Quotes that have impacted me… (Part 1)

I love good quotes. I have a folder on my laptop reserved for my favorite quotes. Here are some quotes that have inspired and challenged me. (Spoiler Warning: Be prepared for a healthy dose of Richard Rohr, one of my favorite authors)

“Real grace is simply inexplicable, inappropriate, out of the box, out
of bounds, offensive, excessive, too much, (and) given to the wrong
people.”

“…at the heart of true Christian experience is this inexplicable,
annoyingly inappropriate, wondrously superlative experience of Jesus
saying, “I don’t condemn you. Go and live your life.” He says it to the divorced. To the expelled. To the unemployed. He says it to criminals. To perverts. To the damaged and the worthless. He says it to cutters, to whores, to greedy businessmen, to unfaithful husbands, to porn addicts and thieves. He says it to the lazy, the unholy, the confused and even the religious. He says it to you and to me. It’s how he changes lives, and it’s as dangerous as ever.”
-Michael Spencer (InternetMonk)

“Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity; Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.” -Richard Rohr (RR)

“This historic Christian doctrine of the divinity of Christ does not simply mean that Jesus is like God. It is far more radical than that. It means that God is like Jesus.”
-Elton Trueblood

"You can take it as a general rule that when you don't transform your pain you will always transmit it." -RR

"True transformation always demands that we pay the price for the other's growth. We would rather punish and coerce a response. God is much more patient." -RR

"Jesus receives our hatred and does not return it. He suffers and does not make the other suffer. He does not first look at changing others, but pays the price of change within Himself. He absorbs the mystery of human sin rather than passing it on. He does not use His suffering and death as power over others to punish them, but as power for others to transform them." -RR

"In the Divine Economy nothing is wasted, not even sin, evil or death." -RR

"Jesus is, in some ways, the only true revolutionary. Most revolutions merely rearrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic. Jesus built a new boat." -RR

"You cannot think yourself into a new way of living, but you must live yourself into a new way of thinking" -RR

"God uses all of us as instruments. Christians just have the advantage of knowing they are indeed instruments - and living in that joy now." -RR

"Until the present falls apart, we will never look for Something More." -RR

“We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him.” -C.S. Lewis

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – the Apostle Paul

"The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better." -RR

“I think that the deepest challenge of the spiritual quest is not to defend the answers of our spiritual ancestors but to do as they did—to dig and scrape and take ourselves into that uncomfortable space where growth happens.”
-From Dr. Valerie Tarico- Non-theists and
Evangelicals: The IM Interview July 31, 2009

What are some quotes that have impacted you?

Sodom's Sin (It's not what you think)

It’s definitely not what I think of when I hear the word Sodom. I think if you ask the average person what Sodom is remembered for one thing comes to mind: perverted sexuality. Jason Boyett humorously captures the typical story of Sodom that gets passed on from Genesis 19:

“An angry mob tries to break down Lot’s door so they can get it on with Lot’s two angelic visitors. Out of loyalty to his guests, Lot refuses, and offers his two virgin daughters instead. Ah…family values.”

And, like Paul Harvey, you know the rest of the story. Now rest assured that I am no bible scholar. I do not know much about the Greek or Hebrew languages and I certainly do not know much about the Aramaic dialect that Jesus spoke. I have a hard enough time understanding translated Scripture as it is. But something has come to my attention lately that seems to always get overlooked with Sodom: fasting.

Yes. I said fasting. The destruction of Sodom had more to do with…wait for it…fasting than it did with sexual immorality. SaY WhaT?!? Stay with me. Before you write this off as ridiculous finish this paragraph. Did you know that the prophet Ezekiel identifies the “sin of Sodom” as the fact that they were “arrogant and overfed” and that they “did not care about the poor and the oppressed?” (Ezekiel 16:48-50). Read it for yourself. I know…what does helping the poor and needy have to do with fasting? Glad you asked. Check out Isaiah 58…One of the most beautiful and stunning definitions of fasting in all of Scripture:

Isaiah 58
True Fasting
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

I don’t know about you but the story of Sodom just hit really close to home…
Thoughts?

Liquid

I am parched. I find myself thirsty for Something. Somewhere in the core of my being I have a longing that this world cannot satisfy. My thirst for Life has intensified over the past few years.

I am stained. I find myself rebelling against Something. Somewhere in the core of my being I have an illness that this world cannot cure. My decisions reek of selfishness.

I am excited. I find myself being drawn by Something. Somewhere in the core of my being I’ve experienced an injection of grace that’s not of this world. It continues to bring healing, forgiveness, joy, and freedom.

I am ricky. I am an undeserving, blessed man on a journey of transformation. I am an average guy who married my high school sweetheart (I love you Ambo!) who loves to have fun in life.

Ok…enough of the vague attempted poetry. The bottom line is I am a guy who is trying to follow Jesus with my life. The Something is actually Someone. Most of the time I fall flat on my face trying to live like Jesus. The truth is I really stink at trying to live like Jesus. My journey in life to this point has been a humbling experience of learning, unlearning, and relearning. I successfully gift-wrapped many…uh…let’s call them “projections” of God in my mind that have since been obliterated by Grace. He is bigger than the limits I place on Him. Liquid ThinkTank is simply a conversation space for learning, unlearning, and relearning. It’s a place for anyone on life’s journey seeking Something. It’s a place where we can ask, seek, and knock together.

Thirsty anyone?

Coming Soon!

Ok...Finally...I am almost through with all my coursework for Lamar University...The boring school assignment topics are a thing of the past...The "New" Liquid ThinkTank is coming soon. Stay tuned...