Learn the Difference

by Benjamin L. Corey

Read, from outside the familiar sources.

"Preachers, teachers, writers, bloggers, pastors, and everybody and anybody in between, please, take the time to read, *at least* one new book a month, and preferably from an author who is presenting you with some new and unfamiliar ideas. Do yourself a favor and turn off TBN and popular, biased Christian media, which is populated by "teachers" and speakers who are coming from only one of the many and varied perspective in the Christian world, and whose theology wouldn't pass even the crudest of theological audits. Put yourself on a strict no-subjective-prophetic-fluff diet, and stay away from those whose exhortations are filled with "God told me" statements. If you, in any way, shape or form, are responsible for teaching others, make the hard decision to not teach on a subject that you've not thoroughly studied from all available angles for at least a few years." 

- Jeff Turner

Greater Love

by David Hayward

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

- Jesus, (John 15:13 ESV)

"I like your Christ..."

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

- Gandhi

Martyrdom

“Martyrs die because they refuse to deny the Truth, they are unwilling to force their ways upon others, and they are unwilling to fight back when fighting back would deny the Love they are trying to show those hurting them. This is how martyrdom changes things: It stands up as the witness of the One who is Truth and Love, and the One who is Truth and Love can do little else but stand up and surround them with His presence. And His presence changes things.”  

- from the book ‘Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries'

The best teachers...

"The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see."  

- Alexandra K. Trenfor

"It's the goal of an oppressive institution to..."

"It is the goal of an oppressive institution (religious or otherwise) to keep their participants small and immature. For once a participant desires maturity, he/she no longer wants to be "on the bottle" that they are being fed, but wants to discover truth for themselves. This is a threat to an oppressive institution that thrives on the backs of those who are too afraid to question but believe that the institution itself has all the answers."  

- Aimee Dassele

Water Bearers

"A world of water bearers, 

filled with thirst. 

Rejecting their personal flowing fountain, 

preferring to drink from public baths." 

- Larry Leake

Valuable

"In the world, if the value of something is always determined by the price that was paid for it, and heaven went bankrupt to get you back, how dare you look in the mirror and say you're worthless?!"

- Todd White

Fear

"So much of religion seems to be about fear:  

fear of going to hell; 
fear of having bad theology; 
fear of not satisfying your end of the bargain so God will favor you and bless you; 
fear of others finding out how much you're not really like the person you project and pretend to be; 
fear of trusting your own inner guidance and fear of thinking for yourself; 
fear of not upholding the expectations of your religious sub-culture; 
fear of sexuality; 
fear of people who are different; fear of the world; 
fear of messing up; 
fear of not being good enough... spiritual enough... godly enough.  

I don't know which is worse - the way religion makes us afraid to die, or the way it makes us afraid to live."  

- Jim Palmer, Notes from (Over) The Edge

The secret of a good sermon...

“The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and to have the two as close together as possible.”   

- George Burns

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority...

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."  

- Mark Twain

Thou Shalt Not Think!

“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.” 

- Adolph Hitler



He has a valid point.

And we see this happening every day, in systems that forbids thinking outside the assigned boundaries.

Faith is Trust

"Faith is trust. If your dad says he will put you in the oven because you didn't trust him, I might be stating the obvious here, but I wouldn't trust him.”

- Sam Gollan

Related posts:

The Cosmic Turtle

Hell is a Mistranslation 

Reputation

"The best way to stop worrying about keeping a good reputation is to not try to have one. None of them are true anyway." 

- Donald Miller

Truth is Not Black and White

"People are drawn to black and white opinions because they are simple, not because they are true. Truth requires nuanced thinking."  

- Donald Miller

What if Jesus Meant All That Stuff?

Quote by Shane Claiborne, from this article.


"The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination." 

- Shane Claiborne

Spiritual Journey

"The classic spiritual journey always begins elitist and ends egalitarian."  

- Julie Ferwerda

Please Spare Me Your Grace Message And Your God Is Love Message, If...

"Please spare me your grace message and your god is love message, if you still believe billions will burn for eternity, for not believing like you."

- Don Griffin

PS: Oh, and by the way, I am not at all, against the message of grace and unconditional love. The point of sharing this quote is that, it is hilarious when we put limits to grace and love.   

The Practice of the Better

Any new structures of emerging Christianity cannot be in opposition to any existing church structures or anybody at all. Any antagonistic action merely creates an “equal and opposite reaction.” “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better” is one of our core principles at the CAC. Just do it better yourself, and don’t waste any time criticizing others or the past! This, in fact, purifies your own commitment and motivation. 

Don’t bother being against anybody, anything, any group, or any institution. That will only keep you at a low level of ego, while falsely feeling superior. It is a most common mistake. You can, however, practice simple avoidance or quiet noncooperation with immature organizations, but don’t waste time or energy being oppositional to anything. We need positive energy now over negative criticism of anything. It is almost as if consciousness has now grown up to see this—and do this!" 

- Richard Rohr