Questionable Wisdom

Give, Don't Demand

2012-02-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

Freedom is that which we mustgive to others. Since God gives eachhuman sovereignty over themselves, then so should we give each adult freedom to live their own lives. But freedom is that which we must not allow for ourselves. For the sake of others’ freedom, let us bewithout rights. For the freedom of God’slove, let us be chained. For the freedomof the gospel, let us be killed.

Freedom Isn't Free

2012-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Freedom is the best and worstthing to happen to any of us. And we have it whether we want it or not. Infreedom, we can serve God and live the life we ought to live. In freedom, we choose to rebel against Godand pursue a life of self-destruction. This is why the best life to live is a freely-given slavery to God, tochoose to give up our own life and to live the life of Jesus.

Great Big Stupid World

2012-02-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

The foundation of all goodand all rationality is the fact that life is foundationally chaotic andperverse. The second foundation is that no one sees themselves as chaotic or perverse. Peace is coaxing the good from the chaotic.

Gossip

2012-02-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

Gossip is the hiddendestructive force of society—they are the bombs on a besieged city. Relationships are torn, contracts broken,commitments neglected, communities eaten up from within, all because of anegative word wrongly placed. Never saya negative thing about another unless it is to build that person up.

Snap Judgments

2012-02-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

Always give everyone thebenefit of the doubt. If someone seemsto have done something wrong, but you don’t have proof, don’t assume—eithercheck it out, or let it go.

Real Christians Don't Vote

2011-10-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

I never want to vote for someone whose choices are in opposition to the very core of Scriptural morality. Which is why I will never vote for someone who supports killing an innocent, whether citizens, other nationalities or the unborn. Which is why I don't vote for any candidate.

Mere Mortals

2011-10-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations-- these are mortal and their life as to ours is that of a gnat. It is immortals we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit." -C.S. Lewis

Humanity Has No Future

2011-10-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

If humanity is to survive, we must develop communities of charity. Without forgiveness, mercy, generosity, and giving without reciprocity there is no justice, no future.

"No Interpretation Necessary"

2011-10-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

The one who quotes a text and says "there is no interpretation necessary" does not understand the text or what it means to interpret.

Mud Huts Are Cool

2011-10-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Better to live in a mud hut with a bowl of rice a day than to live and under the threat of having your bedding torn to shreds by the police and your kids taken away.

Blessing For My To Do List

2011-10-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

“Into the keeping of God I put all doings of today. All disappointments, hindrances, forgotten things, negligences; All gladness and beauty, love, delight, achievement; All that people have done for me, all that I have done for them, my work and my prayers.” –Margaret Cropper

Save Yourself?

2011-10-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Everyone tries to be their own savior. And everyone does a really miserable job at it.

You didn't give birth to yourself. You didn't grow up by yourself. Why do you think you can live a good life on your own power?

Touching Words

2011-10-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

The words most dear to a father's heart from his grown oldest son:

"I loosened it for you."

Contemplating the Future

2011-10-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

"You can't plan ahead because you don't know how much life is left."-John Fagerson

(of course, he was talking about a battery-powered string trimmer)

Tough To Be Generous

2011-10-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

“Be generous when you’re hungry. It’s difficult to be generous when you’re hungry. Yet being generous keeps you from going hungry. Hence the conflict.” -Seth Godin

Significant Silence

2011-10-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Action is essential. But we cannot initiate nor understand action without contemplation.

Love and Respect

2011-08-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Respect is to be earned, not expected. However, we will never have peace without respect.

Trust is to be earned. Yet society cannot exist without trust.

Love is to be granted, not earned. Nothing exists without love.

Root of Evils

2011-07-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

Christianity combined with a love of wealth is an abomination, the worst kind of idolatry.

Be Afraid

2011-07-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

To question and reconsider all things is only threatening to two kinds of people:
Those whose lives are built on lies and those whose power is based on lies.

Unification

2011-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Every relationship marks our identity. Every separation brings its grief, for we lose that part of ourselves.

Rules

2011-07-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

The good cannot be determined by rules. Good is found in principle applied rightly for the sake of others.

Eternal Wisdom

2011-07-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Wisdom is not eternal. It is contextual, limited, relating to culture and ideals. Were it not, it would not be wisdom.

However, we ignore ancient wisdom to our own demise.

Happiness

2011-07-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

No one is satisfied with just pleasure.
We must also have relationship and truth, and these always lead to unhappiness. Strangely enough, a satisfied unhappiness.

Intuition

2011-07-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Intellect is a slave to instinct. This doesn't mean that instinct isn't rational, however.

Story

2011-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Life is narrative.
Who you are is dependent on the story that you see yourself in.

Success

2011-07-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Victory is a thing of the will.

The will to sacrifice oneself for that which is greater than oneself.

