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4558 illustrations evoking awe
"God's Word illumines paths of justice. The prophetic word exposes darkness—injustice, oppression, exploitation. Scripture is not just personal guidance but public light: showing the way toward beloved community, exposing the paths that lead to death. Light for the journey toward justice." — Walter Brueggemann.
"Our hearts are restless until they rest in You, O Lord. Delight in the Lord is the soul's homecoming. Through prayer, through Eucharist, through contemplation, we taste and see. The saints show us—those who delighted most received most. Desire follows delight." — St.
"Reason is a beautiful thing, but it must know its limits. 'Lean not on your own understanding'—reason submitted to revelation. Faith goes where reason cannot follow. Trust God's promise even when it contradicts your calculations." — Martin Luther. Lutheran: faith over reason.
"Justice and mercy cannot be separated—justice is love in public. Do justice: dismantle systems of oppression. Love mercy: compassion for the oppressed. Walk humbly: know that the struggle is God's, not just ours. Micah 6:8 is the prophetic tradition the...
"Through Christ who strengthens me—this is theosis in action. Divine energy flows through human weakness. We become by grace what Christ is by nature. The 'all things' are possible because we participate in divine power, not merely receive external help." — St.
"Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us less. It is gift—pure, unearned, undeserved. We cannot boast because we contributed nothing. We can only...
"The church exists as light for the world—not for itself but for others. Mission is not what church does but what church IS: visible, public, unavoidable witness. 'See your good works'—mission is seen before it is spoken. Presence precedes proclamation." — Lesslie Newbigin.
"Light exposes injustice, illuminates paths of liberation. The church must be visible light in dark places of poverty, oppression, exploitation. Good works are not charity but solidarity, not patronizing but empowering. The poor see justice and glorify God who liberates." — Gustavo Gutiérrez.
"More than we imagine—including justice we cannot yet envision. God's shalom exceeds our best social programs; His kingdom surpasses our progressive dreams. The power at work is for transformation beyond our categories. Imagine justice; God does immeasurably more." — Walter Brueggemann.
"Paul stretches language to express the inexpressible: nothing in height or depth, present or future, life or death. Because God's love is infinite—and the infinite cannot be limited or separated. We are held by divine love that has no boundaries,...
"I AM come—Christ Himself is the coming of life. That THEY might have LIFE—life is found only in Him. And have it ABUNDANTLY—Christ is inexhaustible. He is not merely the giver of life; He IS life. Apart from Him is...
"The early Anabaptists faced drowning, burning, imprisonment—and testified that God gave them Spirit not of fear but of power. Fearless discipleship requires supernatural courage. The community emboldens each member; together we receive what we could not alone." — Stanley Hauerwas.
"Sin's wages are paid most heavily by the poor—death from poverty, violence, neglect. But God's gift is life—especially for the crucified peoples. Eternal life begins with abundant life now: justice, dignity, bread. The gift is liberation from every death-dealing force." — Jon Sobrino.
"We are not to imagine that there is any other way of access to the Father, for all intercourse between God and humanity has been cut off. Christ alone opens the door and is Himself the door.
"Faith is not gazing at ourselves but clinging to Christ and His promises. The 'substance' is not our feeling of faith but Christ Himself. The 'evidence' is not our certainty but God's Word. Faith looks away from self to the faithful One." — Martin Luther.
"Immeasurably more—now and forever! In this age, God exceeds our expectations; in the age to come, abundantly more. Glory in the church throughout all generations—this spans ages, dispensations, eternity. What begins now overflows forever." — Warren Wiersbe. Dispensational: eternal abundance.
"The world gives trouble—especially to those who challenge injustice. But Christ has overcome this world of oppression. His victory is liberation. Take heart: the powers that kill are defeated powers. Even martyrdom is victory—the blood of martyrs is seed of freedom." — Oscar Romero.
"The renewed mind sees with missionary eyes: discerning God's will for this context, this culture, this moment. We do not conform to the patterns of our mission field, nor impose our own patterns. We are transformed to discern God's good purposes everywhere." — Lesslie Newbigin.
"This is eternal Pascha—Christ is risen, death is trampled, tears are ended. The paschal victory extends to all creation; the new heaven and earth participate in resurrection. 'Let no one fear death'—it is destroyed. Paschal joy becomes eternal reality." — St.
"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher... Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse." — C.S.
"The clean heart sees injustice clearly and acts. Hearts corrupted by privilege are blind to the poor; cleansed hearts see and respond. David's sin was exploitation; his cleansing led to justice restored. God creates hearts that beat for the marginalized." — Gustavo Gutiérrez.
"Grace saves us INTO something: the new creation already begun in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith—not for private salvation but for participation in God's renewal of all things. Grace rescues and recruits; we become agents of the kingdom." — N.T.
"Sin's wages include the death-dealing systems of violence, war, and coercion. The gift of life creates an alternative: communities of peace, sharing, and reconciliation. We choose which economy to live in—the wage system of death or the gift economy of...
"Salvation is God's gift—entirely, completely. Yet Orthodoxy speaks of synergy: not that we add to grace, but that grace transforms us into participants. We are saved by grace through faith—faith that is itself grace's gift, making us co-workers with God." — Kallistos Ware.