Gloria

“Serving God isn't easy. It is gut-wrenching, difficult work. It is not for the faint of heart. But if you listen for his voice, are open to his leading, and obey his will, you will experience adventures beyond your wildest imagination and climb mountains you never dreamed possible.”
― Michele Rigby Assad , Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me about What's Worth Fighting For

“The difference between real leadership and the false leadership of the Leader was this: real leadership derived its authority from God, the source of all goodness. Thus parents have legitimate authority because they are submitted to the legitimate authority of a good God. But the authority of the Fuhrer was submitted to nothing. It was self-derived and autocratic, and therefore had a messianic aspect. Bonhoeffer stated, “Whereas earlier leadership was expressed in the form of the teacher, the statesman, the father… now the Leader has become an independent figure. The Leader is completely divorced from any office; he is essentially and only ‘the Leader.‘“ A true leader must know the limitations of his authority.”
― Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

“Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you’ (Matt. 7:6). The promise of grace is not to be squandered; it needs to be protected from the godless. There are those who are not worthy of the sanctuary. The proclamation of grace has its limits. Grace may not be proclaimed to anyone who does not recognize or distinguish or desire it. Not only does that pollute the sanctuary itself, not only must those who sin still be guilty against the Most Holy, but in addition, the misuse of the holy must turn against the community itself. The world upon whom grace is thrust as a bargain will grow tired of it, and it will not only trampled upon the Holy, but also will tear apart those who force it on them. For its own sake, for the sake of the sinner, and for the sake of the community, the Holy is to be protected from cheap surrender. The Gospel is protected by the preaching of repentance which calls sin sin and declares the sinner guilty. The key to loose is protected by the key to bind. The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“I suggest that if we are truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness we shall not only avoid things that we know to be bad and harmful, we shall even avoid things that tend to dull or take the edge off our spiritual appetites.”
― Martin Lloyd-Jones