Paradox of Trials

2011-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

"In a way, my life is full of burdens

But in a way, You carry them for me"

-Keith Green

Trust

2011-06-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

“It often seems more difficult to trust God than to obeyHim.” –Jerry Bridges

Prayer and Trust

2011-06-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

“Prayer without faith is a beating of the air;

Trust without prayer is a presumptuous bravado.” –Thomas Lye

Dry Spirit

2011-06-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

“My spirit becomes dry because it forgets to feed on You.”–John of the Cross

Pains of Love

2011-06-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

“When you love so deeply there are no guarantees that youwon’t find yourself feeling the pains of love.”-Isa Agape

Baptize Our Hearts

2011-06-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

“O Lord, baptize our hearts into a sense of the needs andconditions of all.” –George Fox

Hymn of the Poor

2011-06-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

“Come, Father of the poor

Come, giver of all gifts

Come, light of every heart

Give our labor rest

Coolness in our heat

Comfort in our grief.”

-13^th century hymn

Love and Suffering

2011-05-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

‎"If we do all we can to avoid suffering, we will never experience the joy of loving." Henri Nouwen

Hearing and Doing

2011-05-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

‎

"Woe to me if I have heard Your Word but have not obeyed it; if I have known it, but not loved it; if I believe it, but do not live it" -Thomas a Kempis

Weakness

2011-05-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

When we have run up against our weaknesses, and can't love anymore, we need to keep striving to live for Him and He'll give us what we need to keep going.

Gossip

2011-05-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

‎"How good and peaceful it is to remain silent about others, neither believing everything that is said, nor repeating everything we see and hear" -Thomas a Kempis

One Ticket to Hell, Please

2011-05-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

If you are a believer in God but don't provide for the hungry, sick or homeless then you go to hell. Jesus said. Matthew 25:41-46

The Lie of Perpetual Consumption

2011-05-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

As long as we teach that economics are driven by self interest, economics will always be driven by self interest.

Loving the Poor

2011-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Jesus doesn't call us to just be philanthropic to the poor. He calls us to love poor people.

Speak The Truth

2011-05-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

A Prayer Before Prayer

2011-05-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

Lord, Father, in light of your promises we ask.
We do not ask because we are worthy
for you have created every bit of good within us.
We do not ask because you owe us something
because you have forgiven us our debts.
We do not ask just because of our need
for you have promised to supply our needs.
Rather we ask because it is pleasing to you for us to ask:
as our Lord said, “Keep asking, and you will receive.”
So out of love for your will
and out of love for your glory
we ask and expect to receive.

Teach Us

2011-05-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

“Teach us your own constancy in love, your humility, selflessness and generosity. Look in pity on our small and tarnished loving, protect and foster and strengthen it that it may be less unworthy to be offered to you and to your children. O Light of the world, teach us how to love.”
-Elizabeth Goudge

Education

2011-05-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

All education is attempted brainwashing. We all do it, because we want to influence the next generation. The only question is whether we agree with what is being taught...

However, if we teach how to think, how to critique, how to love, how to be self-disciplined, that is true education, truly preparing for living in this world and the next.

What Is Love?

2011-05-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained” -CS Lewis.

Walk That Talk

2011-05-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

"God loves us all"
-- we say that, but we have a hard time actually practicing that because we don't take the time to see people through God's eyes. When God looks at an individual, he sees that person as the same as every other person-- an object of loving value

Living Rights

2011-05-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Objectivity Is a Crock

2011-05-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Every experience we have is an interpreted experience. We cannot separate truth from our own perception. This should make us all humble.

Truth in God's Word

2011-05-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Scripture can only lead us to truth. It does not become real until we live it.

Salvation Is a Choice

2011-05-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Spending time with God isn't a requirement, it is an opportunity. We can receive as much salvation as we choose to seek.

To Judge or Not To Judge...

2011-02-24T08:36:00.001-08:00

"I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble." - Rudyard Kipling

After we see enough of a person's actions, then we know who they are without guessing.

Luv Is A Verb

2011-02-16T17:06:00.001-08:00

Love isn't something you find, it's something you do.

Questions and Action

2011-02-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

"The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein

However, don't let your questions keep you from acting.

Sing... Sing a Song...

2011-02-16T13:51:00.001-08:00

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
- Maya Angelou

Imagine A World Without Gratitude

2011-02-16T13:46:00.001-08:00

"Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with grateful hearts & no one to thank."
-Christina Rossetti

Wisdom and Knowledge

2010-12-09T00:04:00.001-08:00

"Knowledge puffs up; love builds up."

Go to God First

2010-12-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

When sick, ask God for healing before you go the doctor. When depressed, ask God for energy before you seek a mental health professional. When poor, ask God for your needs before you seek financial assistance. No, he won’t always help you, but He will do it often enough to have amazing faith-building stories, and your whole life will be a testimony to God’s provision.

