If Fulfillment Is Gained Through Giving Ourselves Through Intimate Relationships, Then Allowing Ourselves To Be Consumed With The Cares Of Things, Instead Of The Care Of Persons, Is Foolish.

-Tony Campolo

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If Fulfillment Is Gained

Tony Campolo

If Fulfillment Is Gained Through Giving Ourselves Through Intimate Relationships, Then Allowing Ourselves To Be Consumed With The Cares Of Things, Instead Of The Care Of Persons, Is Foolish.

Topic

Intimate Relationships

Giving

Care

More From Tony Campolo

I Am Not Suggesting That All Those Missionary Organizations Working In Haiti Should Pack Up And Go Home, But I Am Urging Them To Understand That Haiti Does Not Need Clever Americans With Newly Contrived Schemes For Saving Their Country.

Country

Clever

Home

Because I Am Not Yet Living Up To What Jesus Expects Me To Be In Those Red Letters In The Bible, I Always Define Myself As Somebody Who Is Saved By God's Grace And Is On His Way To Becoming A Christian. (...) Being Saved Is Trusting In What Christ Did For Us, But Being Christian Is Dependent On The Way We Respond To What He Did For Us.

Christian

Jesus

Grace

In Religious Circles, Depression Is Often Deemed To Be A Spiritual Condition That Can Be Cured With Prayer.

Spiritual

Religious

Prayer

Who's To Say That There Is Any More Support For Freud's Psychoanalytic Concept Of The Superego Than There Is For That Old Time Religion That Asserted That There Is A God Who Ordains What Is Right And Wrong, And That His Righteousness Endures For All Generations?

Support

Generations

Righteousness

Most Evangelicals Claim To Be Politically Non-partisan, And Say They Only Identify With The Republican Party Because The Republicans Are Committed To 'family Values.

Party

Republican

Claims

I'm Not Convinced That Jesus Only Lives In Christians.

Christian

Jesus

Convinced

The Reason Why I Buy Into The Democratic Party More Than The Republican Party Is Because There Are Over 2,000 Verses Of Scripture That Deal With Responding To The Needs Of The Poor.

Party

Scripture

Reason Why

But I Contend That If We're Providing Total Medical Coverage For Every Man, Woman, And Child In Iraq, Shouldn't We At Least Be Doing The Same Thing For Every Man, Woman, And Child In The United States?

Children

Men

Iraq

There Are 2,000 Verses Of Scripture That Tell Us We Must Be Committed To Protecting The Poor And The Oppressed... There Is No Concern Of Scripture That Is Addressed So Often And So Powerfully As Reaching Out To The Poor.

Scripture

Poor

Reaching

When In Fact We Live In A Society That Makes Life Hell For Gays And Lesbians, This Community Has Got To Stand Up And Say, ‘we’re On Your Side As You Struggle For Dignity,’ And, ‘yes, We Will Defy Anybody Who Says Otherwise, Even If We Have To Go To Disneyland To Prove It.’

Struggle

Gay

Your Side

If Fulfillment Is Gained Through Giving Ourselves Through Intimate Relationships, Then Allowing Ourselves To Be Consumed With The Cares Of Things, Instead Of The Care Of Persons, Is Foolish.

Intimate Relationships

Giving

Care

The First Reason For The Preponderant Influence Of Those Evangelicals Who Define Themselves As Advocates Of Religious Right Theological And Political Ideologies Is That They Have Both The Financial Means And Technological Know-how To Make Widespread Use Of Modern Electronic Forms Of Communication.

Religious

Communication

Mean

So After The Lewinsky Scandal, Everything Changed, And We Moved From Using The Bible To Address The Moral Issues Of Our Time, Which Were Social, To Moral Issues Of Our Time That Were Very Personal. I Have Continued That Relationship Up Until The Present.

Issues

Addresses

Scandal

Jesus Refers To The Poor Over And Over Again. There Are 2,000 Verses Of Scripture That Call Upon Us To Respond To The Needs Of The Poor. And Yet, I Find That When Christians Talked About Values In This Last Election That Was Not On The Agenda, That Was Not A Concern. If You Were To Get The Voter Guide Of The Christian Coalition, That Does Not Rate. They Talk More About Tax Cuts For People Who Are Wealthy Than They Do About Helping Poor People Who Are In Desperate Straits.

Christian

Jesus

Cutting

There Is A Feminine Side Of God. I Always Knew This … It Is This Feminine Side Of God I Find In Jesus That Makes Me Want To Sing Duets With Him … Not Only Do I Love The Feminine Is Jesus, But The More I Know Jesus, The More I Realize That Jesus Loves The Feminine In Me. Until I Accept The Feminine In My Humanness, There Will Be A Part Of Me That Cannot Receive The Lord’s Love. … There Is That Feminine Side Of Me That Must Be Recovered And Strengthened If I Am To Be Like Christ … And Until I Feel The Feminine In Jesus, There Is A Part Of Him Which I Cannot Identify.

Jesus

Duets

Want

We Must Not Be So Concerned With The Unborn That We Fail To Pay Attention To The Born.

Attention

Pay

Failing

If Four Years Of University Can Increase Your Effectiveness Of What You Can Do For Others In The Name Of Christ, It Is The Best Investment That You Can Make. But If The Education Is Simply To Get A Job To Make A Lot Of Money, You Have To Raise The Question Of Why You're Doing It.

Jobs

Years

Names

I Think The Real Place Where Most Evangelicals Have Trouble With The Democratic Party Is On The Issue Of Abortion.

Real

Party

Thinking

Rise Up, You Suckers, And Go Out And Do The Work Of Jesus!

Jesus

Work

Sucker

Most Of My Fundamentalist Brothers And Sisters - And I Am An Evangelical, So I Can Say Most Of My Fundamentalist Brothers And Sisters - Are Quite Willing To Pack Women Off And Send Them As Missionaries To Dangerous Places Where They Might Get Killed.

Brother

Missionary

Might

I Am Looking For Suggestions On What We Can Do About Extremists Within Our Own Society. They Cannot Be Ignored.

Suggestions

Ignored

Can Do

Flipping The Dial Through Available Radio Stations There Will Blare Out To Any Listener An Array Of Broadcasts, 24/7, Propagating Religious Right Politics, Along With What They Deem To Be “old-time Gospel Preaching.” This Is Especially True Of What Comes Over The Airwaves In Bible Belt Southern States.

Religious

Southern

Radio

Artists Are The Best Theologians. They Feel Things That Are True Before Theologians Can Jargonize Them Into Obscurity.

Artist

Obscurity

Theologian

In Baptism, New Christians Become Part Of A Body Of Fellow Believers Who Are Called To Spiritually Encourage One Another And Hold One Another Responsible For Consistent Christian Living.

Christian

Baptism

Body

Sadly, We Do A Much Better Job Of Making People Feel Guilty Than We Do Of Delivering Them From The Guilt We Create. We Need To Confess This And Change Our Ways.

Jobs

People

Guilt

Nothing Is More Dangerous Than To Live Out The Will Of God In Today's Contemporary World. It Changes Your Whole Monetary Lifestyle...let Me Put It Quite Simply: If Jesus Had $40,000 And Knew About The Kids Who Are Suffering And Dying In Haiti, What Kind Of Car Would He Buy?

Jesus

Kids

Car

From The Beginning, There Have Been Some Religious Leaders Who Greeted The Funding Of Faith-based Social Services By Government With Ambivalence.

Religious

Government

Leader

I Contend That It's Impossible To Read The Sermon On The Mount And Not Come Out Against Capital Punishment.

Punishment

Impossible

Sermons

If We Were To Set Out To Establish A Religion In Polar Opposition To The Beatitudes Jesus Taught, It Would Look Strikingly Similar To The Pop Christianity That Has Taken Over The Airwaves Of North America.

Jesus

Taken

America

I Do Not Mean That Others Represent Jesus For Us. I Mean That Jesus Actually Is Present In Each Other Person

Jesus

Mean

Persons

What I Am Trying To Say Is That Jesus Who Incarnated God 2,000 Years Ago Is Mystically Present And Waiting To Be Discovered In Every Person You And I Encounter

Jesus

Years

Waiting

Grandchildren Are God's Reward For Not Killing Your Kids.

Kids

Grandchildren

Rewards

Getting The Government To Put Money Into Social Programs Run By Religious Institutions Is A Practice That Started During The Clinton Years, When Bill Clinton Advocated The Americorps Program.

