Brian's Blog » Quotes

Poverty

Brian — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 01:31:18 +0000

“In Conversation, the disciple who is truly poor in spirit always leaves the other person with the feeling, ‘My life has been enriched by talking with you.’ This is neither false modesty nor phony humility. His or her life has been enriched and graced. He is not all exhaust and no intake. She does not impose herself on others. He listens well because he knows he has so much to learn from others. Her spiritual poverty enables her to enter the world of the other even when she cannot identify with that world: i.e., the drug culture, the gay world. The poor in spirit are the most nonjudgmental of peoples; they get along well with sinners

The poor man and woman of the gospel have made peace with their flawed existence. They are aware of their lack of wholeness, their brokenness, the simple fact that they don’t have it all together. While they do no excuse their sin, they are humbly aware that sin is precisely what has caused them to throw themselves at the mercy of the Father. They do not pretend to be anything but what they are: sinners saved by grace.” –Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Excuses

Ragamuffin Gospel

Brian — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:19:08 +0000

“The Sinners to whom Jesus directed His messianic ministry were not those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church. His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners. They had done nothing to merit salvation. Yet they opened themselves to the gift offered to them. On the other hand, the self-righteous placed their trust in the works of the Law and closed their hearts to the message of grace.” –Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Observation about Jesus

Brian — Mon, 30 May 2005 16:31:31 +0000

I found this from another blog. It’s a few observations about Jesus from Rob Bell:

When you look at the life Jesus lived…
You don’t find Jesus distracted.
You don’t find Jesus rushed.
You don’t find Jesus worried.
You don’t find Jesus having to do it all.
You don’t find Jesus living with guilt.

One Another

Brian — Sat, 28 May 2005 16:37:36 +0000

This is something I read from Joshua Harris’s book, Stop Dating The Church, Fall in Love with the Family of God. It’s a list of references in the bible that use the phrase, “one another.” In other words, this is how you should treat one another in church community:

Love one another (John 13:34)
Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:5)
Honor one another (Romans 12:10)
Rejoice with one another (Romans 12:15)
Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
Carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
Confess our sins to one another (James 5:16)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)

Suffering

Brian — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 00:32:31 +0000

Followers of Christ suffer just like everyone else. The pain is just as real, the disappointment just as deep the tears just as profound. Yet how we face suffering is quite different. God allows us to see through the suffering. We rejoice in our sufferings knowing our pain is not without meaning. We persevere in the confidence that we ourselves are being transformed. Perseverance produces character, and character, hope. And hope, we will discover, is the ultimate gift gained in wisdom. –Erwin McManus, Uprising

Something I Read

Brian — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 14:24:55 +0000

Even the language of pop pyschology betrays us. We are told that the most important thing is to take care of yourself. The secret to personal well-being is that you must love yourself. Everything begins with you. “You can’t love anyone else until you love yourself” is the mantra we are invited to embrace. We are given professional permission to put ourselves above everyone and everything else. In this screnario love is all about consumption. You’ve got to take what you need before you can give. The belief is that once you’ve taken enough, you’ll be satisfied and being to give to others.

Yet the reality is very different from this scenario. When we are broken, there’s never enough. When we are emotionally fragmented, we leak. No matter howmuch we consume, how much we take for ourselves, we always find ourselves empty in the end. This in turn leaves you only more frustrated and embittered. You stop believing that what you are searching for is really out there. And how can you give what you don’t have enough of? Or why would you give something that has left you unsatisfied and unfulfilled? –Erwin McManus, Uprising

Needs

Brian — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 20:51:30 +0000

I dedicated the first 10 years of my life to learning how to communicate and take care of myself in this world. I dedicated the next 10 years of my life to getting what I could get out of life and basically trying to have the best life I could have for myself. I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to serving others in whatever ways I can. I would say that my needs have been met more in the last 10 years I have spent focused on others, than the 20 years I spent focused on me. Funny how God works that way. Rob wrote in a bulletin insert asking for Guides the line “To really live, you must give.” There’s a lot of wisdom there. I almost think that God witholds some of his “need meeting” until we begin to truly understand that it’s not about us. I think that’s the most counter cultural phrase I utter on a regular basis, because everything around us argues that it si about us. It’s so deeply engrained in us that it’s bound to bring feelings of frustration to the surface. True freedom comes with the understanding that I’m not really the center of all that’s around me. There’s a bulletin board I read frequently that usually has stuff on it that I think hurts the kingdom, but this week’s isn’t so bad: “True humilty is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.” –Nathan

This quote is part of the response to my firery rant post. You can read the full reply here. I might write a follow up post soon, just need time to organize my thoughts.

