Weak Christians are afraid of the shadow of the cross.
God will judge us not according to how much we endured, but how much we could love
Whoever wishes to meet Jesus must meet him in places where brothers and sisters of Jesus are hungry, thirsty, naked, unwanted, sick or in prison. Whoever keeps himself distant from these places remains distant from Jesus.
It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.
A faith that can be destroyed by suffering is not faith.
I have seen Christians in Communist prisons with fifty pounds of chains on their feet, tortured with red-hot iron pokers, in whose throats spoonfuls of salt had been forced, being kept afterward without water, starving, whipped, suffering from cold--and praying with fervor for the Communists. This is humanly inexplicable! It is the love of Christ, which was poured out in our hearts.
A Communist officer told a Christian he was beating, 'I am almighty, as you suppose your God can be. I can kill you. ' The Christian answered, 'The power is all on my side. I can love you while you torture me to death. '
A lot of times, when I record with a group, I'll stay after class for another hour or two and go, 'Let me try a bunch of things I was thinking of, as you were doing that. '
Ellen [Page] and I had only met a couple of times, but had mutual admiration for each other's work. When I first heard about the film [Into the Forest], I was excited to get a chance to work with one of my peers because it's usually one or the other. You don't get to work with all of the other actors that you're usually competing with.
The worst possible thing for any of us - no matter what our temptations, no matter what our mortal inclinations may be - is to become fixated with them, to dwell on them. When we do that, not only do we deny the other things that comprise us, but experience teaches that there will be an increased likelihood that eventually we will simply succumb to the inclination.
Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.