Running

Religious

Government

In America, Evangelical Churches Have Often Been Bastions Of Conservatism, Providing Support For The Status Quo.

America

Support

Church

I Propose That The Government Should Get Out Of The Business Of Marrying People And, Instead, Only Give Legal Status To Civil Unions.

Government

Giving

People

Most Of Us Are Tiptoeing Through Life So We Can Reach Death Safely. We Should Be Praying, "if I Should Wake Before I Die. . . ." Life Can Get Away From You.

Life

Praying

Should

I Have Serious Problems With Fundamentalist Christians And Their Creationist Theories. Although I Believe That Scripture Is Divinely Inspired And Infallible, I Have A Hard Time Going Along With The Belief That The Whole Creation Process Occurred In Six Twenty-four Hour Days. My Skepticism Is Due, In Part, To The Fact That The Bible Says That The Sun Wasn’t Created Until The Fourth Day Of Creation (genesis 1:16-19). I Have A Hard Time Figuring How Twenty-four Hour Days Could Have Been Measured Before That.

Christian

Believe

Hard Times

I've Always Been Skeptical Of Those Television Healers Who Are Bald. If I Had That Gift, That'd Be The First Thing I'd Fix.

Television

Firsts

Skeptical

When Leading Evangelicals Say Terrible Things About Islam, Evil Things About Islam, Terrible Things About Muhammad, They Ought To Be Ashamed Of Themselves.

Evil

Islam

Muhammad

To Prevent Discussion Of Any Other Explanations Of Human Origins Is Hardly What I Would Expect From Open-minded Educators.

Open Minded

Educator

Explanation

What We Need To Affirm Is That Jesus Is Neither A Democrat Nor A Republican. Whenever We Marry Jesus To A Political Party, We Are Committing The Sin Of Idolatry. We Are Making Jesus Into The Image Of Our Political Party.

Jesus

Party

Political

Beyond These Models Of Reconciliation, A Theology Of Mysticism Provides Some Hope For Common Ground Between Christianity And Islam. Both Religions Have Within Their Histories Examples Of Ecstatic Union With God, Which Seem At Odds With Their Own Spiritual Traditions But Have Much In Common With Each Other.

Spiritual

Odds

Islam

Furthermore, Consider That As One Of Its Most Important Purposes, Stewardship Of Creation Should Sustain Nature's Worshiping Capacity. The More I Reflect On Scriptures And The More I Sense How God Thrills To The Adoration He Receives From All That He Has Created, The More I Realize He Has Given Us The Awesome Responsibility Of Caring For His Creation So That It Can Go On Praising Him Until The End Of Time.

Responsibility

Caring

Important

If A Guy Is Intimidated By A Woman In Leadership, He Has Real Problems With His Own Concepts Of Masculinity. That's A Harsh Statement, But I Believe It To Be True.

Leadership

Real

Believe

Evangelical Christians, Who Once Were A Ridiculed Irrelevant Sectarian Movement, Have, Over Just Three Decades, Become A Powerful Voting Bloc That Can No Longer Be Ignored.

Christian

Powerful

Voting

Those Issues Are Biblical Issues: To Care For The Sick, To Feed The Hungry, To Stand Up For The Oppressed. I Contend That If The Evangelical Community Became More Biblical, Everything Would Change.

Biblical

Issues

Sick

Perhaps Because Our Culture And Politics Have Gone So Off Course, With Values So Contrary To Those Of Jesus, More And More People Intuitively Recognize That His Vision Of God's Kingdom-a New World Of Compassion, Justice, Integrity And Peace- Is The Good News They've Been Searching And Waiting For.

Jesus

Integrity

Godly

When There Is Conflict Between What God Requires And The Demands Of The Government, Each Of Us Has An Important Decision To Make Concerning Taxes.

Government

Decision

Important

There Is No Doubt That Religion Had Already Waned Under The Onslaught Of The Enlightenment, But It Was Freud Who Provided The Radically New Understanding Of Human Nature That Made Any Religious Explanation Of The Whats And Whys Of Our Personhood Seem Naive.

Religious

Understanding

Doubt

Lies And Distortions Can Be Spread, Via The Internet, In An Inexpensive Way, And The Effects Are Astounding.