No related posts.

Words of Encouragement

Brian — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 03:02:42 +0000

“The one thing is just to always keep your eyes on Jesus. It sounds pretty right, it sounds pretty simple, but the wonderful message of the gospel is that Jesus is with you always. He�s never away form you. Sometimes you will feel distance from him, but he is not away from you. And no matter what you�re doing and no matter how far you slip, no matter how much trouble you get into, no matter how much trouble you create, no matter how much damage you do, he is still there. He still loves you, he still wants to make a difference in your life, and he is still in the business of turning people around. He simple asks you to do a simple little prayer like, �Jesus help save me.� You hit bottom� �Jesus help save me.� Keep your eyes on him in the good times and the bad times, not just in the exciting times, and he�ll be there.” –Doug Doyle, at Plunge Worship

Books and Reading

Brian — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 21:52:43 +0000

I finished reading Pride and Prejudice last night. The characterization is well done; and so is the story.

And yes, I know what it is. If you want to know… go read the novel.

Coincidently, and conveniently, the copy of Searching for God Knows What that I ordered came in the mail today. I read the first chapter just now, and it’s just like Blue Like Jazz in almost every way. I don’t believe that I, or you if you read it, will be disappointed.

“Katie Couric was interviewing a fellow who had written a book about how Donald Rumsfeld was actually the Antichrist, and I must confess, I practiced answering all her questions, knowing that I, too, would some day be interviewed by Katie Couric:
You really make Mr. Rumsfeld out to be a monster, Mr. Miller. This seems unfounded. How did you come to these conclusions?
I had him followed by a private detective, a high-tech guy I found at Radio Shack. Everything in the book is documented, Miss Couric. Or may I call you Katie? Or may I just call you?”

“I had terrific ideas; I really did. I was going to write a story about a nun who takes over small third world countries by causing their evil dictators to fall in love with her, leaving a trail of magachurches and democracy in her wake. The book was going to be called Sister Democracy, Show Some Leg!”

“Of course, I got frustrated. And it really got me thinking that, perhaps, formula books, by that I mean books that take you through a series of steps, may not be at all compatible with the Bible… …My friend at the Bible college believes the qualities that improve a person’s life are relational, relational to God and to the folks around us. This made a lot of sense, too, because when Jesus was walking around on earth He taught His disciples truths through experience, first telling them stories, then walking with them, then causing stuff to happen like a storm on the sea, then reiterating the idea He had taught them the day before. Even if it took years before the disciples understood, and even then the Holy Spirit had to come and wrap things up. So it made me realize that either God didn’t know about the formulas, or the formulas weren’t able to change a person’s heart.”
–Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

There is a lot more covered in the first chapter, much more than I could possibly quote without getting busted by the copyright police. Particularly, he talks about how he was unable to find a formula to happiness in the Bible by examining the lives of Peter, Paul, and Stephen.

Well, I’ll keep reading.

P.S. I will now be keeping my copy of Pride and Prejudice in my van. So now when a girl asks me, “You own a copy of Pride and Prejudice?” I can say, “Yes, yes I do… And I’ve read it.”

Girls

Brian — Sun, 19 Sep 2004 20:54:59 +0000

I spent most of this weekend hanging out with groups of girls, with myself being the only guy in the group. It wasn�t exactly my plan, but that is how it turned out�actually I didn�t have a plan this weekend, so the fact that I hung out with anyone was very nice. It was not awkward, except for the fact that in my previous blog I was a challenging my masculinity, but I didn�t let that get to me. And yes, I did end up seeing a chick flick, which I did enjoy.

I am pretty certain if I ever get married and have kids that all my children will be girls�it�s just a hunch that I have. I am pretty sure that I will have that genetic defect.

So today I saw Mara get baptized. Her dad took a really long time giving her encouragement and loving her before she was dunked; I wish he took even more time. And I hope that his speech does not get shortened when it is played at Plunge tonight. The reason is that I have met a countless number of girls who have been mistreated by their fathers. To see what I saw this morning was simply incredible. Everyone deserves what Mara has.

Here’s a song:

Many times a day I think of you
And how our family�s grown in just these last few years
What a feeling
And I marvel looking at you
You�re a mama
I�m a papa

And as I ponder what we�ll pass along
The only family fortune is our God
What a longing
To see our children behold Him
Like their mama
Like their papa

For some reason now I�m caused to think of Him
Jesus weeping for Jerusalem
What a longing
To gather under His wings
Like a mama
Like a papa
–Steve Bell