"Sometimes life comes at us with the delicacy of a sunset, and other times it comes with the rawness of sushi and the bitter bite of wasabi. Sometimes the tears will be because you cannot stand empty-eyed in the presence of such beauty and sometimes they will be full of fire, but notice/know this: You are here. You Are Here! You are here and you are not alone."I also highly recommend listening to David Crowder Band:
Upon finishing Praise Habit, I have decided to read Sex God by Rob Bell. In part, I am selecting this book from my reading list because of Rob Bell's writing style (you can finish his books fairly quickly). However, I am also curious as to what he has to say about sexuality and spirituality, especially because it is an incredibly relevant topic - from our men's bible study to a short sermon at a recent wedding. Whether you agree with his writing or not, I suggest reading it to become more familiar with the ideas that he discusses rather than completely rejecting all of his ministry as "heresy." (See Donald Miller's Blog Post)
Velvet Elvis
Jesus Wants to Save Christians
Love Wins
Love Wins FAQ - from Mars Hill website
Excerpt from pages 100-101:
ReplyDeleteConsider the story just for the sheer poetry of it. Jesus is born to teenage peasants under questionable circumstances. His mother gets pregnant before marriage. He's born amid the dung and straw of a stable. He's placed in a feeding trough. His brothers and sisters think he's out of his mind, and after his first sermon in his hometown, the people he grew up with form a mob and try to kill him.
And who does Jesus identify with? The outcasts, the people of the land who aren't good enough, clean enough, wealthy enough, and pure enough to be a part of the establishment. He's invited to dine with the elite and the rich, which he does numerous times, but he also eats with the lowest of the low - and he enjoys it. He enjoys them.
He touches people with infectious skin diseases, he lets questionable women touch him, he lays his hands on dead bodies, and he engages in conversation with promiscuous women alone in the middle of the day.
His entire life is about the stripping away of power and control. Jesus always chooses the path of love, not power.
Inclusion, not exclusion.
Connection and solidarity rather than rank and hierarchy.
Touch rather than distance.
Compassion rather than control.
He comes on a donkey, not a horse.
Weeping and broken, not proud and triumphant.
Dave showed me this article that I believe he received from Audrey. It is definitely worth a read.
ReplyDeletehttp://christianstandard.com/2011/06/why-we-need-to-listen-to-the-message-of-love-wins/