Lying

Way

Internet

Often, We Ignore The Fact That Our Spiritual Condition And Psychological State Of Mind Are Highly Affected By What Is Happening To Us Physically. Sometimes Depression Is Simply The Result Of Exhaustion.

Spiritual

Mind

Facts

I've Got Some Repenting To Do. I Doubt, However, That Those Who Have Wedded Christianity With Laissez-faire Capitalism Will See Things This Way. I Can Just Hear Them Saying, “am I My Brother’s Keeper?”

Repent

Clinton's Successor In The White House, George W. Bush, Was Committed To Expanding Government Spending For Faith-based Initiatives.

Government

White

House

I Don't Know How Your Theology Works, But If Jesus Has A Choice Between Stained Glass Windows And Feeding Starving Kids In Haiti, I Have A Feeling He'd Choose The Starving Kids In Haiti.

Jesus

Kids

Glasses

We Don't Have To Give Up Trying To Convert Each Other. What We Have To Do Is Show Respect To One Another. And To Speak To Each Other With A Sense That Even If People Don't Convert, They Are God's People, God Loves Them, And We Do Not Make The Judgment Of Who Is Going To Heaven And Who Is Going To Hell. I Think That What We All Have To Do Is Leave Judgment Up To God. The Muslim Community Is Very Evangelistic, However What Muslims Will Not Do Is Condemn Jews And Christians To Hell If In Fact They Do Not Accept Islam.

Christian

Giving Up

Thinking

I, For One, Am Quite Willing To Join The 'forgive, Forget And Move On' Crowd, But It Does Make Me Wonder If Evangelicals Are Going To Sound Believable When They Say That They Tend To Vote Republican Because Of Their Religious Commitments To The Family.

Religious

Moving

Commitment

Women Have The Same Privileges And Opportunities As Men, Given The New Testament.

Opportunity

Men

Privilege

My Theology Is Such That The God Who Loves Israel And Will Not Forsake Israel - Which Is Why I Want To See Israel Have A Secure Nation With Secure Borders - Also Loves The Palestinians.

Israel

Borders

Want

Because Of The Increase In Life Longevity, America Can Now Assume That At Any Given Time Three, And Perhaps Four, Former Presidents Will Still Be Alive, Even When The Current President Is Occupying The White House.

White

America

House

The Real Problem That I Think Those Of Us Who Are Evangelicals And Democrats Have To Face Up To Is That The Political Right Controls The Religious Media.

Religious

Real

Thinking

As We Consider The Causes Of Depression, Those Of Us In The Church Must Face The Ways We Might Be Responsible For Creating It.

Creating

Church

Causes

What Is Especially Important Is Addressing The Question Of How Religion Can Be Enforced Through Political Means And What Can Be Done To Create A Political Environment That, On The One Hand, Acknowledges The Role Of Religion In Society, While On The Other Hand Does Not Impose One Religion On The Populace At The Expense Of All Others.

Mean

Hands

Political

It's A New Day For The Democrats When It Comes To Matters Of Faith, And The Younger Evangelicals Are Aware Of This And Many Of Them Are Moving Into The Democratic Camp.

Moving

New Day

Matter

The Bible Makes Clear A Basic Truth That We Self-centered Humans Find Difficult To Accept, Namely, That The Natural Universe Was Not Created Primarily For Us. There Is No Doubt That God Wants Us To Enjoy It And Even Use Its Resources To Optimize A Good Life For Ourselves. But The Ultimate Purpose Of Creation Is Worship. Nature And All Living Things Were Created To Glorify God.

Good Life

Self

Doubt

And We've Got To Ask Ourselves Some Very Serious Questions As To Whether Or Not Certain Religious Leaders, In Terms Of Raising Money - I Hate To Bring This Up - Are Pushing Hot Buttons.

Religious

Hate

Leader

While A Case Can Be Made For Intelligent Design, I Can't Figure Out Why Some Christians Are So Thrilled About That Possibility. First Of All, It Doesn't Prove There's A God. If Anything, Intelligent Design Lends Support To Some Form Of Pantheism That Defines God As Immanent Within Nature.

Christian

Intelligent

Design

I Don't Think That John Kerry Is The Messiah Or The Democratic Party Is The Answer, But I Don't Like The Evangelical Community Blessing The Republican Party As Some Kind Of God-ordained Instrument For Solving The World's Problems.

