A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13 - by D. A. Carson

"The gospel will purify and transform the people from any cultural heritage who bow unreservedly to Jesus Christ. By this means it will modify or eliminate many of the culturally transmitted values of those new Christians; and they in turn may in some measure influence their culture and society as salt exerts its influence in food (cf. Matt. 5:13)." (pg. 50)

"Overemphasis on the futuristic aspects of eschatology, e.g., at the expense of the realized aspects, may foster unhealthy speculation regarding what God has not revealed, date-setting as to when Christ will return, a denial of the graces and benefits we have already received, and a depreciation of the importance of living together as Christians who constitute a kind of outpost of the new heaven and new earth. The opposite imbalance may prompt us to neglect the promises the Bible gives us regarding the future, to forget to live lives that look forward to and long for Christ's return, and to act as if the fullness of all Christ provided by his cross-work is already our due." (pg. 53ff)

"Christians are especially open to the kind of cunning deceit that combines the language of faith and religion with the content of self-interest and flattery. We like to be told how special we are, how wise, how blessed, especially if as a consequence others are gently diminished. We like to have our Christianity shaped less by the cross than by triumphalism or rules or charismatic leaders or subjective experience. And if this shaping can be coated with assurances of orthodoxy, complete with cliche, we may not detect the presence of the archdeceiver, nor see that we are being weaned away from 'sincere and pure devotion to Christ' to a 'different gospel.'" (pg. 96ff)

"...if we hold that God has revealed himself to men, supremely in the person of his Son, but also in the words and propositions of Scripture, then however many interpretative difficulties may still afflict us, we have no right to treat as optional anything God has said." (pg. 111)

"Very often in the Scriptures, weakness is not the condition of grace in the sense that it serves as the necessary precursor of grace, but in the sense that it serves as a continuing vehicle of grace." (pg. 155)

"... We are more concerned to pray that we may not do evil, than that we may not suffer evil' (Henry)." (pg. 185)

"Here is the heart of a true apostle, a Christian so steeped in radical discipleship and firm self-discipline that his every care is for the people he serves, not for his own reputation." (pg. 186)

D. A. Carson, A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1984)

Jesus Christ And Him Crucified - by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"And this is what the world needs to be told tonight: that all it has trusted to, and the men it has trusted, have led them to the present chaos, and have nothing to offer us, and have no hope." (pg. 17)

"Your greatest need and mine - the greatest need of the whole world - is to be reconciled to God." (pg. 25)

"The Christian is not afraid of life, he is not afraid of death. He knows that there is a glory." (pg. 28)

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jesus Christ And Him Crucified (Carlyle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2003)

Manly Dominion: in a passive-purple-four-ball world - by Mark Chanski

"Thomas Steele writes: Indeed activity (of labor) is so natural and delightful to man, that if idleness had the sanction of a law to enforce it, no doubt many would willingly pay their fine for liberty to work." (pg. 68)

"A hyper-spiritual, unbiblical view of decision making cripples many believers with thought patterns that result in unwarranted delay and vacillation on the one hand, and irresponsible, impulsive, emotionally loaded judgments on the other." (pg. 84)

"The soul that lives in accordance with manly dominion will not permit itself to be tossed to and fro by every wind of emotional anxiety or internal misgiving. Christian, please note: Subjective peace is not necessarily the compass needle for life-directing decisions." (pg. 103)

[quote from Sinclair Ferguson] "There is much that is mysterious about the way God guides us. What is plain to him is frequently obscure to us. But we are not called by god to make the mysterious, the unusual, and the inexplicable, the rule of our lives, but his word." (pg. 109)

"Manly dominion and aggressiveness does not independently plow forward without seeking wise advice. The man of true dominion is able to rule and subdue his pride that boasts in his own competence." (pg. 115)

Mark Chanski, Manly Dominion: in a passive-purple-four-ball world (Merrick, NY: Calvary Press Publishing, 2004)

The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship - by Jerry Bridges

"The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia. It is translated several ways in the New Testament: for example, 'participation,' 'partnership,' 'sharing,' and, of course, 'fellowship.' These various uses of koinonia convey two related meanings: (1) to share together in the sense of joint participation or partnership, and (2) to share with in the sense of giving what we have to others." (pg. 16)

"One of the amazing privileges that believers have is to share with God in communion, actually giving something to Him." (pg. 58)

"To be objectively in fellowship with other believers while we experientially deny that very fellowship is to contradict the clear teaching of the Bible and to live in disobedience to the revealed will of God." (pg. 65)

"As we build up and enjoy one another, we are in fellowship, but as we join together to spread the gospel we are in partnership; our objectives are focused outside ourselves on those who need to be brought into the fellowship of God's people." (pg. 96)

"We may be sure that God has equipped us, both in natural ability and in spiritual gifts, for the function He has called us to perform." (pg. 108)

"Our abilities and even our temperaments have to be laid at the foot of the Cross and left there for God to either take up and use in our lives or, if He so chooses, to leave lying at the foot of the Cross." (pg. 127)

"The reason we don't experience this family-like empathy with our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ is that we have not yet been fully gripped by the truth that we are in a community relationship with them." (pg. 162ff)

