Arsonist
“I think politicians are arsonists, the main thing the G.O.P. does is try to light the Democrats on fire, and the main thing the Democrats do is light the Republicans on fire. That’s why there’s so little trust in politics.”
Ben Sasse
Numbers
As ego-inflating (or deflating) as the case may be, when it comes to the kingdom of God, numbers are at best an unreliable source and at worst a deceptive measure of success.
J D Walt
Solid Ground
The psyche cannot live with everything changing every day, everything a matter of opinion, everything relative. There must be a sound container holding us long enough so we can move beyond survival mode. There has to be solid ground, trust, and shared security, or we cannot move outward. There has to be a foundational hope, and for hope to be a shared experience there must be agreed-upon meanings and shared stories that excite and inspire us all. If there are truly stories from the great patterns that are always true, they will catapult us into a universal humanity and pluralistic society. We will both stand on solid ground and, from that solid ground, create common ground. If it does not support our movement outward, then it is not solid ground at all.
Richard Rohr
Sins
…the sins a particular religious community is good at avoiding tend to be the ones identified as most important to avoid in the mind of that community, while the sins a community is not good at avoiding tend to be minimized or ignored altogether—regardless of what emphasis the Bible puts on those sins.
Greg Boyd -Repenting of Religion
Christians and power
There is a deep hypocrisy where Christians profess to believe that PEOPLE should take care of people — Not the government… But then they need the government to enforce their vision of morality. And they profess to believe that God is on control of things… But they don’t trust God to take care of things unless christians are electing leaders who give them more political power. Their longing for power belies a lack of faith.
The Boeskool
The Bible
The Bible is first, middle, and last about revealing the name and nature of God to the world. The design of divine revelation is not to give us tips on how to live a better life or be a better Christian. No, divine revelation designs to draw our knees to the earth, our faces to the ground, and our hearts into the heavens where we cry out, “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
J D Walt
Going the Second Mile
For Christians, going the second mile isn’t unheard of; it is simply to do things God’s way. Healing for our brokenness, forgiveness for our sins, kindness towards us in Christ, welcome to the least, last and lost, new creation for the heart in the power of the Spirit, springs of living water welling up to eternal life; God did none of that out of necessity, but from love. Grace is the gift of the second mile God, who in Christ came amongst us, walked with us, lived a sinless life of self-giving love, and when sinful humanity, ourselves included, have nothing left to offer, no further steps to take, He walked the second mile for us, to Calvary.
Jim Gordon
Self Delusion
It’s taken me a long time to realize how self-deluded I’ve been. I convinced myself that my “tough love” was about the other person when in fact, it was about me being right. Or being unwilling to admit when I was wrong.
Jarod Byas
Be an ordinary human being
Be an ordinary person, one of the human race.
Be polite with everyone, first of all, family members.
Be faithful in little things.
Do your work, then forget it.
Be simple, hidden, quiet, and small.
Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out.
Don’t try to convince anyone of anything.
Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
Fr. Thomas Hopko
Wonder
Wonder is our birthright. It comes easily in childhood—the feeling of watching dust motes dancing in sunlight, or climbing a tree to touch the sky, or falling asleep thinking about where the universe ends. If we are safe and nurtured enough to develop our capacity to wonder, we start to wonder about the people in our lives, too—their thoughts and experiences, their pain and joy, their wants and needs. We begin to sense that they are to themselves as vast and complex as we are to ourselves, their inner world as infinite as our own. In other words, we are seeing them as our equal. We are gaining information about how to love them. Wonder is the wellspring for love. . . .
Valarie Kaur
They will know us by our love
The book says they will know us by our love and that is true, as long as you’re not among the myriad groups we hate.
Phoenix Preacher
Paralysis
Our politics are paralyzing the country. We practice suspicion or contempt where trust is needed, imposing a sentence of anger and loneliness on others and ourselves. We scorch our opponents with language that precludes compromise. We brush aside the possibility that a person with whom we disagree might be right. We talk about what divides us and seldom acknowledge what unites us.
David French
Church History
Richard Halverson, former chaplain to the United States Senate once wrote, “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next it moved to Europe where it became a culture, and finally it moved to America, where it became an enterprise.”
via J D Walt
SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT