miracles, but the power in His entire figure, His confidence in the message He had been sent to preach, His courage and joy amid His suffering. It is hard to explain the things one feels when they see that divine power. I struggle to control my disappointment and disgust with those who think that because Christ was meek, He was weak. Perhaps my anger is misplaced, but I do not believe it is unfounded. Christ is not weak. He is powerful and just because He took the form of a man, does not mean He was weak. Does He not say that He could ask the father and instantly have the aid of twelve legions of angels? A man, yes, but not a weak one.

I cried as the first five minutes of the movie flashed before my eyes, for it showed Christ’s power, and how He was there, with our ancestors, on Day 1 and what He left behind so that He could save us. I cried again as the last five minutes went by, for it showed that He will be there on the last day too. "It is done,” he says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end...“Behold, I am coming quickly.” This was interesting and new for me, because although I had read this Scripture, I had never watched a Jesus movie where it was emphasized so much like it was at the end of this one. These movies tend to end everything at the Resurrection, as if everything was going to be fine and happy after that, but they do not mention His role in the end, and they leave you with that oft-quoted, but never explained and less studied, sentence, “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the Age.” It did not point ahead enough to what was coming like Alpha and Omega does and in the context of the movie, that sentence was powerful for me.

Another line that was put into ‘Son of God’, was in the last scene, when Christ appeared to John on the Island of Patmos. We do not know the exact details about this, but we do know that what Jesus said is straight from the book of Revelation. John was weeping and told Jesus that he had been waiting for Christ. Christ answered him with the second part of this verse: (verse 4) “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away…Behold I am making all things new.” I cried when I heard it. I took off my hat and cried as the movie closed and the credits rolled by to the song, Mary Did You Know?’ I had disliked that song before I saw this movie, but that was because I had not understood it fully. The version that played was incredible.

‘Son of God’ omitted the about the end of the age, like it did a few other famous translations of specific sentences Christ said that have become almost as famous as Christ Himself, as if changing it would somehow lessen their relevance. It would be silly to think that because John 3:16 says ‘For God loved the world so much’ instead of ‘For God so loved the world’ that somehow decreases or lessens the power of the verse. Paraphrasing did not take away from the movie, it added to it. It gave the movie that bit of originality to set it apart from the other movies and give you a new perspective, one that is the subject of my final point.

As we contemplate the life of Jesus, and how He was submissive and enduring of suffering and persecution, let us not forget that He could have called out to His Father at any time and that His Father would have “at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Perhaps you are not aware, but twelve legions is approximately 60,000 soldiers. Can you imagine what 60,000 heavenly angels could do to the entire Roman army? How much more could they do to the feeble Temple guard? Remember this when you study the humility of Christ. Do not forget Christ’s power as you study His love, for God is both the Lion and the Lamb, the Judge and the Redeemer, the King and the Sacrifice. This post is far too long as it is, and I apologize for that, but I wished to address every possible objection raised against the movie and to share some more besides. I will close with these words from our King, ““Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end…Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.”

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

Links to soundtrack and trailer:
Various Artists – Son Of God Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJQXDkZ4mec

These Are the Times

Here is a picture I took and edited a few days ago that I thought I'd post here. The quote, one of my favorites, is from Thomas Paine, (1737-1809) a journalist hero of 1776 who wrote a collection of works which aided in refuting Loyalist view, stirring up the people and calling them to arms against Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. This particular quote is the opening paragraph of one of the pamphlets he wrote called, The American Crises Papers  Other works by T. Paine include Common Sense, (his most well known work) Agrarian Justice, The Age of Reason, and the Rights of Man which was a work defending the liberties of the French people in 1789 and 1790 against Edmund Burke and the one I am reading right now. Thomas Paine was a fiery debater and journalist whose spirit and sarcastic style did not win him favor amongst the rhetoric arguers during that time period but was not necessarily condemnable by them when it brought them to a swift and crushing defeat in their arguments with him. (To better see the quote, click on it to magnify)

Text of the quote:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.

                                                                                      Thomas Paine