I find this quote from Leon Morris in the "Atonement" very pertinent to our world today:

"We are talking about some act we do at cost to ourselves and for the benefit of others (or sometimes for some future good for ourselves). Thus we may speak of the sacrifices some parents make to give their children a good education. Ancients like me remember that during the years of the Second World War we were frequently called upon to make sacrifices to assist our country. That meant forgoing comfort and pay raises and it involved making due with inferior substitutes instead of insisting on the superior article; on occasion it meant going without something altogether." (43)

Very convicting and I ask myself and others, are we willing to give up some luxuries for the benefit of the war on terrorism and some of our brothers and sisters around the world starving and being persecuted for their faith?

Another interesting comment, probably very familiar, same book:

"In every age people have found it easier to perform outward actions that to live pure lives." (51)

I think that is why we are so infatuated with the model of church that we have today.

Finally, this comment from "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth":

"In Matthew 5:29-30 Jesus tells his disciples to gouge out an offending eye or cut off an offending arm. Now we all know that Jesus "did not really mean that."

How do we know that? I think Jesus meant that more literal than we think when we look at it in context. Check it out.