Derek VanRoekel

“Advances fed on one another, occurring almost simultaneously and spontaneously, at Harvard and MIT and Princeton and Bell Labs and an apartment in Berlin and even, most improbably but interestingly, in a basement in Ames, Iowa.”
― Walter Isaacson, The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

“Often, we pray for wisdom when, in fact, we are seeking knowledge. Tell me what to do, Lord. Tell me which commitment to accept, what words to say, where to live, and who to work for. We may even remind God that in James 1:5 he told us we would receive wisdom if we asked. But we are not asking for understanding; we are asking for information. And in doing so, we betray our unwillingness to move from immaturity to maturity as a disciple.”
― Jen Wilkin, In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character

“The antidote to authoritarianism is authority itself, rightly defined. The sociologist Robert Nisbet correctly differentiated between authority and power. He defined power as “something external and based upon force,” while authority is rooted in persuasion and allegiance. Authority does not bully or intimidate with raw force but is rooted in vital social relationships and to truths more transcendent than the will-to-power or the force of a personality. “Power arises only when authority breaks down,” Nisbet argued.”
― Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America