Chris R. Quinlan

Most of the time he is happy. He should be... We brought every book he owns.

The prayerless soul--is a fruitless soul. The waters of life are sweet--and it is blessed to bring the vessels of prayer to these wells. It matters not, how often you carry your empty pitcher--to so full a river! *(I thought this was a great word picture of praying when you don’t feel worthy to approach the “river” of God’s abundance.) Christians will never lack a praying time--if they possess a praying frame * (state of mind) . In the morning, prayer is a golden key to open the heart for God's service; and in the evening, prayer is an iron lock--to guard the heart against sin. From " The Consistent Christian " 1660 * added by me.

So, I've had this back/neck/shoulder pain for two weeks now. It was getting so bad that I was really at the point of doing anything to get rid of the pain. Everybody kept telling me to go to the Chiropractor. I've actually only spoken to one person who has ever told me anything negative about their experience with Chiropractic treatment. Most people are convinced that it is helpful. A little history. About a year ago, I went to a Chiropractor here in town who was recommended by a friend. She told me that I could get a free exam and x-rays with a referral. Well, I figured if it was free how bad could it be. I was skeptical at that point. I do not like to be deceived, and from the things I was reading, Chiropractic treatment was pseudo-science and mostly "smoke and mirrors." I was in pretty severe lower-back pain at that time and figured I'd go ahead and give 'em a try and see what it was all about. I won't go into the whole story, but to sum it up, I was ...

"My dear friend, everybody wants to go to heaven. They just don’t want God to be there when they get there." ...On the modern method of witnessing by asking questions like, "Do you want to go to heaven?"  The point; A truly converted individual wants to go to heaven because they want God, not because of some notion of heaven as a splendid place to be, or as a more pleasant alternative to hell.

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching,        but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years        and bring you prosperity. Solomon's teachings, in this case, are God's teachings, for all scripture is "breathed-out" and inspired by God. We see in this proverb that if we remember and keep these commands (the proverbs of Solomon), then we will be healthy and wealthy. Well, that's one way to see it. Unfortunately, many have been taught this way of thinking and have been set up to be deceived by the charlatans lurking on the television claiming to be Christian ministries. If it's not health and wealth, than what is it? Simply put, it is the blessing of God in all areas of one's life. In this passage, the blessings of long life and success in one's ventures are mentioned.  Two things very much on the minds of a young son of Solomon, and very likely, you! Once again, t...

Proverbs 2:20-22 So you will walk in the way of good men          And keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land          And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land          And the treacherous will be uprooted from it. A simple word of wisdom with a peculiar promise. The statements in verses 21 and 22 are such that I would imagine the modern reader having a bit of trouble relating to. To Solomon's sons, their land was their home; A blessing given to them by God and a place of protection. To be "uprooted" or plucked out from their land, was to be removed from the blessings of God and left, without protection, exposed to the perils of the enemies of God. Shall we risk banishment from God's blessing and protection, by associating with those that are not "k...

Proverbs 2:16-19 (Wisdom) will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. Remember that this section of the proverbs is directed to Solomon’s young sons. This wisdom applies universally to both men and women. There are certain sins that the bible gives the warning of death. I recall the first sin that mankind committed. Eating a piece of fruit on a certain tree. The penalty for this sin was death. There are some other attitudes and actions that lead to death that are mentioned in the proverbs. These are: - hating correction (Proverbs 18:10) - pursuing evil (Prov. 11:19) - doing what is right in your own eyes    (Prov. 16:25; 14:12) - careless conduct (Prov. 19:16) - laziness (Prov. 21:25) ...

Proverbs 2:12-15 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. Click here to read my commentary on these verses.

Titus 2:11-12 11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, In Galatians 5:22-23 it says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy , peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These are the virtues that grow in the life of someone that is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. So “self-control” here, is one characteristic of a true Christian. So, do we as Christians, have any responsibility to strive to model these characteristics? The answer is yes! So, as with many other aspects of living the Christian life, we can expect the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives, but at the same time, we are to strive hard to “work out our salvation.” We must understand that it is the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, that enables us to accomplish any and all resistance to temptation and sin. B...

( Letters of John Newton , 1767) I am thoroughly convinced, that if there is any practice in this land which is sinful, attendance on the playhouse is eminently so! The theaters are fountains of vice, by which the god of this world blinds the eyes of multitudes! These haunts of Satan are to be shunned as pest-houses, and dangerous nuisances to precious souls! The Gospel opens a source of purer, sweeter, and more substantial pleasures! We may well bid adieu to these perishing pleasures of sin! We may well pity those who can find pleasure in those amusements where God is shut out; where His name is only mentioned to be profaned; where His commandments are not only broken--but insulted; where sinners proclaim their shame as in Sodom, and attempt not to hide it; where, at best, wickedness is wrapped up in a disguise of entertainment, to make it more insinuating! ___________________________ I find very few preachers willing to talk like this anymore. Can anything in this letter be den...

