Quotes Without Comment

“We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large; for there is but one body, and one spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling.” Barton W. Stone, The Last Will and Testament of Springfield Presbytery.

I think if I had to preach week in and week out, especially in a culture saturated with entertainment, I would tack a reminder to myself in the pulpit: "It's about God, stupid!"
William D. Hendricks, Exit Interviews

We should be less concerned about making churches full of people and more concerned about making people full of God. C. Kirk Hadawy and David A. Roozen, The Christian Ministry

The scope of who it is that God means to invite to the feast, you see, is not ours to define. We are not put in charge of the guest list. Don S. Skinner, Passage through Sacred History

It is hard to make your adversaries real people unless you recognize yourself in them—in which case, if you don't watch out, they cease to be adversaries. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

The gift our enemy may be able to bring us [is] to see aspects of ourselves that we cannot discover any other way than through our enemies. Our friends seldom tell us these things; they are our friends precisely because they are able to overlook or ignore this part of us. The enemy is thus not merely a hurdle to be leaped on the way to God. The enemy can be the way to God. We cannot come to terms with our shadow except through our enemies. Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers

We too often have difficulty in loving our enemies precisely because we are afraid they might repent. Such was Jonah's problem….Jonah is unable to cope with the loss of his enemies….He would rather die than face a gracious God and the Ninevites as potential friends. Gregory Jones, Embodying Forgiveness

Just a few things for us to think through!

— Bob Clark

2/20/2002