Category: general discussions

My initial response to this quote is positive. I like how it acknowledges the problem of sin, that we DO have a sin problem. But I also like how it challenges us to focus on our own sin, not on someone else’s. Are there any concerns with what this quote says? What do you think?

What if we adopted these words as our welcome statement for our church? “Come as you are. . . . You don’t have to dress up. You don’t have to be any particular age. We couldn’t care less who you voted for in the last election. And please, don’t feel the need to pretend about…

“Let us remember: What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander… Let us not forget, after all, there is always a moment when a moral choice is made….” (Elie Wiesel, survivor of Auschwitz, author, and Nobel peace laureate)

This is the real issue for us all. As Jesus followers, we desire change – for us and for the world. Its easier to blame and protest others, than deal with our own growth areas. But Jesus has helped us to see that change needs to start from within, with the log in our own…

A poem by Gerard Mandley Hopkins that speaks of the grandeur of God in and behind everything we experience in this world… and yet fail to see and appreciate… even worse we ‘smear’ all over it. But it is still there! In a few places I’ve added my own thought of what the words mean….

“Being someone who disciples others does not mean that you are perfect, and because of that you show them how to live. It means making yourself available to be observed at all times by your students, showing them what your relationship with Jesus looks like. It means showing them what it looks like to apologize…

“Contemplative prayer, in its simplest form, is prayer in which you still your thoughts and emotions and focus on God Himself. This puts you in a better state to be aware of God’s presence, and it makes you better able to hear God’s voice correcting, guiding, and directing you. Instead of coming with a ‘to…

“God’s mission of drawing wanderers into his family always takes place in the midst of ordinary places and relationships. This can take just as much energy, finances, and careful planning as a trip across the ocean. In some ways it might be more uncomfortable than sleeping on a dirt floor and eating strange food. Our…

“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole…