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Archive for the ‘Quotes’ Category

Reading the Beatitudes Correctly…

Posted in Dallas Willard, Quotes, tagged on June 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled…
– Matthew 5:3-6

Many read the beatitudes thinking Jesus is recommending these as ideals to strive towards. That being contrary to logic we try redefining them into something more palatable, teaching Jesus really meant recognizing our spiritual poorness, mourning our sins, “controlled strength” (meek), always seeking righteousness.

Dallas Willard has a different take:

“Those poor in spirit are called “blessed” by Jesus, not because they are in a meritorious condition, but because, precisely in spite of and in the midst of their ever so deplorable condition, the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them by the grace of Christ.”1

In this view Jesus is not recommending a spiritual goal, but offering wonderful opportunity even to the most disadvantaged!

– fritz

1 The Divine Conspiracy, pg.102, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998 by Dallas Willard

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Carpe Diem!

Posted in Garrison Keillor, gospel, Opportunity, Quotes on June 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The Gospel spread like wildfire in part because the world had a new common language. Those whose native tongue was something else wrote the Bible in Greek; barriers were stripped and the Word of God held its own in the public arena!

NOW is another wonderful opportunity – think about it!

“We live in a literate time, and our children are writing up a storm, often combining letters and numerals (U R 2 1derful), blogging like crazy, reading for hours off their little screens, surfing around from Henry James to Jesse James to the epistle of James to pajamas to Obama to Alabama to Alanon to non-sequiturs, sequins, penguins, penal institutions, and it’s all free, and you read freely, you’re not committed to anything the way you are when you shell out $30 for a book, you’re like a hummingbird in an endless meadow of flowers.” – Garrison Keillor 1

With this has come the ability to reach out; barriers are again stripped and the Word of God is free to hold its own in the public arena!

To Garrison, a veteran author, the era of self publishing is cheesy:

“And if you want to write, you just write and publish yourself. No need to ask permission, just open a website…. And if you want to write a book, you just write it … the future of publishing [is] 18 million authors in America, each with an average of 14 readers, eight of whom are blood relatives …”1

But, it’s a good thing! If every 14 reached 14 more, calculate the results!

So, dear 14 readers (and , Hello, uncle Bussy!), seize the day’s opportunity, share Christ, there’s nothing to stop you except you!

– fritz

1. The Old Scout, A Prairie Home Companion, May 25th 2010

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>An armload of Zucchini

Posted in Garrison Keillor, Quotes on June 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

>Garrison Keillor, though not in my spiritual or political camp, makes an important point how we should recognize ourselves in today’s information overloaded society:

“You’ve come armed with 20 minutes of wit and wisdom … like a man with an armload of zucchini, and your audience has been eating zucchini all week and would now like never to see another one.

And so you cut to the chase.”1

– fritz

1 A Prairie Home Companion May 18, 2010

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