This past weekend, Dad, Jake, and I finished up a book study on J.C. Ryle's Thoughts for Young Men. This is an amazing book, filled to the brim with godly advice from one of the greatest Christian writers ever to set pen to paper. It is an absolute must-read for all young men and boys who aspire to be men with hearts for God.
That said, instead of writing a full-fledged review, I figured I would let Ryle's book speak for itself. Here is a collection of notes I gathered during the course of my study...
From Chapter 1:
"Surely none are so mad as those who are content to live unprepared to die."
"Young men, be not deceived. Think not that you can, at will, serve lusts and pleasures in your beginning, and then go and serve God with ease at your latter end. Think not you can live with Esau, and then die with Jacob. It is mockery to deal with God and your souls in such a fashion. It is an awful mockery to suppose that you can give the flower of your strength to the world and the devil, and then put off the King of Kings with the scraps and leavings of your hearts - the wreck and remnant of your powers. It is an awful mockery, and you may find to your coat the thing may not be done."
"I grant you true repentance is never late, but I warn you at the same time, late repentance is seldom true."
"The way of sin is downhill; a mam cannot stop when he would."
- Archbishop Robert Leighton
"Sin, once allowed to nestle in your bosom, will not be turned out at your bidding."
"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn at no other."
- Benjamin Franklin
From Chapter 2:
"Pride is the oldest sin in the world. Indeed, it was before the world... pride stocked hell with it's first inhabitants."
"Two things are said to be very rare sights in the world - one is a young man humble, and the other is an old man content."
"Alas, this [humility] is a garment of which many seem not to have so much as a rag."
"Once the body was a perfect mansion of the soul - now it is all corrupt and disordered, and needs constant watching. It is a burden to the soul - not a helpmeet; a hindrance - not an assistance. It may become a useful servant, but it is always a bad master."
"Better be wise in time. Better write 'poison' on all earthly pleasures. The most lawful of them must be used in moderation. All of them are soul-destroying if you give them your heart."
"Pleasure must first have the warrant, that it be without sin - then the measure, that it be without excess."
- Adams, commenting on 2 Peter
"Imagination is the hotbed where this sin [impurity] is too often hatched. Guard your thoughts and there is little fear about your deeds."
"Believe me, this world is not a world in which we can do well without thinking, and least of all do well in the matter of our souls."
"... an unconverted heart is like a dishonest tradesman's books, it will not bear close inspection."
"I am serious; for all are serious round about me. God is serious in observing us - Christ is serious in interceding for us - the Spirit is serious in striving with us - the truths of God are serious - our spiritual enemies are serious in their endeavors to ruin us - poor lost sinners are serious on hell - and why then should not you and I be serious too?"
- Sir Francis Walsingham
"If it is worthwhile to have religion, it is worthwhile to be in earnest about it."
"'The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' The fool, and none but the fool. He has said it, but he has never proved it!"
"A bad life is the only objection to this Book."
- John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, speaking of the Bible
"Men question the truth of Christianity because they hate the practice of it."
- Robert South
"Few seem to have any opinions of their own. Like dead fish, they go with the stream and tide: what others think right, they think right; and what others call wrong, they call wrong too. There are not many original thinkers on the world. Most men are like sheep, they follow a leader... in a word, the opinion of the day becomes their religion, their creed, their Bible, and their God."
"I fear God, and therefore I have none else to fear."
- Col. James Gardiner
From Chapter 3:
"Will you play with poison? Will you sport with hell? Will you take fire in your hand? Will you harbor your deadliest enemy in your bosom? Will you go on living as if it mattered nothing whether your own sins were forgiven or not - whether sin had dominion over you, or you over sin? Oh, awake to a sense of sin's sinfulness and danger!"
"It is just in proportion as we live upon Him [Christ], that we are strong Christians. It is only when self is nothing and Christ is all our confidence, it is then only that we shall do great exploits. Then only are we armed for the battle of life, and shall overcome. Then only are we prepared for the journey of life, and shall get forward."
"... your soul is the one thing worth living for."
"Remember Zeuxis, the great painter of old. When men asked him why he labored so intensely, and took such extreme pains with every picture, his simple answer was, 'I paint for eternity.' Do not be ashamed to be like him. Set your immortal soul before your minds eye, and when men ask you why you live as you do, answer them in his spirit, 'I live for my soul.'"
"Does not the Bible speak of young and old alike, without distinction? Is not sin, sin, whether committed at the age of twenty or fifty? Will it form the slightest excuse, in the day of judgment, to say, 'I know I sinned, but then I was young'? Show your common sense, I beg of you, by giving up such vain excuses. You are responsible and accountable to God from the very moment you know right and wrong."
"... when Satan says, 'You cannot be a Christian while you are young': answer him, 'Get thee behind me, Satan: by God's help, I will try.'"
"The Bible is God's merciful provision for sinful man's soul... all that we need to know, in order to make us peaceful, holy, or happy, is there richly contained."
"A man may as soon read the letter of Scripture without eyes, as understand the spirit of it without grace."
- William Beverage, Bishop of St. Asaph
"Let not newspapers, novels, and romances be read, while the prophets and apostles lie despised. Let not the exciting and licentious swallow up your attention, while the edifying and the sanctifying can find no place in your mind."
"... never make an intimate friend of anyone who is not a friend of God."
"... depend on it, bad company in the life that now is, is the sure way to procure worse company in the life to come."
From Chapter 4:
"There is nothing small between us and God, for God is an infinite God."
- William Bridge
"... there are two ways of going to hell; one is to walk into it with your eyes open - few people do that; the other is to go down by the steps of little sins - and that way, I fear, is only too common."
"First it startles him, then it becomes pleasing, then easy, then delightful, then frequent, then habitual, then confirmed! - then the man is impenitent, then obstinate, then resolves never to repent, and then he is damned."
- Jeremy Taylor, speaking of sin
"He that would be safe from the acts of evil, must widely avoid the occasions."
- Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich
"It is dangerous to play tricks with edged tools: it is far more dangerous to take liberties with your immortal soul."
"Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like to have God say, 'What art thou doing?'"
"The Gospel keeps many a one from the gaol and gallows, if it does not keep him from hell."
- George Whitfield
"Once give over caring for the Sabbath, and in the end you will give over caring for your soul."
"... if your soul is to be saved, you must pray. God has no dumb children."
"... be sure no time is so well spent as that which a man spends upon his knees."
From Chapter 5:
"... each of us has a conscience. In a corner of each heart there sits a witness for God - a witness who condemns when we do wrong, and approves when we do right. To this witness I make my appeal this day..."
"Let it not be said of you at last, as it is of many, that your 'youth was a blunder, your manhood a struggle, and your old age a regret.'"
"... what might we not confidently expect, if young men in our own day would consecrate the springtime of their lives to God?"
"Whether is it better to be an idle, frivolous, useless cumberer of the ground, to live for your body, your selfishness, your lusts, and your pride... [or] a burning and shining light, an epistle of Christ, known and read of all men, the quickener of every Christian heart that comes across your path? Oh, who can doubt? Who can for one moment doubt?"
* * *
Persevero,
The Matrix (1999)
I've seen this one a total of four times now... and after each viewing, I still come to the same conclusion: I Am Legend is an under-appreciated gem in the realm of science fiction. Not only is the story smart and compelling, but along the way it raises some really fascinating questions about the nature of sin and redemption. Another plus is director Francis Lawrence's extraordinary, computer-generated rendering of a decaying Manhatten, NY. As for Will Smith, he turns in a remarkable performance as the lonely but determined Robert Neville. I'm honestly surprised he didn't get an Oscar nomination.
Minority Report (2002)
I, Robot (2004)
The Road is a disturbing yet poignant post-apocalyptic tale that's genuinely hard to watch sometimes, even if you have a strong stomach . On the one hand, it presents with gritty realism the wickedness that the depraved man is naturally inclined to (the scenario with the cannibals is more realistic than we'd care to admit). On the other hand, it is also an incredibly powerful story of a father's fierce love for his son. Should be required viewing for older male audiences.
