BOOKS.

David has adultery and hypocrisy on his record.  Jonah was a proud and stubborn prophet, who nearly missed an opportunity of a lifetime because of his ugly bigotry.  Jacob had deceitful ways.  Abraham lied, more than once. Peter waffled when the pressure was on.  Even John the Baptist struggled with doubt.  So did Thomas.  So we shouldnt be surprised that Paul and Barnabas had their conflict.

•The 2 groups Paul preached to in Greece: Stoics and Epicureans.  

•Stoics taught that a man should strive, fearless and proud, to accept the laws of the universe, however harsh.  They were to work toward a world state founded on reason.  They believed the soul survived the body, but only in a kind of ethereal state, bodiless and free.  Emotionally they remained passive, disengaged.

•Epicureans taught that happiness and pleasure were the highest good.  Both were to be pursued with unbridled passion.  Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.  We simply die like animals, without the fear of judgment or consequence.  So live it up.

•To have followers, one must have their confidence.  Hence, the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionable integrity.  If ones associates find him or her guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail.  His teachings and actions must square with each other.  Dwight Eisenhower

•To describe Pauls life of ministry, he used words like afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down.  That was Pauls life as an ambassador for Christ.  More often than not, he was like a sheep ready for slaughter.  Any takers?

•The only way you qualify to receive Gods strength is when you admit your weakness, when you admit youre not capable and strong, when, like Paul, youre willing to boast in nothing but your weakness and Gods power.

•It is always upon human weakness and humility, not human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build His Kingdom; and that He can use us not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying infirmities, but precisely because of them.  James Stewart

•For every achievement there is a price.  For every goal there is an opponent.  For every victory there is a problem.  For every triumph there is sacrifice.  William Henry Ward

•Abraham Lincoln: If I were to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.  I do the very best I know howthe very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.  If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me wont amount to anything.  If the end brings me out wrong, 10,000 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.

•A hero is someone who stands tall when others shrink back.  A hero is someone who swims upstream while the majority of people go with the current.  Its someone who speaks up for whats right as others look away, sitting silently on the sidelines.

•Contentment results from an attitude that is learned, having been deliberately cultivated over time.  Attitude governs contentment.