Posts Tagged: "Richard Beck"

sunday shout outs liz vice

Shouting But Not About The Super Bowl

- - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

I like to give some shout-outs on Sundays, sharing what I read online during the past week that I just can’t keep to myself.

So today I’m shouting, but not about the Super Bowl (mostly because my beloved Seahawks are taking a year off from participating in it).

Anyway, check out the following…

addie zierman post

1. This post by Addie Zierman, Size Up. Here’s my favorite line(s):

“See?” some wise voice says from the deep place of my heart. “You are too old and too awesome to wear things that don’t fit you.” 

And it’s about the jeans… and it’s not.

It’s about my body… and it’s not.

It’s about letting go of what doesn’t fit anymore, of who you used to be, of who you thought you might turn into.

(You are too old and too awesome for all that nonsense.)

In the mirror, the reflection you see is not one of… Read More

BETTER POET POST

If You Want To Be A Better Christian, Work To Become A Better Poet

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

From Professor Richard Beck…

A few months ago I was giving a chapel talk to ACU Honors students about what I called “the poetry of the Christian life.” The ideas were taken from Walter Brueggemann’s book Reality, Grief and Hope.

I shared three things with the students.

First, I said, when you look at the poetry of the prophets you see three different sorts of poetry, each with a different emotional tone. The prophets sing three different songs.

The first song is prophetic rage and indignation. This is the cry, “Let… Read More

bono video post

Where The Kingdom Of God Is Located

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

I love what Richard Beck has to say about the Kingdom of God…

Jesus is telling us in the Beatitude where the Kingdom of God is located.

And it’s located Jesus says, among the poor in spirit.

Christianity is fundamentally about learning to see.
 That is what Jesus said, over and over.
 The Kingdom is near. The Kingdom is at hand. The Kingdom is in your midst.

But the Kingdom is small and unnoticed, like a… Read More

infrahumanization

Tribalism: Seeing Others As Not Fully Human

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, “I came as a guest, and you received me.” —Rule of St Benedict

I squirm whenever I hear someone talking about “The gays…” or “The Muslims…” or “The illegal immigrants…” or ”The Catholics…” or “The whatevers.” Sure, it probably has something to do with the sweeping generalizations, labeling, stereotyping. But I’m realizing it’s more than that.

When we speak about “The whatevers,” we are identifying “them” as separate from “us.” It’s tribalism, and tribalism is all about who’s in and and who’s out. According to Professor Richard Beck, “Ingroup members are considered to be fully human. Outgroup members are infrahumans” (less than fully human).

As the famous anthropologist Levi-Strauss said, “Humankind ceases at the border of the tribe.”

Belgium psychologist Jacques-Philippe Leyens first coined the term INFRAHUMANIZATION to describe the belief that one’s ingroup is more human than those outside it. A classic case of infrahumanization is found in the US Constitution (Article 1. Section 2. Paragraph 3) where… Read More

sunday shout outs 2015

The Good Kind of Shouting

- - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

It’s Sunday again – time for the good kind of shouting – some shout outs. Here’s what I enjoyed online this past week:

 

anne-marie heckt post

1. This post: We’re Meant To Be Swimming In The Deep by Anne-Marie Heckt.
My favorite line(s): “My thoughts drifted to the One who knows me. Who gets me. Better than any other ever, ever could. Water is an elemental love. Sky might be yours. Or loud noises, or wet rain, or heat that cracks the bones, or dancing in the motes of a sunrise. Or reading words and letting them bubble into and over you like champagne.

All of that beauty feeds us and it comes from the One who knows us.

We are meant to be out there, deep, swimming. Not clinging to the shore. Time spent in that beauty is not… Read More

richard beck post a million boring things

Christianity Is Boring

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

I recently wrote about our addiction to adventure. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Yes, there is something repetitious about the Christian life. Following Jesus isn’t necessarily about going into new territory every day. Often, it’s about doing the same things over and over and over…

Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” —Luke 9.23

Taking up one’s cross daily is – I don’t know any other way to say it – repetitive. Even Jesus (who was perfect) participated in these repetitive things.

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Richard Beck has written a great post entitled “A Million Boring Little Things” in which he says…

Being more and more like Jesus is a million boring little things.

Here’s his entire post—seriously, read it.

*     *     *     *

I was talking to one of my students recently about the temptations of youthful spirituality, how when you are young you get addicted to the buzz of the worship high and then go searching for a more intense… Read More