Saturday, July 19, 2014

Food for thought...

Bethel Stained Glass Window
Stained Glass Window at Bethel
While preparing for tomorrow's sermon and wonderful Baptism & New Member service at Bethel UCC, I came across these  quotes/reflections. I hope that they enrich your spirit...

Barbara Brown Taylor, 21st century
"We are the dreamers of the promise, set apart to bless all the families of the earth….It comes when all our conniving has blown up in our faces and our luck has run out." This is "where the dream touches down, reminding us that we sleep at the gate of heaven, where it has pleased God to be with us…where the bright rungs of God's ladder touch down on our own   ordinary pieces of the earth"

Mother Teresa, 20th century
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

Jerome, 4th century bishop
"The words the Lord spoke--'Lest gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them'--leave room for repentance. We are advised not to be quick in cutting off a fellow believer....'"

Georgia Harkness, 20th century
"The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world."

Thomas Long, 21st century
"The simple fact that the church always has its share of hypocrites does not make the gospel hypocritical, nor does it destroy the integrity of God."