Party

Blessing

Thinking

I Contend That Bush Would Be A Lot More Moderate If There Weren't Some Fundamentalists Breathing Down His Neck Every Time He Wants To Establish The State Of Israel, Every Time He Wants To Do Justice For The Palestinian People.

Israel

Breathing

People

Sigmund Freud Was The Apostle Of Disbelief. He Was The One Who Made Psychoanalysis A Part Of Our Culture, And In So Doing He Kicked Out A Flying Buttress That Had Been Essential For Holding Up Our Cathedral Of Faith.

Flying

Essentials

Culture

Even If There Were No Heaven And There Were No Hell, Would You Still Follow Jesus? Would You Follow Him For The Life, Joy And Fulfilment He Gives You Right Now?

Jesus

Giving

Joy

I Think The Time Has Come For The United States To Do Even-handed Justice.

Thinking

Justice

United States

What If Barack Obama Established A Presidential Advisory Committee That Would Meet Once Every Couple Of Months, Bringing Together The Former Presidents For A Conference In Order To Seek Their Collective Wisdom? There Is A Wealth Of Experience In Former Presidents That Generally Goes Untapped.

Couple

Order

Presidential

I Am Relatively Sure, From Conversations That I Had With Former President Bill Clinton, That George Bush Seldom Called Upon Him For Advice.

Advice

President

Bills

Religion, For Better Or For Worse, Has Been Politicized In Blatant Ways That Have Seldom Been Equaled In American Elections.

Way

Election

American Elections

I Contend That, In Spite Of All That Might Be Said About Watergate, Richard Nixon Was Good For The Poor People Of America.

America

People

Might

The Kingdom Of God Is A Glorious And Gigantic Party!

Party

Kingdoms

Kingdom Of God

I Teach At Eastern University, Which Is Highly Committed To Doing Work Among The Poor And The Oppressed Peoples Of The World. We Have A Special Commitment To The City.

Commitment

Cities

Special

He Saved Us In Order That He Might Begin To Transform His World Into The Kind Of World That He Willed For It To Be When He Created It. … When Jesus Saved Us, He Saved Us To Be Agents Of A Great Revolution, The End Of Which Will Come When The Kingdoms Of This World Will Become The Kingdom Of Our God

Jesus

Order

Agents

I Think There Are Other Issues That The Democrats Could Use To Rally Evangelicals. There Are A Lot Of Us, For Instance, Who Believe That The Bible Calls Us To Be Environmentally Responsible.

Believe

Thinking

Issues

President Bush Once Said That Marriage Is A Sacred Institution And Should Be Reserved For The Union Of One Man And One Woman. If This Is The Case - And Most Americans Would Agree With Him On This - Then I Have To Ask: Why Is The Government At All Involved In Marrying People?

Men

People

President

Our Call Is To Be God's Agents, To Rescue Not Only The Human Race But The Whole Of Creation.

Race

Agents

Creation

If America Is Too Arrogant, Too Prideful To Repent, It's Not The Kind Of Country That God Wants It To Be.

Country

America

Arrogant

Freud Taught Us That It Wasn't God That Imposed Judgment On Us And Made Us Feel Guilty When We Stepped Out Of Line. Instead, It Was The Superego - That Idealized Concept Of What A Good Person Is Supposed To Be And Do - Given To Us By Our Parents, That Condemned Us For What Had Been Hitherto Regarded As Ungodly Behavior.

Taught Us

Parent

Lines

There Is A Gift Of The Holy Spirit That Is Given To Both Men And Women In The New Testament. This Is What Makes The New Testament A New Testament Rather Than The Old Testament, In Which Women Did Not Have Such Privileges.

Men

Privilege

Spirit

I'm Not Denying That Depression Can Be Spiritually Induced. Guilt From Having Wronged And Hurt Others Can Bring It On. A Sense Of Having Failed To Live Out The Will Of God Can Give Rise To Depression. Certainly The Fear Of Death And What Might Follow Can Sap The Joy Out Of Life.

