"One thing is clear to me: the temptation of power is greatest when intimacy is a threat. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love." H. Nowen
Tag: faithful discipleship
Quote of Note #210: We Will Still Love You
"Do what you will, and we shall still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good." MLK, Jr.
Pastor Note #140: Getting My Bearings in These Times, A Beginning
I am the recipient of the unconditional love, grace, and compassion of Jesus Christ. Therefore, my identity is based solely on the fact that Jesus has saved me and is saving me. My identity and my way of living are based exclusively on the fact that Jesus is Lord.
Quote of Note #209: Gracious Persuasion vs. Hostile Conquest
"This change should always be the desired outcome, rather than the pride of having won a battle and leaving an opponent flattened and humiliated in the dust." J. Crotts
Quote of Note #207: The Church & Governments
"If the church is to be the conscience of the state, it must begin with the courage to tell the truth." S. Bezner in _Your Jesus Is Too American_
Quote of Note #203: Counter-cultural Faith?
"At times, the evangelical church has been indistinguishable from Western, white American culture."
Bible Note #62: Compassion & the Anger of Jesus–Mark 3:1-6
They knew that Jesus was guided by compassion for the weak and broken and not by some hard-edged interpretation of the law.
Quote of Note #199: Coercive Force vs. Humble Love
"Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it."
Quote of Note #196: Influencing Culture or Being Influenced by It
As a result, we are angrier and more divided within both our nation and our church than we have been in a very long time.
Quote of Note #195: God’s Grace to Me, My Grace to Others
"God gives us real treasures; we are rich people, but only if we put this capital into use. Forgive your brother; then you will also get peace for yourself. Otherwise you are a dead spiritual capitalist."
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 