"Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But if I can't trust my own thinking, of course I can't trust the arguments leading to Atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God."
― C S Lewis, The Case for Christianity
― C S Lewis, The Case for Christianity
Belief Statement...
I believe that the universe was intricately designed, created and is sustained by an imaginative, intelligent, all-powerful being; that this being is self-revealed as the holy God of the Bible - a loving, merciful, compassionate God; that ALL humans are made in the image of the creator, who loves completely and unconditionally EVERY individual; I am loved - not because of, not in spite of, but simply because I am - so much that God entered the world in the form of Jesus Christ, who lived, was crucified, and was resurrected to live again; that this incarnation provides the bridge to relationship with the creator, and that this resurrection provides Hope.
While Jesus lived on this earth he ministered to the marginalized, modeled compassion, confronted the status quo, and taught those who chose to follow him how to live. I choose to follow him. Many who have followed have reflected light along the journey and are more articulate than I - a smattering of quotes from some of these may help to illustrate what I believe to be true.
While Jesus lived on this earth he ministered to the marginalized, modeled compassion, confronted the status quo, and taught those who chose to follow him how to live. I choose to follow him. Many who have followed have reflected light along the journey and are more articulate than I - a smattering of quotes from some of these may help to illustrate what I believe to be true.
Richard Rohr
“Being created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) gives everyone an equal and inherent dignity. However, in every age and culture, we have seen regressions toward racism, sexism, homophobia, militarism, ableism, and classism. This pattern tells me that unless we see dignity as being given universally, objectively, and from the beginning by God, we humans will constantly think it is up to us to decide. But our tragic history demonstrates that one group cannot be trusted to portion out worthiness and dignity to another. Our criteria tend to be self-referential and thus highly prejudiced, and the powerless and disadvantaged always lose out.” |
Dietrich Bonhoffer
“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”
― The Cost of Discipleship Francis Schaeffer
“I live in a thought world which is filled with creativity; inside my head there is creative imagination. Why? Because God, who is the Creator, has made me in His own image, I can go out in imagination beyond the stars. This is true not only for the Christian, but for every man. Every man is made in the image of God; therefore, no man in his imagination is confined to his own body.”
― He Is There and He Is Not Silent. |
Mother Teresa
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
Max Lucado
“The fear-filled cannot love deeply. Love is risky. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. The fear-filled cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear.”
― Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
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“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
― Mere Christianity
― Mere Christianity