Hurt

Giving

Joy

It Seems To Me That When We Listen To The Muslim Mystics As They Talk About Jesus And Their Love For Jesus, I Must Say, It’s A Lot Closer To New Testament Christianity Than A Lot Of The Christians That I Hear. In Other Words If We Are Looking For Common Ground, Can We Find It In Mystical Spirituality, Even If We Cannot Theologically Agree, Can We Pray Together In Such A Way That We Connect With A God That Transcends Our Theological Differences?

Christian

Jesus

Differences

Although I Believe That Scripture Is Divinely Inspired And Infallible, I Have A Hard Time Going Along With The Belief That The Whole Creation Process Occurred In Six Twenty-four Hour Days.

Believe

Hard Times

Twenties

Conservatives Are People Who Worship At The Graves Of Dead Radicals. Stop To Think About That. The People Who Started This Country, George Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, These Were Not Conservatives; These Were The Radicals Of The Time. In Fact, Conservatives Always Look Back On People Who They Despised And Make Them Into Heroes. If You Were To Listen To The Religious Right Today, They Would Make You Believe That Martin Luther King Was One Of Their Flock. In Reality, They Hated Him And Did Everything They Could To Destroy Him.

Country

Religious

Kings

In Short, I'm Not Sure That The Abortion Problem Can Be Solved By Legislation. I Think It Can Only Be Solved Through Moral Persuasion.

Thinking

Abortion

Moral

Don't Be Satisfied With Just Pumping Blood.

Blood

Justice

Satisfied

The Traditional Spokespersons For The Evangelicals, Such As Chuck Colson And James Dobson, Have Become Alarmed About This Drift Away From The 'family Values' Issues That They Believe Should Be The Overwhelming Concerns Of Evangelicals. They Have Expressed Their Displeasure In Letters Of Protest Circulated Through The Religious Media.

Religious

Believe

Media

Young Evangelicals, Especially, Are Breaking Ranks With Older Evangelicals (over 40) And Are More And More Leaning Towards Voting Democratic.

Voting

Young

Democratic

The Gospel Is Not About... Pie-in-the-sky When They Die. ... It Is Imperative That The Up And Coming Generation Recognize That The Biblical Jesus Was Committed To The Realization Of A New Social Order In This World.... Becoming A Christian, Therefore, Is A Call To Social Action.

Christian

Jesus

Biblical

Marriage Should Be Viewed As An Institution Ordained By God And Should Be Out Of The Control Of The State.

Institutions

States

Should

So I Really Would Like To See Both Parties Respond To The Poor With Greater Commitment. But I've Got To Tell You, The Democrats, I Feel, Are Doing A Better Job In That Respect Than Republicans Are.

Jobs

Party

Commitment

Rituals Keep Us From Forgetting What Must Not Be Forgotten And Keep Us Rooted In A Past From Which We Must Not Be Disconnected.

Past

Forget

Forgotten

Of The 22 Industrialized Nations Of The World, We're Dead Last In Per Capita Giving To Poor People.

People

Giving

Lasts

When You Listen To Christian Radio Stations - And There Are Thousands Of Them Now In The United States - And When You Listen To Christian Television Networks - And There Are Thousands Of Christian Television Shows Across The Country - They Are All Politically Right.

Christian

Country

United States

The Jesus Of The Scripture Transcends All Nations And Calls All Nations Into Judgment.

Jesus

Scripture

Judgment

Whenever There Is A Catastrophe, Some Religious People Inevitably Ask, 'why Didn't God Do Something? Where Was God When All Those People Died?'

Religious

People

Catastrophe

There's Nothing Wrong With Making A Lot Of Money, There's Something Wrong With Keeping It.

Lots Of Money

But Isn't It Time For Christians To Admit That We Should Reject Bargains If They Are Gained By The Exploitation Of The Poorest Of The Poor In Developing Countries?

Christian

Country

Developing Countries

One Of The Most Startling Discoveries Of My Life Was The Realization That The Jesus That I Love, The Jesus Who Died For Me On Calvary, That Jesus, Is Waiting, Mystically And Wonderfully, In Every Person I Meet. I Find Jesus Everywhere.

Jesus

Discovery

Waiting

Certain Things Happened In The Early Church. Women Who Had Never Had Any Freedom Suddenly Have The Ability To Stand Up And Speak And Be Treated As Equals Within The Life Of The Church.

Church

Speak

Certain

A Strong Case Can Be Made For Religious Leaders To Speak Out On Political Issues.

Religious

Strong

Speaks Out

It Is Hard To Say What The Future Holds, But This Is Probable - It Won't Be Just Like The Past.

Past

Probable Cause

Hard

Anyone Who Resists The Notion Of Women Preachers Is Functioning As A Tool Of The Devil.

Devil

Tools

Preacher

Your Past Is Important But It Is Not Nearly As Important To Your Present As The Way You See Your Future.

Moving

Past

Important

Evangelicals Need To Take A Good Look At What Their Issues Are. Are They Really Being Faithful To Jesus? Are They Being Faithful To The Bible?

Jesus

Issues

Faithful

I Think It Goes Back To The Fact That The Evangelical Community Often Does Not Have A Biblical Vision Of God.

Biblical

Thinking

Community

Nowhere In The Hebrew Scriptures Does It Say That God Is Omnipotent.

Scripture

Doe

Hebrew

Red Letter Christians Believe In The Doctrines Of The Apostle's Creed, Are Convinced That The Scriptures Have Been Inspired By The Holy Spirit, And Make Having A Personal Transforming Relationship With The Resurrected Christ The Touchtone Of Their Faith.

Christian

Believe

Doctrine

There Are Reasons Why Religious Right Evangelicals Will Continue To Dominate Religious Discourse, Not Only In Their Own Sector Of The Christian Community, But Also In What Transpires In Mainline Denominations.

Christian

Religious

Community

I Don't Know Of Many Evangelicals Who Want To Deny Gay Couples Their Legal Rights. However, Most Of Us Don't Want To Call It Marriage, Because We Think That Word Has Religious Connotations, And We're Not Ready To See It Used In Ways That Offend Us.

Religious

Couple

Gay

After-school Tutoring Programs, Care For The Elderly, Shelters For The Homeless, Disaster Relief Work, And A Variety Of Other Services Would All Benefit From Government Funding.

School

Government

Elderly

I’ve Got To Push Everything Out Of Mind Save The Name Of Jesus. I Say His Name Over And Over Again, For As Long As Fifteen Minutes, Until I Find My Soul Suspended In What The Ancient Celtic Christians Called A “thin Place”–a State Where The Boundary Between Heaven And Earth, Divine And Human, Dissolves. You Could Say That I Use The Name Of Jesus As My Koan.

Christian

Jesus

Names

One Of The Problems With Evangelicalism Is That It Has Allowed Itself To Be Married To The Republican Party... Jesus Is Not A Republican. Nor Is He A Democrat.

Jesus

Party

Married

It Has Taken Countless Hours Of Prayer, Study, Conversation And Emotional Turmoil To Bring Me To The Place Where I Am Finally Ready To Call For The Full Acceptance Of Christian Gay Couples Into The Church.

Christian

Prayer

Couple

That A New Humanity Will Be Brought Forth From This Christ Consciousness In Each Person.

Christ Consciousness

Humanity

Persons

Jesus Is The Only Savior, But Not Everybody Who Is Saved By Him Is Aware That He Is The One Who Is Doing The Saving.

Jesus

Saving

Savior

Perhaps We Would Do Well To Listen To The Likes Of Rabbi Harold Kushner, Who Contends That God Is Not Really As Powerful As We Have Claimed.

Powerful

Likes

Rabbi

Jesus Never Says To The Poor: ‘come Find The Church’, But He Says To Those Of Us In The Church: ‘go Into The World And Find The Poor, Hungry, Homeless, Imprisoned.

Jesus

Church

World

A Person Is As Young As Their Dreams And As Old As Their Cynicism.

Dream

Cynicism

Young

It Has Been Said That People Never Do Evil With More Enthusiasm Than When They Do It In The Name Of God.

Names

People

Evil

I'm A Minister, And I Serve As A Minister In Addition To Being A University Professor.

University Professors

Ministers

Professors

In The Past, The Republican Party Has Depended On Unified Support At Election Time From Evangelical Christians. But Times Are Changing!

Christian

Party

Past

An Evangelical Is Somebody Who, First Of All, Has A Very High View Of Scripture, Believes It's An Infallible Message From God.

