Quotes from Platt and Alcorn from Yesterday's AM Message

David Platt from Radical (by the way, not sure for how long, but this book is on sale at Amazon for $5.51):

“The gift of grace (at salvation) involves the gift of a new heart. New desires. New longings. For the first time, we want God. We see our need for Him, and we love Him. We seek after Him, and we find Him, and we discover that He is indeed the great reward of our salvation. We realize that we are saved not just to be forgiven of our sins or to be assured of our eternity in heaven, but we are saved to know God. So we yearn for Him. We want Him so much that we abandon everything else to experience Him. This is the only proper response to the revelation of God in the gospel.” (parenthesis mine)

Randy Alcorn from his chapter (chapter 16 - "Dethroning Money to Treasure Christ Above All) in For the Fame of God's Name.

“What will happen to the affluent person or society that doesn’t rectify its materialism? Physics tells us the answer. The greater the mass, the greater its gravitational pull. The more things we own – the greater their total mass – the more they grip us, hold us, set us in orbit around them. Finally, like a black hole, they mercilessly suck us into themselves, until we become indistinguishable from our things, surrendering ourselves to the gods we’ve idolized….

“When we gaze upon Christ and see Him as He is, and allow ourselves to be transformed into His image, we automatically adopt a giving mindset. Through generous giving, we establish a new orbit around Christ, our primary treasure, who promises us heaven’s secondary treasures of eternal reward. Only as we give can we escape the gravitational hold of money and possessions.”

(By the way: Alcorn's chapter on money is worth the price of the book in and of itself!)