Hebrews 3: 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. One of the things I’ve learned about myself is that when I look at other people’s bad behavior, the things that irritate me the most are the very things that I can’t stand about myself. It sometimes takes time to realize that I’m doing this, but often leads me to personal repentance. I want to talk about something I’ve seen others doing, realized I was also doing it, and then began to understand how destructive this thing is. It’s the sin of “grumbling.” Let’s face it. Grumbling is fun. It feels good. It’s a stress reliever. It seems to stroke a very pleasurable part of our flesh. I personally find myself drawn in when I hear someone who’s grumbling. Half the time, I don’t even realize I’m doing it.  The problem that I noticed was that I have been hearing more and more grumbling from fellow Christians. There co...

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians. His writings have benefited many Christians throughout the years. I was impressed with these resolutions and so I have attempted to translate them into the language of the day. I understand that I may have missed Edward’s full meaning at some level, but I made every attempt to capture the essence of the original author and summarize in such a way as to benefit the modern reader. There are 70 resolutions in all. I have summarized the first ten here. I hope you enjoy these. ________________________________ 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I mee...

The final test of true Christian discipleship Mark 14:31 But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing also. Peter and the disciples were, at least publicly, willing to die for Jesus. We know that when the first test came, Peter and the others failed. However, we do know that they all eventually were martyred for their faith. Acts 5:41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. Peter and the apostles were preaching about Christ and the religious leaders were so enraged they tried to kill them, but one leader intervened and stopped them. They had no intention of stopping or changing their message to appease the crowd or fit it with the “system.” They were preaching and living for Christ without any concern for their own lives. Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping ...

Listen, all you who are God’s children. There is only one true and living God and there is no other. You must love God with every single fiber of your being. You must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands. Repeat them to yourself and to others. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are out with friends, at school, at work, or wherever you go; also when you go to bed and when you wake up. By all means, be creative and do whatever it takes to remember these things. God has promised that you will experience blessings, that can only be attributed to God’s provision. It is also God’s desire that you enjoy His blessing, but never forget who it was who blessed you. You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. Live with integrity and stay true to your word. If you make a promise, live as if you fear God’s wrath if you break that promise. You must not allow the religious or secular practices of your surrounding culture to steal away your attention and devotion of th...

Be patient in your conversation. Don’t ever interrupt someone. Even if you think you know what someone is going to say…Don’t finish anyone’s sentences. Be a person of few words. Don’t use more than necessary when speaking. Even if you are an expert on a subject…Avoid lecturing or pontificating (to speak about something in a knowing and self-important way, especially when not qualified to do so). Even if you have a better way…Resist the urge to tell people what to do or how to do it. Even though someone might be incorrect in his or her facts…Don’t correct or contradict anyone. Be easy-going. Don’t be argumentative. When stating your opinion on a matter, assume a humble posture. Avoid being over-definite. Give others your full attention when communicating. Don’t multitask when someone is communicating with you. Speak slowly & carefully. Don’t use hurried or disrythmic speech. Bes...

It has been somewhat challenging for me to decide how divide up the proverbs into short passages for study. The other challenge is working through the context of wisdom styled literature. My interpretive tendencies push me to accept the words of scripture as literal. However, I know that the proverbs are written in a style that should not always be interpreted in a literal fashion. This may trouble some readers, but the nature of wisdom literature requires the reader to accept that the truths in the proverbs are not necessarily literal promises, but truisms or generalized truth statements. Understanding this can greatly help the reader understand the wisdom of the proverbs and keep them from becoming unnecessarily frustrated. This is especially when we look around at our circumstances and wonder why a certain proverb doesn't seem to be accurate or truthful. For example, the proverb that immediately comes to mind is Prov. 22:6, which states, "Train up a child in the way he ...

Proverbs 2:6-8 6 For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. 8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him How does it help us to know that God grants (or gives) wisdom? For one thing, it helps us to realize that we cannot gain true wisd om by simply growing older and discovering knowledge on our own, through education or experience. Even the sharpest minds of our day can study for years and come up with the most absurd things. All you have to do is flip on the television and tune into your local PBS station to find examples of this. "The Power of Intention", where all you need to do to be happy and successful is to somehow tune into the secret Source, and then simply "expect" things to happen and your mind will create mystical vibrations in the universe that will then draw those things ...

PROVERBS 2: 1-5 (NIV) 1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. Lets examine the elements of this proverbial equation: Personally choose to embrace and internalize the commands of the proverbs (v.1) + Exhibit behavior and make choices that reflect an embrace of Godly wisdom (v.2) + Plead with God and actively seek out His wisdom (v.3) + Understand the value of wisdom and seek it out as if it's the most precious thing there is (v.4) = You will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. It occurred to me as I was thinking about what it means to "understand the fear of the LORD", that this might be talking about how we ...

...that the sum of all of God’s wisdom were personified as a human. She would most likely be standing out in a public place, pleading with people as they passed by… shouting at them, begging them to listen to her. She’d be saying… “You foolish people! How long are you going stay shallow minded? You just love to laugh and mock at everything. You can’t stand to learn about what is true. Please, please, you need to listen to what I have to say. I so desire to impart to you all that I know. I have called out to you so many times and you just won’t stop and listen. You just continually reject any and all correction.” She would continue… “You know what? If your life comes crashing down around you, I’m just going to shrug my shoulders and chuckle. I might even throw in a sarcastic joke to rub it in.” And when you start crying out for help, you won’t be able to get my attention. For why should I help now when you rejected my advice all this time?” She’d say, “So, now that you’re in tro...

My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them! 
They may say, “Come and join us.
 … Think of the great things we’ll get!
… Come, throw in your lot with us”;
… My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths. 
They rush to commit evil deeds. 
They hurry to commit murder. 
If a bird sees a trap being set, 
it knows to stay away. 
But these people set an ambush for themselves; 
they are trying to get themselves killed. 
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; 
it robs them of life. So, to summarize: Stay away from people who entice you into sin; stay away from places they go, and specifically, if someone asks you to join him or her in sin, reject their offer and walk away. I think the most important line in the section is,  “Stay far from their paths.”  In other words, “don’t even get close to the places where these types of people hang around!” The wisdom here is that if you stay away from the places that sinful people go, you wo...

Proverbs 1:8-9 "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." I'll admit that this proverb, while straightforward, is difficult to put into practice. I've noticed that when we are young we tend to feel like our parents don't really understand what we are going through or are slightly or completely out of touch with our culture; and therefore can't really offer us any wisdom or advice. As I've grown older, I can now better understand the true wisdom of this very famous proverb.  There is a certain wisdom that you receive simply by staying alive and paying attention to the things that go on around you. I call it, "the wisdom of age" or "the wisdom of experience". We are all collecting this wisdom as we grow older and experience more of life. I believe this type of wisdom to be very powerful and shoul...

I haven't written in a while even though I certainly enjoy it. In some part, I've been waiting until I've felt like I had a subject that I could enjoy and something that would be interesting and beneficial for anyone who might find this and read it.  My intention is to go through selected proverbs, explore their meaning, and simply pass along my own personal study, while trying not to sound "teachy" or condescending. My hope is that this journey through proverbs, will help me live a life pleasing to God, and remind me of the things that God would want me to teach my children. Here we go. Chapter 1:1-7   ( NLT) These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is  right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple...

Sometimes things that people tell you are just as good as they sound. This is the case about 5-10% of the time. Most of the time, people are trying to manipulate or deceive in some manner. Some of you who read this might be considering a military career. This is for you! I, for one, love our military. I'm glad we have such an awesome force in place to protect our country and way of life. I'm also very proud of those who serve and risk their life in service to the armed services. Joining the military can be a wonderful adventure, and typically provides nice job security, and I'm sure that if you talk to military folks, most of them would probably not attempt to talk you out of signing up. So, my telling you these things isn't to try to talk you out of a decision that you want to make, but to make sure that you are not under any illusions. Instead of describing the positives of military service ( I figure the recruiters will do plenty of that ), I want to point out what I...

The bible is full of principles and commandments. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why are there all those commands? Do we, like children, think to ourselves, "God must be all about robbing me of all the fun in life?" Or have we grown up a bit to see that just like our parents placed rules in our lives to keep us safe and to make sure that we have the best chance possible at succeeding in life, I'm certain that our heavenly Father is the same with regard to the commands given in scripture. He loves and cares for us, and has given us everything we need to avoid many of the pitfalls and temptations of life. I found out that there are 6,468 specific commands in the bible. There are also divine suggestions. Did you know that? I have on my mind something specific this morning regarding pre-marital dating. I want to emphasize a point that I believe will give us guidance as we begin to consider whether or not to follow the worldly custom of dating. I want to look at 1 Corinth...

People tell me, "judge not lest ye be judged." I always tell them, "twist not scripture lest ye be like satan.”

“Here stands God on the day of creation. He looks at stars and He says “all you stars move yourself to this place and start in this order and move in a circle and move exactly as I tell you, until I give you another word. Planets-pick yourself up and whirl, make this formation at my command, until I give you another word. He looks at mountains and says “be lifted up” and they obey him. He tells valleys “be cast down” and they obey him. He looks at the sea and says “you will come this far”, and the sea obeys.  Then, he looks at you and says, “come” ...and you say “NO!" Does that bother anyone?”