Sacramental Living » Quotable

Some Excellent Quotes from Jim Wallis

Brian Niece — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:16:06 +0000

Some randomness from Wallis’s Call to Conversion.

“Community is a place to grow in truth, wholeness and holiness. The only way to propagate a message is to live it. That is why there can be no conversion without community. Community makes conversion historically visible.”

“The ability of people to move to a new place tomorrow depends on the love and acceptance they feel today . . The only thing greater than our awareness of each other’s sins is the awareness of God’s love for us and God’s desire to see us healed and made whole. The principal lesson of community is. . that God breaks in at the weak places.”

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Words to Live By

Brian Niece — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:51:40 +0000

“My dear friend, abandon yourself, and you will find me. Give up your will and every title to yourself, and you will always come out ahead, for greater grace will be yours the moment you turn yourself over to me once and for all.”

–From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Japanese Proverb

Brian Niece — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:01:49 +0000

“The reverse side also has a reverse side.”

… lest we forget that our Triune God is the definition of diversity without dissonance.Related Posts:

Quotes for the Incarnational Journey

Brian Niece — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:57:37 +0000

My heart’s cry:

To go where healing love is needed, and give it in a way in which it can be received, often means acting in the teeth of our own interests and preferences, even religious interests and preferences. Christ risked his reputation for holiness by healing on the Sabbath; he touched the unclean and dined with the wrong people; he accepted the love and companionship of a sinner (that most wonderful of all remedies for the wounds of sin). He loved with God’s love and so went straight to the point: What can I do to restore my fellow creature and how?

–From The Light of Christ by Evelyn Underhill

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
How easy or difficult is it for you to be like Christ in these ways?

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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From Quotes on My Wall

Brian Niece — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:16:10 +0000

“Intercession is spiritual defiance of what is, in the name of what God has promised. … History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.”

– Walter Wink

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Tags: spiritual defiance, God, future

Holy Father, Forgive Us

Brian Niece — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:35:40 +0000

Here’s a quote that causes me to repent of any part I have played in war:

“The darkness has fallen and invaded all of the Gaza Strip. We tried to protest against the war today, but gunmen shot at us when we tried to cross the street. This was a peaceful demonstration to try to get these gunmen to stop killing our future, to stop killing our hope. The darkness has fallen. There are no other words. Gaza is not a place for human beings anymore.”

- Hossam al-Madhoun, lifelong Gaza resident. (Source: NPR)

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Tags: quote, repent, Gaza, protest, war

From Quotes on My Wall

Brian Niece — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:06:59 +0000

“We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us, so we talk in order to straighten out their understanding … One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let our justification rest entirely with God.” — Richard Foster

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Tags: fear, silence, freedom, God, Richard Foster

People Love to Come and See You Burn

Brian Niece — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:09:45 +0000

I was in north Florida most of Saturday, speaking at a youth convention. On the way back home, in the late afternoon, soon after I crossed the Georgia state line, I had to flip on my lights and slow down.

It was black as night … an ominous and eerie sort of dark.

And then I smelled it … the smell of burnt wood, reminiscent of a fall camping cook-out. What I was experiencing was the smoke drift from the raging fires further west in the state.

I was amazed that the wind had carried the smoke so far. The expanse of the fires finally meant something to me. I prayed for those fighting the fires and those in its way.

After a few miles, I came out of the smoke, the dark, flipped off the headlights and finished my trip home.

Except for praying again for those involved on Sunday, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about the fires. Then it happened.

Today as I was out and about I perceived a small haze. When I got out of the car, I smelled that smell again … the camping cook-out smell. Though it was fainter now, the smoke had hit the coast. I wondered today, just how far the smoke from these fires carries.

At once it hit me … a quote attributed to John Wesley: “When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn.” I asked myself, “How far is my the smoke from my fire carrying?” And for the community of faith I minister to and with, are we burning so pervasively, are we such a bright light ablaze with passion, that people see us burn? Or are we just being ignored?

If we’re ignored, we might not be on fire at all!

SO TELL ME:
Does your fire need to be stoked?

SO TELL ME SOMETHING ELSE:
Is anybody watching you, or are you being ignored?

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Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Tags: Georgia, fires, praying, smoke, John Wesley, burn, community, faith

From Quotes on My Wall

Brian Niece — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:52:11 +0000

“The Crucifixion settled who and what God is; the resurrection settled that God is. And just so the crucifixion settled also who and what we are, if we are anything determinate.” — Robert Jenson

So … are you anything determinate?Related Posts: