Greed or Gratitude?

“We need to allow God to transform our passions so that we do the right things out of gratitude rather than out of greed.”

- Not Like Me, by Eric Michael Bryant

I am greedy for the good things I see in the lives of the people I admire and respect and call my role models. Wow.

“Enter the relationship, and shed the religion.”

Metaphors Galore

From the introduction: “Coming Home: An Invitation to Prayer.”

We do not need to be shy. He invites us into the living room of his heart, where we can put on old slippers and share freely. He invites us into the kitchen of his friendship, where chatter and batter mix in good fun. He invites us into the dining room of his strength, where we can feast to our heart’s delight. He invites us into the study of his wisdom, where we can learn and grow and stretch … and ask all the questions we want. He invites us into the workshop of his creativity, where we can be co-labourers with him, working together to determine the outcomes of events. He invites us into the bedroom of his rest, where new peace is found and where we can be naked and vulnerable and free. It is also the place of deepest intimacy, where we know and are known to the fullest.

The key to this home, the heart of God, is prayer.

- Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home

Things to scrawl on one’s arm

to remember:

“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” John Christian

“No man need stay the way he is.” Harry Emerson Fosdick

“Life is tons of discipline.” Robert Frost

“Obedience to the call of Christ nearly always costs everything to two people- the one who is called, and the one who loves that one.” Oswald Chambers

“It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.” Hudson Taylor

“Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.” Augustine

“Unless he obeys, a man cannot believe.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience.” Oswald Chambers

“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, His precepts!” Benjamin Franklin

“Many people wish the Bible to overawe them, as Sinai did the Israelites…who worshiped it one day and danced around a calf the next.” Henry Ward Beecher (might I say, “OWNED!”)

“We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Sainthood lies in the habit of referring the smallest actions to God.”C. S. Lewis

“God is not silent. It is the nature of God to speak. The second person of the Holy Trinity is called “The Word.” A. W. Tozer

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” Oswald Chambers

“We are not built for ourselves, but for God. Not for service for God, but for God.” Oswald Chambers

and finally:

“If you look upon ham and eggs and lust, you have already committed breakfast in your heart.” (lol) C. W. Lewis

from ChristianQuotes.org

Promoting Marriage As Community Care

blog share.

 

The Brookings Institute’s Ron Haskins writes — “Higher marriage rates among the poor would benefit poor adults themselves, their children, and the nation.”  Haskins believes that churches and other non-profits should encourage marriage by offering courses on marriage, parenting, money management, anger management, and other family-related issues.

 

Interesting.

A good ol’ quote or two

“The ultimate purpose of marriage is the greater glory of God — and God is most greatly glorified when His gifts are rightly celebrated and received, and His covenants are rightly honored and pledged.”

- from this dreamy eyed fellow, Albert Mohler, via the marriage blog

“Marriage is the source of great and unspeakable happiness. Yet because of sin it is not unmixed happiness. But marriage is not first and foremost about making us happy. It is for making us holy. And through the covenant of marriage two Christians pledge to live together so as to make each other holy before God, as a testimony to Christ.”

- not sure who this is from, but I think it’s the same guy

Retarded

Consider the word “retarded.” Though the term is not technically incorrect – it is still found in some medical dictionaries – it is deemed problematic. But maybe the real problem is not with the term but the fact that we have heaped onto it all our pro-smart bias and our great awkwardness with people who are obviously not smart. Maybe the problem is that we live in a society in which smart equals good. Maybe the problem is that it’s hard for us, despite our presumably enlightened state, not to see people who are “slow or limited in . . . intellectual development” (the Webster definition for retarded) as inferior. Maybe if we truly felt it was okay to be retarded, then the word would be okay, too.

- Will Braun, Posing as Progressive: The Problem with PC, Geez Magazine

We shape our lives.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt.

How much do I believe this?

Elegance in design

Click for bigger.

Growth

If growth as a general rule in nature is messy, organic, erratic and sporadic why would spiritual growth be any different?

-Shawn Wood

Counting the Cost

Few things in life are more humbling than running for public office, raising adolescents, or leading a small group.

- Dan B. Allender