The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon
- KNOWLEDGE “If knowledge and reason are identical with what can be tested scientifically or with scientific theories that a majority of scientists believes to be correct, then religion and ethics will no longer be viewed as true, rational domains of discourse because, supposedly, religious or ethical claims are not scientifically testable. This line of thought has led to several trends in society whose combined influence is to hinder ideal human flourishing as God intended it to be. It is similar to the sort of cultural milieu that spawned Stalinism in the Soviet Union and Nazism in pre-World War II Germany, with all of their attendant evils and tragic loss of human life and dignity. As G. K. Chesterton bemoaned, once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything. This is just what we are seeing happen in our secular culture bereft of the presence of an engaged, articulate evangelical community.”
Excerpt From: Moreland, J.P. “Love Your God with All Your Mind (15th anniversary repack).”
- JUST DO IT “40 percent of the people who die from heart disease have no history of heart problems. So what’s the best health strategy to help you guard against this danger? A complete preventive-medical exam.”
Excerpt From: Kenneth Cooper, M.D., MPH & Tyler Cooper, M.D., MPH. “Start Strong, Finish Strong.”
- EXPLAIN “The believer in God has to explain just one thing – why pain and suffering exist [free choice]. But the atheist has to explain everything else.” –Dennis Prager
- FREEDOM “Freedom can no more take a holiday from history than from gravity, and the plain fact is that it is harder to be free than not to be free, for freedom’s fire has not only to be lit once but must be kindled and rekindled all over again in each succeeding generation. How else are we to understand the fact that freedom never lasts and that freedom always becomes the greatest enemy to freedom?
Hubris is not simply arrogance but presumption born of the illusion of invulnerability. That is why nations at the height of their power and prosperity are especially deaf to warnings. But what an irony if the descendants of the American founders, who dared to think that a free people could become free, live free and for all time remain free, should abandon their founders’ provisions and condemn America to be one of the shorter-lived great powers in history—a world empire measured in decades rather than centuries.”
Excerpt From: Guinness, Os. “A Free People’s Suicide.”
- DEATH “Bonhoeffer really believed that obeying God—even unto death—was the only way to live. And it was the only way to defeat evil. In his famous book The Cost of Discipleship, he wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” This was the life of faith in the God of the Scriptures. To accept the God of the Scriptures is to die to self, to embrace his eternal life in place of our own, and to henceforth banish all fear of death. For Bonhoeffer, this was the only way to live.”
Excerpt From: Metaxas, Eric. “Seven Men.”
- FREEDOM “Rightly understood and followed, God’s commandments bring believers great joy and freedom, not a sense of oppression.”
Excerpt From: Crossway. “ESV Study Bible.”
- LAW’S PURPOSE “We are in bondage to the law in order that we might be free.” –Cicero
- JOY = Jesus Over You (C. Seidman)
- XMAS EVE “On Christmas Eve a pastor was talking with a woman after the service. She told her pastor that earlier that evening she met a bearded fellow carrying a large sack over his back.
The pastor told the woman that he did not like the emphasis on Santa Claus.
She explained, “It was my son home from college.”
Excerpt From: Hodgin, Michael. “1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.”
- LUKE 2 Perhaps the most read passage in the Bible today will be Luke chapter 2. It simple most popular and detailed version of the events pertaining to the birth of Christ. Luke contains more details regarding the lineage, birth and early years of Jesus than any of the other Gospels. In fact, Jesus’ family line is documented all the way back to Adam.
Luke also wrote the book of Acts, and the two books are often considered together as one continuous passage.
Luke was not one of the original 12 apostles, and he was a Gentile.
Excerpt From: Christopher D. Hudson. “NIV, Fast Facts Bible, eBook.”
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