The Fire I Came to Bring

We Do Not Know What We Are Doing

SCRIPTURE Luke 23:34 (NIV) Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. REFRAIN Lord, show me what I cannot yet see in myself. QUOTE Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, from The Gulag Archipelago "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains an unuprooted small corner of evil." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

It Is Not God Who Is Violent

SCRIPTURE John 12:47 (NIV) "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." REFRAIN God is not violent. God is love. QUOTE Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "It is not God who is violent. We are.  It is not that God demands suffering of humans. We do.  God does not need or want suffering — neither in Jesus nor in us." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Life More Abundantly

SCRIPTURE John 10:10 (NIV) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." REFRAIN I am fully alive in the presence of God. QUOTE Irenaeus of Lyon, from Against Heresies (4.20.7) "For the glory of God is a living human being; and the life of the human consists in beholding God." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Mercy Not Sacrifice

SCRIPTURE Hosea 6:6 / Matthew 9:13 (NIV) "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." REFRAIN God wants mercy, not sacrifice. QUOTE Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Jesus did not come to change God's mind about us. It did not need changing. Jesus came to change our minds about God — and about ourselves — and about where goodness and evil really lie." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Come As You Are

SCRIPTURE Matthew 11:28–30 (NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." REFRAIN I come as I am and find grace here. QUOTE George MacDonald, from Unspoken Sermons "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their suffering might be like His." ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.