Believe

Views

Scripture

If Marriage Really Is A Sacred Institution, Then Why Is The Government Controlling It, Especially In A Nation That Affirms Separation Of Church And State?

Government

Church

Sacred

I Applaud The Growing Commitment Of Evangelicals To The Needs Of The Poor And Oppressed In Urban America.

Commitment

America

Growing

Christianity Isn't The Only Group That Has Fundamentalists.

Having Fun

Groups

Christianity

Relegating Women To Second-class Citizenship Was Abolished When Jesus Died On The Cross.

Jesus

Class

Citizenship

Today, Some Of The Most Spiritual People I Know Claim To Be Without Religion.

Spiritual

People

Today

Haitians Do Not Need Development Programs Imposed On Them By Expatriates. Instead, They Need Help In Developing As Self-assured Persons.

Self

Development

Needs

The Two Hot Issues Are The Gay Issue And The Abortion Issue. These Are The Two Defining Issues In The Evangelical Community These Days. I'm Sure That These Hot Buttons Will Be Pushed, Time And Time Again.

Gay

Two

Issues

That's What They Do In Europe. You Go Down To The City Hall And You Become Legally Connected. You Have A Civil Union There. Then, If You're Religious, You Go Down To The Church, And The Church Blesses The Union. That Gets The Problem Solved.

Religious

Europe

Cities

Let Us Preach Christ, Let Us Be Faithful To Proclaiming The Gospel, But Let's Leave Judgment In The Hands Of God.

Hands

Faithful

Judgment

The Gospel Is About Grace And We All Know That Grace Is About Us Receiving From God Blessings That We Don't Deserve.

Blessing

Grace

Receiving

Like Most Christians, I Believe The Genesis Account Of Creation Is A Description Of Six Different Stages Of Creation, Each Of Which May Have Taken Eons Of Time.

Christian

Believe

Taken

A Career Public Speaker Is Not What I'm Called To Be. I'm Called To Be A Critic.

Careers

Critics

Speakers

I Don't Know What To Make Of The Muslim Mystics, Especially Those Who Have Come To Be Known As The Sufis. What Do They Experience In Their Mystic Experiences? Could They Have Encountered The Same God We Do In Our Christian Mysticism?

Christian

Sufi

Mystic

But I Think It's Up To A Local Congregation To Determine Whether Or Not A Marriage Should Be Blessed Of God. And It Shouldn't Be Up To The Government.

Blessed

Thinking

Government

When You Talk About Evangelicals, Don't Forget That A Significant Proportion Of The Evangelical Community Is African American. And Most African Americans - Well Over 90 Percent, Thoroughly Evangelical, Thoroughly Biblical - Will Probably Vote Democratic.

Biblical

Community

African American

If Being Human Requires Freedom, Then Enslavement To The Cares Of This World Is Dehumanizing.

World

Care

Being Human

I Am Saying That There Is No Salvation Apart From Jesus; That’s My Evangelical Mindset. However, I Am Not Convinced That Jesus Only Lives In Christians

Christian

Jesus

Mindset

I Don't Doubt That God Can Bring Good Out Of Tragedies, But The Bible Is Clear That God Is Not The Author Of Evil!

Evil

Doubt

Tragedy

A Christian School Should Be A Place Where Young Men And Young Women Go Through A Period Of Spiritual Formation And Development So That They Come Out Incredibly More Proficient At Living Out Their Calling Than They Would Have Been Had They Not Gone To School.

Christian

Spiritual

School

I Contend The State Ought To Do Its Thing And Provide Legal Rights For All Couples Who Want To Be Joined Together For Life. The Church Should Bless Unions That It Sees Fit To Bless, And They Should Be Called Marriages.

Couple

Rights

Church

When You Were Born, You Cried And Everybody Else Was Happy. The Only Question That Matters Is This - When You Die, Will You Be Happy When Everybody Else Is Crying?

Happiness

Inner Peace

Matter

Prior To Roe V. Wade, Abortions Were Common Even Though They Were Illegal. I Don't Think Making Them Illegal Again Is Going To Solve The Problem.

Thinking

Abortion

Wade

While I Can See How The Government Has, At Times, Wasted Taxpayers' Money, And I Can Admit That Too Often Its Programs Are Ineffective, I Also Can See The Good That Government Does.

Government

Doe

Wasted Time

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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