Teapot Theology » quotation

quoteable quote: community

Johnny Douglas — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:26:18 +0000

Here’s a cup of community,….. from Henri Nouwen.

“Community is like a large mosaic. Each little piece seems so insignificant. One piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold. Some look precious, others ordinary. Some look valuable, others worthless. Some look gaudy, others delicate. As individuals stones, we can do little with them except compare them and judge their beauty and value. When, however, all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, who would ever question the importance of any one of them? If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. Together in the one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. That’s community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.”

a nourishing portion from Nouwen’s, Can you drink the Cup?

what a vision: what a prayer….?

Johnny Douglas — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:01:10 +0000

Beautiful prayer from Richard Rohr:
” O Loving God, we thank you for bringing us the rivers and streams of this world.
May the rivers we know be an image of the stream that you want to flow within each one of us.

Teach us now, take away all fear, dare to let us believe that we could really be a small part of a reconstructed society, that we could build again.
Take away our own cynicism.
Take away our lack of hope.
Take away our own anger and judgments.

We thank you for the faith and the desire that is in our hearts. You have planted it there.
Now help us to preserve it, protect it and increase it.

We long for vision, good God. We need vision and we know we will perish without it. Help us open each new day to a new meaning, to a new hope, to a deeper desiring. Show us your face, loving God, and we will be satisfied. We ask for this in all the holy names of God. Amen.

from Hope Against Darkness, p.107

just, don’t give up!

Johnny Douglas — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:34:42 +0000

Quoteable quote indeed….

With the drawing of this love and the voice of this calling we shall not cease from exploration…

T.S. Eliot

quoteable quote:- alive

Johnny Douglas — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:32:46 +0000

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Howard Thurman – American philosopher and theologian

help me

Johnny Douglas — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:08:49 +0000

” Lord, help me to glorify you. I am poor; help me to glorify you by contentment. I am sick; help me to give you honour by patience. I have talents; help me to exalt you by spending them for you.

I have a heart to feel, Lord; let that heart feel no love but yours, and glow with no flame but affection for you. I have a head to think, Lord; help me to think of you and for you.

You have put me in this world for something, Lord; show me what it is, and help me to live according to your purpose.”

Charles Spurgeon

quoteable quote:- which lands?

Johnny Douglas — Sun, 02 May 2010 13:05:33 +0000

The clear message wins over the cool one every day.

Zach Hubert

amidst seasonal pressure!

Johnny Douglas — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:50:34 +0000

Some of you know what it is to experience Christmas as a very stressful holiday! Perhaps the stress comes from those who try to create just the perfect Christmas experience. Or it may come from anticipating Christmas dinner as others face losses, absence or aloneness…..

Craig Barnes, in his book The Pastor as Minor Poet, writes insightfully about how the Bible reveals God as the achiever and ourselves as the receivers. Far too often we live with much stress because we are trying to gain something through achieving that can only be had through receiving. At no time is this more obvious than at Christmas, when people are knocking themselves out to achieve the perfect experience for their loved ones. It is amazing that the mythology of this dream is able to resurface every December in spite of its repeated failures.

Barnes says:- “When I hear the aspirations that people have for their reuniting families, gathered around the piano wearing matching sweaters, joyfully singing carols, I always want to ask, “Is this the same family you had last year?” But no one is interested in reality checks at Christmas. So they knock themselves out to achieve what cannot happen. . . .”

Our efforts to create and achieve something to satisfy will always be lacking and will have its limits. After all, the Bible presents God himself as the ultimate achiever. Barnes concludes:

In all my years of pastoral ministry, I have never had a child come to see me to talk about the stress of the holidays. They aren’t worried about making it to all the parties, buying the perfect presents, maxing out their credit cards, and travel plans. As every child knows, the only stress of Christmas is how can we possibly wait for it to arrive — the day we receive so much.

more than maybe….

Johnny Douglas — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:33:15 +0000

i heard this

Johnny Douglas — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:07:37 +0000

and I liked it…..
I was challenged too and long to live it out…..

“Never let an impossible situation intimidate you. Let it motivate you – to pray more, trust more, be more creative.”

life, conflict & Miller

Johnny Douglas — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:31:46 +0000

Donald Miller evokes different responses from different people, but whatever your view this quote is worth chewing on: “A story can’t be meaningful without conflict. Conflict comes when you don’t get what you want. Adam faced conflict. Adam experienced loneliness, an emotion Adam didn’t want to experience. But the only way a character becomes a better person is by going through conflict. (Picture Scrooge.) Pain changes things. The conflict lends value to the thing the person wants to attain. So what do you want? We should want something, and there should be a reason we count it all joy when we encounter various trials.”

Miller is on to something…

James 1:2-4 “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”