The decision... had been that he would not be allowed in services from now on. Nothing else had worked. He would not be silenced; he would not voluntarily keep his seat. He had felt obligated to speak of teachings that were condemned by the ministers.

Do not say, "I can do nothing." If so, then you know nothing of Christ. Then you have no faith. For if you have faith, if you believe, then you "can do all things through Christ" who strengthens you. You can love Him and keep His commandments.

We acquire physical knowledge through our senses.... We obtain intellectual knowledge by the exercise of reason.... We gain spiritual knowledge through the operation of revealed truth and the agency of the inner spiritual being.

Will you be to Christ the partner of His throne or a vomit-inducing emetic? A Militant or a Chocolate Christian? Will you fear or will you fight? Shall your brethren go to war and shall you sit here? When He comes, shall He find faith on the earth?

Once one has consented to this life of the entire denial of self, the cross will be welcomed and loved as the appointed power of God for freeing us of the evil power that is the only hindrance in our way of being fully conformed to the image of God's Son.

What is our daily cross? It is those things in our lives that produce suffering of body, mind, or heart. It is those things which in our poor judgment seem to hinder the easy flow of our religious life.... Were there no suffering at all, then there would be no cross at all.

"Haul all this mucky mess to the manure pile—through the front," Uncle Jerry said firmly. He walked toward the house. Tommy's heart sank. Uncle Jerry stopped and looked over his shoulder. "A man of character faces the hard work and conquers it," he said.