Modern democracy badly needs a new spirit of civility, and Christians could show the way by demonstrating the 'fruit' of God's spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. ...
A state government can shut down stores and theaters on a Sunday, but it cannot compel worship. It can arrest and punish KKK murderers but cannot cure their hatred, much less teach them love. It can pass laws making divorce more difficult but cannot force husbands to love their wives and wives their husbands. It can give subsidies to the poor but cannot force the rich to show them compassion and justice. It can ban adultery but not lust, theft but not covetousness, cheating but not pride. It can encourage virtue but not holiness. ...
Jesus' images portray the kingdom as a kind of secret force. Sheep among wolves, treasure hidden in a field, the tiniest seed in the garden, wheat growing among the weeds, a pinch of yeast worked into bread dough, a sprinkling of salt on meat all these hint at a movement that works within society, changing it from the inside out. You do not need a shovelful of salt to preserve a slab of ham; a dusting will suffice.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/books/grace.htm
You are the salt of the earth........
A state government can shut down stores and theaters on a Sunday, but it cannot compel worship. It can arrest and punish KKK murderers but cannot cure their hatred, much less teach them love. It can pass laws making divorce more difficult but cannot force husbands to love their wives and wives their husbands. It can give subsidies to the poor but cannot force the rich to show them compassion and justice. It can ban adultery but not lust, theft but not covetousness, cheating but not pride. It can encourage virtue but not holiness. ...
Jesus' images portray the kingdom as a kind of secret force. Sheep among wolves, treasure hidden in a field, the tiniest seed in the garden, wheat growing among the weeds, a pinch of yeast worked into bread dough, a sprinkling of salt on meat all these hint at a movement that works within society, changing it from the inside out. You do not need a shovelful of salt to preserve a slab of ham; a dusting will suffice.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/books/grace.htm
You are the salt of the earth........
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