Currently Reading: The Reason For God by Timothy Keller

Though I'm in a state of "meh." this book is still pretty incredible. Some of my favorite quotes/lines from it thus far...

Christians, then, should expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, kinder, wiser, and better than they are. Why? Christian believers are not accepted by God because of their moral performance, wisdom, or virtue, but because of Christ's work on their behalf. Most religions and philosophies of life assume that one's spiritual status depends on your religious attainments. This naturally leads adherents to feel superior to those who don't believe and behave as they do. The Christian gospel, in any case, should not have that effect.

as C.S. Lewis puts it eloquently:

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; locki it up save in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.

Christian theology also speaks of the seriously flawed character of real Christians. A central message of the Bible is that we can only have a relationship with God by sheer grace. Our moral efforts are too feeble and falsely motivated to ever merit salvation. Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has provided salvation for us, which we receive as a gift. All churches believe this in one form or another. Growth in character and changes in behavior occur in a gradual process after a person becomes a Christian. The mistaken belief that a person must "clean up" his or her own life in order to merit God's prescence is not Christianity. This means, though, that the church will be filled with immature and borken people who still have a long way to go emotionally, morally, and spiritually. As the saying has it: "The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."

Jesus conducts a major critique of religion. His famous Srmon on the Mount (Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7) does not criticize irreligious people, but rather religious ones. In his famous discourse the people he criticizes pray, give to teh poor, and seek to live according to the Bible, but they do so in order to get acclaim and power for themselves... ...This makes them judgemental and condemning, quick to give criticism, and unwilling to take it. They are fanatics. ... The God of Jesus and the prophets, however, saves completely by grace. He cannot be manipulated by religious and moral perfomrance--he can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power. If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, willing servents of God and of everyone around us.

convicting for me, mr. super pharisee... and a good reminder.

i must stuff charts for tomorrow's appointments now. goodnight.