These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
[this is an excerpts from In Two Minds] Sometimes I almost feel on fire with the immensity of this: each of us is a person, alive, growing, and relating. From the moment we wake to the moment we fall asleep we think, we feel, we choose, we speak, we act, not as isolated individuals but as persons among people. And underneath everything lies trust. From friendships of children to agreements among nations life depends on trust… The highest reaches of love and life depend on trust. Are there any questions more important to each of us than, Whom can I trust? How can I be sure? That is why when trust goes and doubt comes in such a shadow is cast, such a wound is opened, such a hole is left. …Doubt is not primarily an abstract philosophical or theological question, nor a state of morbid spiritual or psychological anguish. At its most basic, doubt is a matter of truth, trust and trustworthiness. Can we trust God? Are we sure? How can we be sure? Do we trust on him enough to rely on him utterly? Are we trusting him enough to enjoy him? Is the whole of living different for that trust?
What would the apostle Paul have said about love in 2003? If I speak with the confidence of Rush Limbaugh and sing with the ease of Celine Dion, but don't have love, my words are like scraping fingernails on a frozen windshield. If I can hack into the Pentagon's classified files and outsmart my chemistry professor, if I can memorize the Psalms and read Leviticus without dozing, if I can predict the future, but have not love, my value is equal to a pitcher of warm spit. If I give my entire wardrobe to Goodwill or let my little sister rummage through my closet, if I go to the stake and fry as a martyr, or if I donate a gallon of blood every hour, but don't have love, my offerings are useless. Love is patient, even if it means skipping a trip to 31 Flavors in order to tutor an immigrant. Love is kind; it doesn't tell racial jokes, believe stereotypes, pass on rumors, or take advantage of others. Love does not envy the basketball team captain, the National Merit finalist, the class president, or even the blonde who sports the best tan. Love doesn't get a swelled head over straight A's or a scholarship to Princeton. Love isn't snooty about a new Corvette or a season pass to the world's premiere ski resort. Love never jeers at the overweight kid who hangs out of his T-shirt in PE. Love smiles when getting cut off on the interstate. Love submits an honest tax return. Love doesn't whine about the referee's bad call. Love believes that God always provides the best stuff in life. Love hangs on to hope when the family is splitting apart. Love does not change like hemlines and hairdos. Love is like the Energizer Bunny; it keeps going and going. In the end, only three things will remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
When I was in seventh grade, the school tried to scare us to death about using alcohol. We saw a film about a party where students danced and listened to music. One guy invited his friends to the back room for drinks, and another guy passed out. They couldn't revive him, so they called the ambulance. The paramedics rushed to the hospital where someone called the parents. Mom was crying. Dad was crying. The doctors stuck needles in his veins and tubes up his nose. The moral of the movie was "Don't drink alcohol or they'll stick needles in your veins, tubes up your nose, and your parents will cry." We were convinced that none of us would ever drink alcohol if that's what they were going to do to us. We even stayed clear of the water fountain, I think, the rest of that day. Then they brought in another film, whose plot was basically the same, but the moral this time was "Don't take drugs." Another time, we got to look at and touch the lung of some poor soul who had smoked all his life. The object was, "If you smoke, your lung will look like this, and kids will touch it." We were convinced there in the seventh grade that we would never ever smoke cigarettes. Another movie is still shown today in driver-education courses. It makes slasher films look like they are PG or G. Photographers have filmed the scenes of car wrecks before the paramedics get there. From accident after accident, there are shots of crushed cars and mangled bodies. I thought the moral of that movie was, "Don't ever get in a car." We seventh graders were convinced that under no circumstances would we ever drink, smoke, take drugs, or drive recklessly, if at all. Yet, soon after we entered high school, most of my friends were smoking. Just about everybody was drinking, and I lost several of my friends to drug overdoses. How could we be convinced that something was deadly, unhealthy, and unwise, yet not act on our beliefs? Today many of you are involved in things that a year or two ago you never dreamed you would do.... What happened to my friends in the seventh grade also happens to us. We have preferences. Yet we have very few convictions.
A certain archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert in Israel and came upon a sarcophagus containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of a prestigious natural-history museum. "I've just discovered the 3,000-year-old mummy of a man who died of heart failure!" the excited archaeologist exclaimed. The curator replied, "Bring him in. We'll check it out." A week later, the amazed curator called the archaeologist. "You were right about the mummy's age and cause of death. How in the world did you know?" he asked. The archaeologist replied, "Easy. There was a piece of paper in his hand that read, '10,000 shekels on Goliath.'"
Being contrary to God's nature, sin is repulsive to him. He is allergic to sin, so to speak.