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Crystal Clear!
The first of the ten commandments is crystal
clear. There is only one God who is worthy of worship. "Every religion at
its core is exclusive." * This is certainly true of Christianity. Let us
worship the one true God, and only him.
*Ravi Zacharias, p.7,
Jesus Among Other Gods
A Prayer begins . . .
Our Father in heaven, you are precious to us. We are listening to your voice, desiring to
do your will in every situation. Help us follow your commandments.
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We've carefully selected book quotations that tell a story, make a point, seek to
inspire, challenge your mind or touch your heart. In addition, they expose you to
the writer's style, ability and knowledge. Hopefully, it will be enough to wet your
appetite and you'll want to read the whole book.
You can buy any book at the clickle
of your mouse. The "Buy Now" links at the end of each quotation give you three great
Internet booksellers from which to choose.
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Two selected book quotations begin . . .
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The Blond-Haired Life Preserver
Category: Christian Living, Marriage
Keywords: neglected, devalued, mistreated, fears, life preserver, storybook, dates, married, spouse, marriage, Zondervan Publishing House, Hybels, Bill Hybels, Lynne Hybels
"A young person who was neglected, devalued, or mistreated during his growing-up years
often feels like he is drowning emotionally. Feelings swirl around inside of his so fast
he fears he will get sucked under and never be able to come up. Just then a five-foot
four-inch blond-haired life preserver floats by. The young man does what any drowning
person would do: he grabs for dear life. Maybe she can help me. Maybe she can
save me from drowning. The five-foot four-inch blond interprets the young man's
tight embrace as true love. True Love! The storybook kind. The kind that will last a
life time. The kind she has been searching for.
After a sermon in which this metaphor was used, a woman named Sheila said through her
tears, 'I almost vomited when I heard the part about someone reaching out for a life
preserver. That's what happened to me, but I didn't understand it until I heard it
described today. I've only been married a few months. I thought it was
true love.
Nobody ever reached out to me the way this man did. Nobody ever called me as often or
dated me as passionately as this man did. Nobody ever wrote the kind of notes this man
did. Nobody ever hugged and embraced and hung onto me the way this man did. I was sure
it was true love. But just last Monday night my husband beat me up. He accused me of
drifting away from him!'
A man or woman who latches onto a life preserver, dates ferociously for a few months,
then gets married, is opening the door for disaster. One day the life-preserving spouse
is going to get out of bed and say, 'Please, can you give me just a little slack? Can
you give me a little space? You've been clutching me so tightly I'm losing my breath.'
And that pain-filled, drowning spouse is going to interpret that request for space as
another round of rejection, or neglect, or abuse--and the threat will be too much to
bear. The marriage will go up for grabs."
SoAmazing Review: Do your want to start your marriage
with your feet on the ground? Fit To Be Tied by Bill and Lynne Hybels
abounds with good advice.
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Celebrate The Differences
Category: Christian Living
Keywords: Vince Bacote,
Imago Dei, postmodern, relationships, racially, integrationist,
colorblindness, church, Christian, God, Harper San Francisco, Wilson, John Wilson,
Yancey, Philip Yancey
"Postmodernism has helped us to recapture the startling idea that humanity's
kaleidoscopic diversity is made in the Imago Dei, the divine image.
If God is truly three in one, then being in the image of God cannot mean anything less
than relationship between differing persons. As a postmodern Christian, I must reckon
with the fact that a substantial aspect of my faithfulness in reflecting the
Imago Dei will be my relationships, especialy with those who racially or
otherwise, are different from me. The integrationist dream of unity without differences
is not only implausible to a postmodern world, it is sub-Christian.
Correspondingly, it may be that rather than trying to obliterate my otherness under the
banner of 'colorblindness,' I should actively bring my own differences into my
relationships. This goes against my North American instincts--where friendships are
usually constructed on similarity--but it is an ineveitable conclusion in a postmodern
world filled with inescapable differences.
But this extends beyond my own circle of
relationships into the church. If the church is indeed a diverse body that requires
variety in order to flourish, then the celebration of diversity as a community is as
vital as organs in a human body. And since the church is the first fruits of a redeemed
humanity, diversity must be equally vital for humanity's own well-being. For those like
me who swim easily in the majority culture, it is tempting to smooth over differences,
but that shortchut is self-defeating."
"
SoAmazing Review: Celebrate the diversity of the
human race that God has created. The Best Christian Writing 2000 is a
collection of 28 thoughtful and challenging essays written by 28 different Christian
voices plus an introducion by Philip Yancey and the input of John Wilson, the series
editor.
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