On Becoming the Church
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| Lots of thoughts to be provoked... |
On Tithing and World Poverty
"Today, on average, evangelicals in the United States give about two-fifths of a tithe...if American Christians just tithed, they would have another $143 billion available to empower the poor and spread the gospel. Studies by the United Nations suggest that just an additional $70-$80 billion a year would be enough to provide access to essential services like basic health care and education for all the poor of the earth. If they did no more than tithe, American Christians would have the private dollars to foot this entire bill and still have $60-$70 billion more to do evangelism around the world." - Ron Sider in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (pp. 21-22)
On Living the Bible
“The New Testament was written in everyday street language,” Peterson said. “Words make something. They don’t just say something. … You are free not to study the Bible but to enter into it, to let it become part of you, — not deciding what you need, but receiving what’s there.” - Cathleen Falsani, quoting Eugene Peterson at Sojourners with Lost in Translation: Eugene Peterson and His 'Message'
On Guilt-Free Spirituality
“Pay attention to what’s there, not what isn’t there,” Peterson said. Go about the journey of faith — the Christian life, the Way — relaxed, he said, “not feeling so guilty, not having to prove yourself all the time.” - Cathleen Falsani, quoting Eugene Peterson (again) at Sojourners with Doing Nothing For Lent.
On Passion, Vocation and Wisdom
Steve and I attended a conference with Gordon T. Smith (former Academic Dean and professor at Regent College) speaking on "Vocation, Work, and Career" and I liked his definition of (vocational) passion as "where we feel most keenly the brokenness of the world." I was also intrigued by his suggestion (inspired by Waltke) that the Proverbs 31 woman was not an addendum to the Book of Proverbs, but perhaps the capstone: the embodiment of Wisdom (Sophia) as one who does Good Work. So cool!
On Partying With Jesus
“Jesus never said, 'The Kingdom of God is like a church service that goes on and on forever and never ends.' He said the kingdom was like a homecoming celebration, a wedding, a party, a feast to which all are invited. This idea was too radical for the religious leaders of his day. They were more concerned about etiquette, manners, traditions and religious rituals than about partying with Jesus. And that’s why they missed out. That’s why we miss out.” - Steven James at CNN with Stop Sugarcoating the Bible
What are your thoughts? Any good tidbits to share?
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