“The wars between nations and enmity within families and neighborhoods is but the wake of the serpent’s tail as he seeks to devour the church” (Michael Horton, Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church, 16).

“If the previous question [Is the text in the Old Testament or the New Testament?] will help place the text in its covenantal context, this question [What book does the verse appear in?] will help set it in its canonical context. By identifying the book’s place in God’s progressive revelation of himself, we will more safely arrive at its original meaning and avoid importing later revelations of God into our interpretation” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 43).

“Exegesis is not the finished product but rather servant to it” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 39).

“Sherman was a prodigy of geography. During the Civil War, no matter how befuddling the swamp or forest or mountain range, if Sherman had been there, he remembered it exactly. And since he had seen so much of the South, he became a kind of human geo-location system. It was an awesome military talent, but at the time he was developing it, it was nearly invisible to those around him. It may not have even struck Sherman as that unusual; it was simply something he did and assumed others shared” (Robert L. O’Connell, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, 26).

“If exegesis is some mystical experience that only a select few find the magic key to, then most preachers are left to helpless despair. But if a large part of the process is hard work, then that gives everyone hope” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 37).

“Before finally deciding to start a series, the preacher should read the book through a few times and begin to map our preaching portions. This will also help him to decide if this is the right book and if his own gifts will stretch enough to take it on” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 24).

Luke 14:28, For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

“…special care should be taken to ensure that each sermon is complete in itself” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 23).

“Military strategy is, almost by definition, deceptive. It can be compared with very few human activities. Certainly there are other kinds of strategists–heads of state and diplomats, corporate leaders and investment bankers, all manner of institutional planners–but ultimately, win or lose, very few (if any) go to the hospital or the morgue. War is about killing and dying; this changes the psychological dimension entirely and also the basis for comparison. In drawing any kind of plausible analogy, the possibility of dying must be a factor” (Robert L. O’Connell, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, 15).

“Aristotle said that the secular orator must establish with his hearers a character for discretion (knowledge or judgement); second, for probity; and third, for benevolence, or good-will toward them. If this is true in the secular realm how much more in the sacred! R.L. Dabney challenges: ‘Without a sacred weight of character, the most splendid rhetoric will win only a short-lived applause; with it, the plainest scriptural instructions are eloquent to win souls. Eloquence may dazzle and please; holiness of life convinces… The pastor’s character speaks more loudly than his tongue'” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 18).

“Ordinarily, it’s not a good career move to marry your sister, even if it’s your foster sister; but for Sherman it was brilliant, leaving him with political connections as powerful as any other general in American history, and also with the redoutable Ellen Ewing. Every bit as intelligent and determined as Sherman and religious to the point of loopyness, Ellen stood up to him during thirty-eight years of marriage–the South only managed four” (Robert L. O’Connell, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, xx).