As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“According to Barna, 84% of Americans believe the ‘highest goal of life is to enjoy it as much as possible,’ 86% believe that to be fulfilled requires you to ‘pursue the things you desire most,’ while 91% affirm that ‘the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself.’” - Breakpoint
“We tend to focus on things that belong at the tail end of stewardship discussions, not the beginning. In effect we’re trying to install the gutters before we’ve laid the foundation and started the framing.” - Randy Alcorn
“ ‘Time is the most precious resource I have. I need to make the most of it.’ He looked at me like I had two heads. ‘No it’s not,’ he replied. ‘What about your health? Your family? Your faith and knowledge of the Scriptures?’ Oh, right. That stuff.” - TGC
“Jesus knew that money was the rich young man’s god. If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, then He is not our Lord.” - Randy Alcorn
Since 2002, community importance is up 23%, hobbies/recreation up 13%, money up 12%, and work up 9%. Religion declined 7%. Family remains unchanged, at the top. - Gallup
“According to a study from Lifeway Research, when asked which feeling they seek to avoid the most, 4 in 10 U.S. adults (41%) say fear. Far fewer say shame (24%) or guilt (22%). Around 1 in 10 aren’t sure.” - Lifeway
“Augustine’s statement, though, is a very powerful instrument for understanding a nation or a culture: What do the people love? I would say that the object of love for Americans, historically, has been freedom….There is nothing wrong with loving these things, but, St. Augustine would say, unless the people also love God, their lesser loves can lead them astray.” - Veith
One of the most telling characteristics of our culture is how we collectively determine an individual’s standard of living. The concept of a “standard of living” is something like a high-jump bar by which we gauge the quality of our daily lives. Some people cannot clear the bar and we say they experience a “low standard of living.” Others clear the bar with considerable room to spare and we declare that they enjoy a comparatively “high standard of living.” Those who fall between these two sub-sets keep jumping, but never seem quite sure if they clear the bar or not.
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