Justin Martyr

"The greatest grace God can give anyone is to send a trial which cannot be born with one's own powers - and then sustain that person with His own grace so he may endure to the end and know the true source of salvation." - St. Justin Martyr

Thomas Watson

On the relationship between a Christian and sin he wrote, "Though sin lives in him, yet he does not live in sin."...The apostle John in the verses cited above [1 John 5:13; 1 John 3:7; 1 John 3:9-10] is making the point that you cannot be a true believer and embrace sin as a way of life.

Harry Schaumburg quoting Thomas Watson on the relationship between a Christian and sin, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p. 113

Harry Schaumburg

"Conviction is a deep sorrow for sin. It is not disgust or the shame of being caught.  True conviction is founded on convincing evidence of our wickedness and that God has good reason for having placed us under His wrath.  Conviction is the full persuasion of the truth of God, found in the gospel, of our unholy condition and God's holy state."

Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p. 104

Oswald Chambers

"The conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person.  It is the beginning of an understanding of God."

Oswald Chambers, quoted by Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p. 104

John Piper

"When dealing with the impurity of inward sexual lust, Jesus demands whatever it takes to defeat it because our souls are at stake."

John Piper on Matthew 5:29-30, quoted by Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p. 104

Charles Spurgeon

"Oh, if men could but see the slime of the serpent upon their pleasurable sins, the venom of asps upon their dainty lusts, and the smoke of hell upon their proud and boastful thoughts, surely they would loathe that which they now delight in.  If sin connects us with the devil himself, let us flee from it as from a devouring lion.  The expression [sin as works of the devil] is a word of detestation: may it enter into our hearts and make sin horrible to us."

Charles Spurgeon preaching on 1 John 3:8 in 1883, quoted by Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p. 103

John Calvin

"What is proclaimed concerning the mercy of God is seized by some as an occasion of licentiousness; while others are hindered by slothfulness from meditating on 'newness of life.'  But the manifestation of the grace of God unavoidably carries along with it exhortation to a holy life."


John Calvin, quoted by Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Redemption for  Broken Relationships, p. 103

David Powlison

David Powlison, paraphrasing John Calvin, wrote, “The evil in our desires often lies not in what we want, but in the fact that we want it too much.” It’s difficult to improve upon this insight. The “cravings of sinful man” are legitimate desires that have become false gods we worship. It’s wanting too much the things of this fallen world. A sinful craving is when a legitimate desire for financial success becomes a silent demand for financial success; an interest in clothes and fashion becomes a preoccupation; love of music morphs into an obsession with the hottest band; or the desire to enjoy a good movie becomes a need to see the latest blockbuster.

There may be nothing wrong with these desires in and of themselves; but when they dominate the landscape of our lives, when we must have them or else!-we’ve succumbed to idolatry and worldliness. And as Calvin says, our hearts are a perpetual factory of idols. We’re pumping out these thingson a regular basis.

Harry Schaumburg

Putting God first is the first of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament Jesus reiterates this primary commandment: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and will all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).  That is why idolatry is the essence of sin.  If we seek our own will and what we want to do, we seek what satisfies us before we seek God; we first seek out what feeds our well-being---and we can end up seeking spirituality above seeking God and His will.  Thus we end up placing our values above God Himself.  And the result is that God is not God in our hearts!  It is not "my utmost for His highest;" it is "my utmost for myself."

Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p.101

Harry Schaumburg

"Sin is a failure to let God be God"

~ Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships,  p,101

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up."

Jim Valvano

“Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding”-Jim Valvano

Jim Valvano

“I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em.”

David Augburger

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” –David Augsburger

Michael Card

“The best way to demonstrate that you love people is to listen to them.” –Michael Card

Mike Ross

"No one understands the grace of God like a hard working farmer"


Mike Ross teaching on 2 Timothy 2 at the Christ Covenant Men's Retreat 2010

Mike Ross

Some Quotes from Mike Ross on the Fear of Failure from the Christ Covenant Men's Retreat 2010
"You can only become what God has gifted you to be"

"Lost Boys [men today] can't handle failure"

"The most fearful sex is male because we believe that failure is not manly"

"Men will fail and it is often better for us that we fail"

"If you haven't failed, you probably are not a man."

Mike Ross

"Falsehood cannot bear the weight of reality, only truth can."

Mike Ross, Christ Covenant Men's Retreat 2010

John Wesley

John Wesley’s Dying Words

At 88 years of age, John Wesley passed away on Wednesday, March 2, 1791. His last words were spoken twice, with great fervour, "The best of all is, God is with us." He lifted his arms and said again, "The best of all is, God is with us."

Mike Ross

"Being a man is the most difficult thing in the world because it is the most opposed thing in the world"

~ Mike Ross, Christ Covenant Men's Retreat 2010

Mike Ross

"Distort gender and you will distort God. The gender of God portrays something essential about Himself."

~ Mike Ross, Christ Covenant Men's Retreat 2010

Tim Chester

“Telling a slave to be free is to add insult to injury. But telling a liberated slave to be free is an invitation to enjoy his new freedom and privileges.”

Tim Chester, You Can Change (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2010), 49.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Octavius Winslow

“Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; — but the Father, for love!”

Octavius Winslow, quoted by John Stott in The Message of Romans (Downers Grove, Ill.; Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 255

Edward Welch

"One of God's remarkable words to us has been that faith is not a leap into the unknown.  Maybe some people can leap based merely on one person's word, but not anyone with a smidgeon of fear or anxiety.  Faith, instead, is a shift of confidence and trust to One who has always proven faithful."


Edward Welch, Running Scared, p. 306