Some Shoutables (Serious – Ya Gotta Take A Minute Or Two And Read These Great Posts)

On Today’s Sunday Shout-Outs, here are a few shoutables…

This post, Guard Your Gates by Sarah Bessey. Here’s my favorite line: “So, no, I don’t guard my gates against simply terrible or scary things anymore. Instead, I want to guard my gates against what diminishes wholeness and holiness in me. I guard against the influences that make me the worst version of myself, the influences that feed my natural tendencies towards sin and bitterness, rage and cynicism, seeing the worst of people and being quick to offense.”

This post, 7 Things We Can Do To Reclaim Hope For Christian Unity by Derek Vreeland. Here’s my favorite line: “Do not call it ‘discernment.’ Do not call it ‘persevering the faith once delivered to the saints.’ My friend, you are not being prophetic. You are not Amos. We are not living in ancient Israel. You may not like their interpretation of scripture. You may not like their emphasis. You may not like their preaching style, the way they conduct their worship services, or the way they structure the leadership of their church, but if they are in Christ, they are not ‘them,’ they are a part of the us.”

This post, 10 Things Your Childhood Pastor Didn’t Tell You (But Should Have) by Benjamin Corey. Here’s my favorite line: “Jesus tells his listeners: ‘You have heard it said an eye for an eye, but I tell you do not resist an evil person.’ What his listeners would have heard was, ‘I know the Bible says that when we use violence it should be fair and limited, but I’m telling you that’s wrong– don’t use violence at all.’ So don’t worry if stuff like stoning people in the OT turns your stomach– Jesus felt the same way.”