One for My Children

2010-12-08T23:43:00.001-08:00

The Kimes self-confidence is both our blessing and our curse. We will step out and do things that no one else will do and be assured of our own success. However, eventually, the people around us get tired of warning about the cliff we have been skirting for so many years. When we finally fall, they will only return to say, “I told you so.”

I Wish I Obeyed This Advice I Came Up With

2010-12-08T23:42:00.001-08:00

Just when everyone is clamoring after you and needing you so they can get close to God—that’s when you need to take a break to rest in God. Don’t wait until you are so exhausted you can’t hear God’s voice. Turn off the phone, lock the door, get off the computer, and stay quiet before God. Don’t return until God says, “Go”.

Enemies and "Friends" of God

2010-12-08T23:41:00.001-08:00

Loudly pray blessings on those who undermine all you do for Jesus—it’ll really bug them. Pray quiet blessings of repentance on those who in Jesus’ name undermine the good you do for Him—God will speak to them in a way you cannot.

Prayer for the Prayerless

2010-12-08T23:38:00.002-08:00

Pray for those whom no “good Christian” would never in their right minds pray for. As soon as you meet someone who seems ignorantly opposed to God’s ways, begin praying for them. It may take years, but God will grasp that person and never let them go.

Heretics v. Hypocrites

2010-12-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Don’t weep for those who loudly reject Jesus and embrace his opposite—they have never really left Him. Rather weep for those who in Jesus’ name do the actions Jesus opposes—they have never really known Him. And they cause the world to forget who He really is.

Intimacy With God

2010-12-08T23:36:00.001-08:00

God isn’t just demanding our respect and gratitude—He wants us to welcome Him on earth. Create and sustain a place and time where God can dwell in your life and He will always be there for you.

Seeking Peace

2010-12-08T23:35:00.003-08:00

Never seek or demand peace or well-being for yourself—that is the surest way to never find it. Seek well-being for God and for those around you, and peace will follow you wherever you go.

The Spirit World

2010-12-08T23:35:00.001-08:00

The spirit world is all around us, influencing us, creating the atmospheres in which our actions breathe. However, the natural spirit world on earth promotes chaos and death. Only the one who seeks the Holy Spirit lives in an oasis of peace.

Choose to Listen

2010-12-08T23:34:00.001-08:00

The one who listens is more powerful than the one who speaks. Although they never get any credit, the listeners are the ones who create good in the world. The one who listens to other humans grant space for them to discover themselves. The ones who listen to creation opens up new worlds previously undiscovered, although right before our eyes. The one who listens to the Spirit creates a highway between heaven and earth.

Question Education

2010-12-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Most education is a crock. Learn what you need to live on. Learn how to survive on what you do well. It may require some suffering and quite a bit of poverty on the way, but make it a goal to live on what you love to do.

Depending on Others' Self Control

2010-12-08T23:31:00.001-08:00

Control yourself, because you can’t depend on anyone else controlling themselves.

Spiritual Slavery

2010-12-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

“Do you know what makes people really spiritual? It is when they become enslaved to God and are branded with his sign, the sign of the cross, signifying that they have surrendered their freedom to Him. Then He can sell them as slaves to the entire world, as He himself was sold.”

-Teresa of Avila

All I Want Is To Have My Peace of Mind

2010-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

What Life Is About

2010-10-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

The Worst Addiction

2010-10-04T23:58:00.000-07:00

Respect for Silence

2010-09-29T10:00:00.001-07:00

“There are times when, out of respect for silence, even good words are not spoken.”
-Benedict of Nursia

Perfection

2010-09-29T09:59:00.005-07:00

“We show ourselves to be more perfect by aspiring to a still higher perfection.”
-Bernard of Clairvaux

"Come Back!"

2010-09-29T09:59:00.001-07:00

“When the Word departs, the soul can only blurt out its one unrelenting desire: ‘Come back!’”
-Bernard of Clairvaux

My Favorite St. Francis Quote

2010-09-29T09:56:00.001-07:00

“Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
-Francis of Assisi

Union with God

2010-09-29T09:55:00.003-07:00

“Contemplation is a mystical union that cannot be described.”
-Gregory Palamas

The Virtue of Mercy

2010-09-29T09:55:00.001-07:00

“The virtue of mercy means giving aid to all in need and approaching offenders with compassion.”
-Gregory Palamas

True Purity

2010-09-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

“It is repentance that made us clean, compassion that made us ready and true desire for God that made us worthy.”
-Julian of Norwich

Hospitality to All

2010-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

“The brothers should be careful not to make any place their own or argue about it, whether it be a hermitage or any other place. And whoever comes to them, whether friend or foe, thief or robber, they should receive with kindness.”
-Francis of Assisi

Look Into Their Eyes

2010-09-29T09:52:00.001-07:00

“There should never be a brother, anywhere in the world, who sins and then, having looked into your eyes, goes away without receiving mercy, if mercy is what he seeks.”
-Francis of Assisi

Walking on Water

2010-09-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

“There are two ways to live: You can walk on dry land with utter legitimacy and respectability, measuring, weighting and planning ahead. Or you can walk on the waters, and then it becomes impossible to measure or plan ahead because the only thing necessary is to believe at every moment. An instant of doubt, and you start to sink.”
-Maria Skobtsova

Other-worldliness

2010-09-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

“The more we go out into the world and give ourselves to the world, the less we are of the world, because what is of the world does not give itself to the world.”
-Maria Skobtsova

"There Is But One Law"

2010-09-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

“Our relationship to other people should not be a sort of extra burden added to our own crosses, not some pious exercise or duty or act of virtue. There is just one law here. Only this determines our relationship: seeing the image of God in the other and then adopting him as a son. This is where duty, virtue, and pious exercise all fade away.”
-Maria Skobtsova

"Shut Out Everything But God"

2010-09-29T09:48:00.001-07:00

Little man, come and turn aside for a while from your daily work, escape for a moment from your turbulent thinking. Put aside your weighty cares, let your burdensome distractions wait, free yourself a while for God and rest for a time in Him. Enter the recesses of your soul, shut out everything but God and what can help you seek Him. Then, when you have closed the door, seek Him. Now, my whole heart, say to God, “I seek your face, Lord it is your face that I seek.”
-Anselm

The Never Ending Cycle

2010-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Never cease being generous. As soon as you run out of stuff to give, God will grant you more than you distribute yourself. Then you will have to have others assist you in giving. In that way, you are saving not only yourself, but all who assist you, gaining nothing for themselves.

Hoover or Bonneville?

2010-09-29T09:45:00.001-07:00

Damn this world and the boxes they put people in!

Damn its judgments and stereotypes!

And damn us if we give into them.

Positive Rebellion

2010-09-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Be subversive for the good. Question the unquestionable. Every time someone says “You can’t do that,” think to yourself, “why not?” Every time you find yourself fitting into the stream, ask yourself, “Is this where justice is?” And when you find everyone saying good things about you, find out what’s wrong with you.

Good and Bad Leadership

2010-09-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

Be very picky about the leaders that you follow. Make sure they aren’t greedy, hypocritical, irrational, boastful, judgmental, or rash.

The best leader is the one who knows human hearts but who has mercy on other people anyway; the one who brings out the best in the worst people; the one who lives out what they say and so benefits other people; the one who brings peace with them in the midst of quarrels; the one who uses his or her own anger for building.

The Limitation of God

2010-09-29T09:41:00.001-07:00

Never doubt that God could do anything through prayer. The only limitation God has is the righteous one who says, “Well, God can’t do THAT.”

Not Judging The Criminal

2010-09-29T09:40:00.001-07:00

Never judge by appearances. The rowdiest, cussingest, disgustingest person could also be the one with the kindest heart. And God can redeem even the meanest, hardest-hearted SOB.

Churches are Disqualified

2010-09-29T09:39:00.001-07:00

God’s spirit never abides in any organization, only in the humble individual.

Endurance

2010-09-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Keep doing good, no matter what the consequence, and you will eventually change the world.

Saints are Lonely

2010-09-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

The one who does good to everyone will eventually fail and do evil. At this point, everyone they helped will turn away from them and they will only have God who forgives everyone who cries out to Him. For this reason, in the end, God is the only friend of the righteous.

"We Got Another Ton of Food Today..."

2010-09-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

The one who gives all their wealth to the poor obtains from God even greater wealth so that he can continue to give to the poor.

More stuff means more giving and more giving means more stuff which means more giving. This is a good problem. Yeah, "good", sure. But tiring.

Better To Give Than Receive

2010-09-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

The truly humble person never seeks anything for themselves—but God will make sure that they gain all they need and more.

Slow Suicide

2010-09-06T07:53:00.001-07:00

How rare is the person who is truly concerned about the well-being of everyone! And how exhausted they must be! It is truly a form of suicide—but one that God will reward with life.

Who Am I? And How Many of Me Are There?

2010-09-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Every person is fundamentally schizophrenic—of two or more minds. Rare is the person who is so clear-minded to know who they really are in all of their aspects. To know oneself is to know through which lenses one sees the world.

Think on These Things...

2010-09-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

What a man thinks, he does. What he does, he is. Character is ultimately based on thought. Thus, what creates our thought creates us.

Surrender

2010-09-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

The best person is the one who sacrifices themselves at God’s command. The worst person is the one who claims to speak for God but spouts their own opinions and seeks harm. Religion is both the greatest boon and the worst deception.