"Missionary statesman Bob Pierce prayed, 'God break my heart with the things that break your heart.'" (pg. 165)

"When we are being served, we need to be sensitive to the demands we make and careful to express gratitude when someone else serves us. But when we are serving, we need to accept our role and serve as unto the Lord, whether or not considerateness and gratitude are shown." (pg. 178)

Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring: Recovering the Meaning of True Fellowship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1985)

The Everlasting Righteousness - by Horatius Bonar

"Man has always treated sin as a misfortune, not a crime; as disease, not as guilt; as a case for the physician, not for the judge. Herein lies the essential faultiness of all mere human religions or theologies. They fail to acknowledge the judicial aspect of the question, as that on which the real answer must hinge; and to recognise the guilt or criminality of the evil-doer as that which must first be dealt with before any real answer, or approximation to an answer, can be given." (pg. 3)

"Sin is too great an evil for man to muddle with. His attempts to remove it do but increase it, and his endeavours to approach God in spite of it aggravate his guilt. Only God can deal with sin, either as a disease or as a crime; as a dishonour to Himself, or as a hinderer of man's approach to Himself." (pg. 7)

"God's free love to the sinner is the first part of our message; and God's righteous way of making that free love available for the sinner is the second. What God is, and what Christ has done, make up one gospel. The belief of that gospel is eternal life." (pg. 23)

"The resurrection was the great visible seal set to this completeness. It was the Father's response to the cry from the cross, 'It is finished.' ... The resurrection added nothing to the propitiation of the cross; it proclaimed it already perfect, incapable of addition or greater completeness." (pg. 57ff)

"Men object not to receive any kind or amount of this world's goods from another, though they have done nothing to deserve them, but everything to make them unworthy of them; but they refuse to accept this favour of God, and a standing in righteousness before Him, on the ground of what a substitute has done and suffered. In earthly things they are willing to be represented by another, but not in heavenly things. The former is all fair, and just, and legal; the latter is absurd, an insult to their understanding, and a depreciation of their worth!" (pg. 91ff)

"Though faith is not 'the righteousness,' it is the tie between it and us. It realizes our present standing before God in the excellency of His own Son; and it tells us that our eternal standing, in the ages to come, is in the same excellency, and depends on the perpetuity of that righteousness which can never change." (pg. 113)

"Let it be granted that Christ in us is the source of holiness and fruitfulness (John xv. 4); but let it never be overlooked that first of all there must be Christ FOR US, as our propitiation, our justification, our righteousness. The risen Christ in us, our justification, is a modern theory which subverts the cross." (pg. 121)

"For Him resurrection was joy, not merely because it ended His connection with death, but because it introduced Him into the fulness of joy, - a joy peculiar to the risen life, and of which only a risen man can be capable." (pg. 139)

"...let us know that assurance was meant to be the portion of every believing sinner. It was intended not merely that he should be saved, but that he should know that he is saved, and so delivered from all fear and bondage, and heaviness of heart." (pg. 174)

"The love of God to us, and our love to God, work together for producing holiness in us. Terror accomplishes no real obedience. Suspense brings forth no fruit unto holiness. Only the certainty of love, forgiving love, can do this." (pg. 183)

Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 1993)

Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response To Today's Most Controversial Issues - by John MacArthur

"The rise of postmodern thought has similarly skewed the church's understanding of right and wrong - as an unbiblical tolerance (in the name of love) has weakened churches to the point where they are as soft on truth as they are on sin." (pg. 7)

"In a culture where parents excel at sanitizing little hands, bandaging little cuts, and vaccinating little immune systems, we must not neglect the spiritual well-being of little eyes, ears, and hearts." (pg. 54)

"Critics may claim capital punishment is hateful and destructive, but it is actually an outworking of God's common grace to humanity, enabling sinful societies to maintain civil order and deter criminal activity." (pg. 116)

"Rather than focusing on the God-given priority of evangelism (from the same Greek word that means "evangelical"), American evangelicalism has spent billions of dollars and millions of man hours fighting to legislate morality. Not only is it a battle we cannot win (since legislated morality cannot change the sinful hearts that make up a depraved society), it is also a battle we have not been called to fight." (pg. 122ff)

"The Bible does not place a premium on ignorance; thus, believers should have a basic understanding of and appreciation for economic principles and practices. The danger comes when understanding and appreciation turn into obsession and anxiety." (pg. 133)

"This earth was never ever intended to be a permanent planet - it is not eternal. We do not have to worry about it being around tens of thousands, or millions of years from now because God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Understanding this fact is important to holding in balance our freedom to use, and responsibility to care for, the earth." (pg. 148)

"The gospel enables the believer to see his identity in Christ as spiritual, not ethnic. Our ethnic and cultural identities are secondary as we assume the primary identity of citizens of God's kingdom. Here and only here can we find a common identity, which is an eternal one." (pg. 164)

"While we must recognize the equality of every race, we cannot also affirm the equality of every faith system. Religious pluralism is a great threat to the church, often coming on the heels of the noble pursuit of cultural diversity." (pg. 168)

"God uses the troubles of our lives, culminating in the inevitability of our own deaths, to pry our grips off this world and refocus our hearts on what lies ahead with Him." (pg. 187)

John MacArthur, Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response To Today's Most Controversial Issues (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009)