Jesus Sustains every Microbe Of Creation

"The point he is making is that he has come to share his life with us. But again, as soon as I say that, the old religious association's rush in to fog the reality. Imagine walking through a rainforest. Diving over a coral reef. Simply look through a microscope at a drop of pond water. Creation is pulsing with life. It is the life of Jesus, given generously for the life of all things. He is called "the author of life," who personally "sustains all things" (Acts 3:15; Heb 1:3 NRSV).

- John Eldredge. Beautiful Outlaw

I like Control - God Should Consult Me!

"I like control.

I like to know where God is going, exactly what he is doing,

the exact route of how he is getting there,

and exactly when we will arrive.

I also like to remind God of his need to behave in ways that fit in with my clear ideas of him.

- Peter Scazzero -

Emotionally healthy spirituality

We Will Stamp Out Liberty

"If there's a liberty somewhere we haven't tried to stamp out, don't worry -- we have good people working on it."

Babaylon Bee

Thought Crimes!

For us, intent and action were identical! A resolution had been passed - we would try them for that. And whether it was "carried out or not had no essential significance."

Whether a man whispered to his wife in bed that it would be a good thing to overthrow the Soviet government or whether he engaged in propaganda during elections or threw a bomb, it was all one and the same! And the punishment was identical!"

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Gulag Archipelago

Thought or Deed Was Punished

For us, intent and action were identical! A revolution had been passed - we would try them for that. And whether it was "carried out or not had no essential significance."

Whether a man whispered to his wife in bed that it would be a good thing to overthrow the Soviet government or whether he engaged in propaganda during elections or threw a bomb, it was all one and the same! And the punishment was identical!"

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Gulag Archipelago

You Must Denounce Or You're Guilty!

"Our favourite prosecutor pulled out his canonical weapon of last resort:

"Ultimately, failure to 'denounce' is a category of crime....

Now there's something that couldn't miss! This represented a discovery that judicial thought had made in the new Code.

It was a paved highway along which they would keep driving and driving grateful descendants into Siberia!"

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Gulag Archipelago.

A Snall Mark But Wanting The Whole World.

"Philip, who when he was

thrown in wrestling, and turned round,

and noticed the mark his

body made in the dust, said,

"O Hercules, what a little part of the earth I have by nature, though I desire all the world!""

- Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. First Century Greek Philosopher.

Dont Question Me Authority

"If as a Pastor or Minister, if you have to ask for honor and authority, it proves you don't have it, and you're not worthy of it. Those who are always talking about honor and authority have something wrong. Because, listen carefully, where love abounds, honor and authority are as natural as breathing."

- Stephen Crosby. Church refugee survival guide. Videos.

When Debat Fails Use Totalarianism

"Plotted to kill him (Paul).

Enemies of the Gospel cannot defeat it by free and open debate, so they often resort to force, falsehood, murder, and governmental suppression."

- ESV Study Bible

Study note on Acts 19:23

"A vision is too often "done" to institutions by a leader, making it a passive rather than participatory process. In some ways we need to learn how not to have a vision, even to make things purposely vague, which allows everyone space to shape the vision so that they are not being treated as objects......"

- Leonard Sweet. Nudge.

Saving Humanity To Be King?

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." 

H. L. Mencken

But You Didn't Change Hearts!

"The social struggle in my day was very lively and intense, almost, I should say, as much so as in your own times. Everywhere there arose groups of men and women professing poverty and preaching poverty in the church and the renewal of society. But nothing changed, because these people did not change hearts. 

No, brothers and sisters, it is not enough to change laws. You have to change hearts. Otherwise, when you have completed the Journey of your social labour you shall find yourselves right back at the beginning only this time it is you who will be the arrogant, the rich, and the exploiters....."

You can reproach me, go ahead. But I saw, in the gospel, a road beyond, a path that transcended all cultures, all human constructs, all civilization and conventions. I felt the gospel to be Eternal; I felt politics and culture, including Christian culture, to be in time. I was made always to go beyond time. 

- Carlo carretto.  "I Francis"

"Accident in history is Rife; unintended consequences and perverse outcomes are the rule."

- Stephen Kotkin. Stalin. Paradoxes Of Power.

Want to Study Evil Power Stalin Wins???

"Joseph Stalin is what we would call the gold standard of dictatorship. Obviously we are not talking about morality here. We are talking about accumulating and exercising power. If you are interested in power, where it comes from, how it works, and what are the consequences when someone exercises such power, then Stalin is your guy. There are very few people in his category. Hitler, Mao, snd that is about it. Hitler was in power for just twelve years. Stalin was in power for three  decades. Mao was also in power for an etended peroid of time but didn't have the military industural power complex "super power" that Stalin built. So Stalin really stands out, even in his peers."

- Stephen Kotkin, author

of Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941

 

When People Don't Comply!

"Dreams of what should be, of what will be: 'This is what I will do,' he says. But to fulfill those dreams, he must have the people's cooperation. Ah, this is the point often overlooked. Such dreams rest totally on the premise that the people ..... will follow the new leader, and all will see as he sees...

Possibly the people will follow, but possibly they will not. 

"Generally, people do what they please. They can be stopped to do someone else's pleasure for a time, but not for long."

What will "..." do when people stop following him willingly? Ah, now there is a question.

....if so.......has but one recourse: dictatorship. Either that, or he will see few, if any, of his grand dreams accomplished.....Rebels who ascend to the throne by rebellion have no patience with other rebels and their rebellions....he will become a tyrant."

- Gene Edwards. A Tale Of Three 

A Rebels Impatience

"Rebels who ascended to the throne by Rebellion have no patience with other Rebels and their rebellions."

- Gene Edwards. A Tale Of Three Kings 

Righting The Wrongs Often Goes Wrong

"He is both sincere and ambitious. A contradiction, perhaps, but true, nonetheless. He probably means some of what he says. But his ambition will continue long after he discovers his inability to do the things he promises. Righting the wrongs always become secondary to ascend to power."

- Gene Edwards. A Tale Of Three Kings 

2 Foot Travel Rule

"Overseas, we learned the “two-foot square of the planet principle." We learned it from policemen and we learned it from black market moneychangers. Here is how the principle works. Everybody wants to be the ruler of something, even if it is just a two—foot square parcel of the planet. They rule that square with absolute autocratic power, and they will not release you from their two foot domain until they feel you have acknowledged that power."

- Tony Kriz. Aloof 

Kings Claims

"Kings claim the right to throw spears."

- Gene Edwards. A Tale Of Three Kings 

A Church Without Control

"As we come to see his church as a reality outside of human control, then you can embrace her reality however she takes shape in the relationships and connections around you."

- Wayne Jacobsen. Beyond Sundays