Nothing new. I've been reading "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey. Excellent reading. I suggest it. A lot of the things in there I've learned since being at college, but I recommend it for anyone who thinks they know anything about Jesus. It may just challenge you, so be open to that.
I wanted to put some quotes from the book, cause you know I'm all about quotes.
"Why does God content himself with the slow, unencouraging way of making righteousness grow rather than avenging it? That's how love is. Love has its own power, the only power ultimately capable of conquering the human heart."
(I wish every person who calls themselves a Christian understood this. Every person has to make their own choice to follow God. After reading this book, you realize Jesus didn't come to convince people to follow him. Sure he wanted everyone to make that choice, but with choice in every person's willpower, he knew some would turn down his offer of grace and forgiveness. He never chased them down to convince them. It was always, and has always been a matter to choice to follow Jesus.) "I never sense Jesus twisting a person's arm. Rather, he stated the consequences of a choice, then threw the decision back to the other party."
"Our glamorized representations of Jesus say more about us than about him."
(This is actually from Martin Luther King Jr.) "To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeem us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering."
(When one reads the Sermon on the Mount, people have hard times understanding them. I now understand those to be quite literal demands Jesus has of us. But what he is showing here is two things, how holy God is and the standard he requires of all of us, and that is impossible for us to do them.) "There is only one way for any of us to resolve the tension between the high ideals of the gospel and the grim reality of ourselves: to accept that we will never measure up, but that we do not have to. We are judged by the righteousness of the Christ who lives within, not our own." (That's what happens when one takes Christ as their Lord. You just have to read this chapter to fully grasp it all.)
(Having "unsavory" characters around us isn't a bad thing. No matter what anyone else thinks of them.) "The down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome." ...."God knows no undesireables."
Well I know that's a lot. And these quotes, while powerful, can't stand alone. Read the book.
One think I wish more people had was an open mind, a real open mind (not just saying they do, but REALLY do). This book has moves me deeper into the person I already am. Read it; it might convict you.
That's all. Semester starts Wednesday so pray for my strength! Haha! See ya!