Inappropriate Conversations

"[Jason Varitek] … He caught it!"   Luke 18:15-17 (faith needs to include the awe and wonder of childhood)   #IC 66: Child's Play and Imagination (8/24/11)   #IC 67: Making the World Safe for Kids? (8/30/11)  

"When he spoke it would raise the roof. Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth, but he made too many enemies of the people who would keep us on our knees." Andy Partridge   Mark 2:1-12 (some religious people were unhappy at seeing miraculous healing)   #IC 53: Secular Visions of Divinity (4/17/11)   #IC 29: My Prayer for a Football Game (9/23/10)   #IC 30: Establishment of Religion (9/30/10)   XTC - Non...

“We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ. We do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him.” C.S. Lewis John 14:1-14 (when Jesus says He is the Way, He is not identifying gatekeeping rules that even He must obey as our Lord; He is telling us that He picks the Way) #IC 20: Reading 'Chapter and Verse' on What I Don't Believe (7/20/10) #IC 61: Impermanence of Time...

"What do you think it's gonna do when I live by faith and now my work is through? It's gonna rain! … I'm so happy to say, it's gonna rain on the world today." Gordon Gano Genesis 6:9-7:24 (flood continued for 40 days, and waters swelled on the earth for 150 days) #IC 3: Light and Shadow (3/19/10) Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground  

"Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Amos of Tekoa Amos 5:21-24 (it’s not about festivals, assemblies, songs or offerings; it’s about justice) #IC 157: Letting Justice Roll (1/19/15) #IC 231: Letting  Justice Roll 2 (7/29/20)  

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle of Stagira   Proverbs 13:13-17 (teaching of the wise is a fountain of life)   #IC 60: Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion - part 2 (6/15/11)   A Return of Sorts – 10 Areas of Agreement (10/8/23)   #IC 55: A Better Way to Debate (5/8/11)  

"Why were we put here? What for? We're unsure. We sure weren't put here to hate." Nate Albert and Dicky Barrett Matthew 7:13-23 (knowing them by their fruit, there are some who claim the name of the Lord but Jesus has said he won’t even recognize them) #IC 180: Jesus Quote Bubble (2/10/16) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It  

"You cannot ask Jesus into your heart alone. He will ask, 'Can I bring my friends?'  You will look at his friends -- the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed -- and you will hesitate. But Jesus is clear, 'Only if I can bring my friends.'"  Peter Storey John 10:14-16 (“I have other Sheep,” Jesus said. “I must bring them also”) #IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14) Walk The Earth 29 (8/22/15) W...

"I see anger as a complex series of body changes triggered off by a sudden awareness of danger. This reaction to stress can be regarded as our survival kit, shared in some measure with all living creatures. All of us live, to some extent, in danger." David R. Mace Ephesians 4:26 (the old adage about not going to sleep angry is directly Biblical) #IC 8: Christian Response to the Sexual Revolution …...

"Whether we can take 'a life for a life' is one question; whether we should is another. Cain and Abel pose an answer. Rather than taking life for life and delivering a powerful message by killing Cain, God instead banished Cain from the community. To say the least, we must not be cavalier about death penalty decisions." The Author   Genesis 4:13-16 (mark of Cain directly dismisses any death penalt...

"Honesty is not the best policy because of the pitfalls of lying; it is best because of the feeling of being deeply and genuinely known." The Author Ephesians 4:25 (speak the truth because we are part of one another) #IC 167: Speaking Truth to Power (6/18/15) #IC 217: Right Reasons  

"Life's an essay test; we're obliged to give essay answers." The Author Acts 17:16-34 (I proclaim to you now what you worship as Unknown) #IC 1: Introduction to Inappropriate Conversations (3/7/10) #IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14)  #IC 97: Any One Being Ashamed (8/8/12)    

"It's the things which aren't said that do the most damage." Luc Longley Acts 4:1-22 (we cannot keep from speaking about what we’ve seen and heard) #IC 80: Revelation Weekend (2/5/12) Walk The Earth 48 (11/18/17) Lucien James Longley  

The General,  Aloma of the South Seas,  Faust,  among others.  

“The world is like a book that can be read in either direction. There is the power of creation, to make something of nothing. And there is the power of destruction, to make nothing from something.”  Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz Galatians 5:13-26 (works of the flesh versus fruits of the spirit) #IC 21: Permanent Things I Believe (7/27/10)  Larry Crabb - The Silence of Adam Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz

"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  Ezekiel of Jerusalem Ezekiel 36:25-28 (a new heart and a new spirit as a baptism of sorts) #IC 189: Apocalyptic...

"I wasn't voted most likely to succeed. Instead, it was most likely to be found on a mountaintop in Guadalajara writing the world's most profound three-word sentence."  The Author Mark 9:2-13 (when they looked around, they saw no one else with them anymore) #IC 79: A Farewell Address from the Mountaintop (1/29/12)  #IC 90: Moments of Epiphany (5/23/12) #IC 80: Revelation Weekend (2/5/12)  

"As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence."  Benjamin Franklin Luke 12:8-12 (the Spirit will tell you what to say) #IC 21: Permanent Things I Believe (7/27/10) #90 Moments of Epiphany (5/23/12) Benjamin Franklin  

"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."  Leonard Cohen Romans 5:1-11 (we were sinful when Christ stepped in) #IC 201: The Sound of Sustainability (6/14/17)  Leonard Cohen - The Future  

"We do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer."  Rob Bell Luke 15:1-7 (this fellow Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them, they said) #IC 131: Christianity 301 (10/22/13) Rob Bell - Love Wins  

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”  Carl G. Jung 2 Corinthians 13:5 (test yourself to see if you are living in the faith) #IC 44: Sacred Friendship (1/27/11) #IC 227: Some Assembly Required, Chapter 5 (7/6/20) C. G. Jung - Psychology and Alchemy  

"Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect."  Peter of Bethsaida 1 Peter 3:13-17 (how to account for the hope that is in you) #IC 136: Converse or Convert (1/1/14) #IC 131: Christianity 301 (10/22/13)  

“Love and the self are one and the discovery of either is the realization of both.”  Leo Buscaglia 1 John 4:7-21 (everyone who loves is born of God and knows God) #IC 120: Making Contact (5/15/13) Leo Buscaglia - Love (special edition)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Henry David Thoreau Mark 9:38-41 (we saw someone casting out demons in your name) #IC 2: The Author and Different Drummer (3/14/10) Henry David Thoreau - Walden  

"Men cannot see their reflections in running water, but only in still water." Zhuang Zhou Psalm 46:10 (be still, and know that I am God) #IC 44: Sacred Friendship (1/27/11) Zhuang Zhou - Zhuangzi