Category: Commonplace_1
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Dallas Willard: “…the good news of the presence…”
“When all is said and done, ‘the gospel’ for [some preachers], and others on the theological right is that Christ made the ‘arrangement’ that can get us into heaven. In the Gospels, by contrast, ‘the gospel’ is the good news of the presence and availability of life in the kingdom, now and forever, through reliance…
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“Prayer of Incompetence”
“Prayer of Incompetence The desert is a classic symbol of the monastic life and it is particularly apt in reference to monastic prayer. It is easy to be lyrical when speaking of prayer but the reality of praying is anything but lyrical. A realistic appraisal of the experience of prayer must lead one to…
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Douglas Wilson: That kindness doesn’t scale to the collective.
from Douglas Wilson: BLOG and MABLOG The simplest mistake in the world is to think that an act of human kindness, extended from one person to another, is capable of being translated to the larger scale of millions of people, with everything essential in that compassionate gesture remaining unaffected and unchanged. The mistake is a…
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J.R.R. Tolkien, to his son: “…the real soul-mate…”
Quote Details: J. R. R. Tolkien: Nearly all marriages, even… – The Quotations Page Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the…
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Unknown…”Dogma Keeps us away from the ditches.”
I salvaged this from a web site that’s gone now. I don’t have the writer’s name: “Forget the checklists. Dogma doesn’t get us in. Dogma keeps us away from the ditches. They are the chewed up skid marks along grassy shoulders and rubber- and blood-smeared concrete medians that mark places of past carnage. Dogma aren’t…
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New Bracelet Acronym: JPTT (Just Preach the Text)
From the Fearsome Pirate: Simple advice on how preaching might not suck. Simple advice on how a church might not suck.
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The Saints Say the Same Thing
About 30 years ago I was stunned when I read Watchman Nee argue that there is simply no biblical basis for dividing the church for any reason other than geography. Nee has been demonized in some evangelical quarters, but read his vision of overcoming denominationalism by working together in practical ministry, and be amazed. Incidentally,…
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Michael Spencer: Captured by the Gospel
Hard Times for the Gospel « Eating Words I wholeheartedly recommend Michael Spencer’s essay “Hard Times for the Gospel: A Rant.” Simply outstanding. A few choice lines: “The Gospel is simple. It’s free. It overturns us and our little party. It says things we don’t want religion to say, but that’s ok, because it’s not…
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The Soft Bigotry of Tourist Environmentalists
Excellent article on rich environmentalists who want to keep third world villages “quaint”. Townhall.com::Enemies of the Poor::By Roy Innis Why haven’t the UN and its Human Rights Council spoken out about the institutional racism that is being perpetrated in the name of “saving the planet”? Where are the US civil rights groups, news media and…
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Gerard Manley Hopkins: “God’s Grandeur”
God’s Grandeur The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared…