The Word We Study Has To Be

My Deepest Awareness Of Myself Is That I Am Deeply Loved By Jesus Christ And I Have Done Nothing To Earn It Or Deserve It.

The Christ Within Who Is Our Hope Of Glory Is Not A Matter Of Theological Debate Or Philosophical Speculation. He Is Not A Hobby, A Part-time Project, A Good Theme For A Book, Or A Last Resort When All Human Effort Fails. He Is Our Life, The Most Real Fact About Us. He Is The Power And Wisdom Of God Dwelling Within Us.

The Kingdom Is Not An Exclusive, Well-trimmed Suburb With Snobbish Rules About Who Can Live There. No, It Is For A Larger, Homelier, Less Self-conscious Caste Of People Who Understand They Are Sinners Because They Have Experienced The Yaw And Pitch Of Moral Struggle.

If We Maintain The Open-mindedness Of Children, We Challenge Fixed Ideas And Established Structures, Including Our Own. We Listen To People In Other Denominations And Religions. We Don't Find Demons In Those With Whom We Disagree. We Don't Cozy Up To People Who Mouth Our Jargon. If We Are Open, We Rarely Resort To Either-or: Either Creation Or Evolution, Liberty Or Law, Sacred Or Secular, Beethoven Or Madonna. We Focus On Both-and, Fully Aware That God's Truth Cannot Be Imprisoned In A Small Definition.

I Believe That The Real Difference In The American Church Is Not Between Conservatives And Liberals, Fundamentalists And Charismatics, Nor Between Republicans And Democrats. The Real Difference Is Between The Aware And The Unaware.