Ignorant Historian

“…you won her over. Gave up everything for her. Maybe that’s the only way to convince her you love her.” – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, p. 329

“Many churches speak about homosexuality in terms of sin and judgment but about divorce in terms of forgiveness and grace. When a same sex couple goes down to the courthouse to petition for a marriage certificate, the Christians show up with sandwich boards. Do they also show up when their congregants go to the same courthouse to petition for an “unbiblical divorce?” Likely not. And the hypocrisy on this issue has not escaped the next generation.” -“Why Our Generation Doesn’t Care About Prop 8″ by Jonathan Merritt

“I asked the children [from the suburbs] where the slums were. But they said there were no slums near where they lived, only far away, in the city.” – The Love Wife by Gish Jen, p. 44

“We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.” – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, p. 379

“Annie, being a virgin in this day and age is something to be proud of…you’re like a unicorn.” – Shirley, Community, “The Politics of Human Sexuality”

“He is the God that understands that I just miss being loved by a lover….I am blessed in the truest sense of the word.  I am also a little lonely.” – Amy Beth Bullard, “The God Who Understands”

“Finally, he can see me for who I really am. Violent. Distrustful. Manipulative. Deadly. And I hate him for it.” – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, p. 232

“A proud person tries to reinvent reality. He tries to redraw the borders of human behavior to suit himself, displacing God as the Lord and boundary keeper of life.” – Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 125

“I noticed, too, it was the cruelest thing you could say about a person–that they were small.” – Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

(advice given against early engagements) “…if a man is going through a woods, and sees a good young sapling, he may mark it and come back afterward and get it, if he can.” – Most Famous Man in America

” ‘Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?’ says Peeta. ‘It costs everything you are.’ ” – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, p. 23

“We order our worship services around our age groups, with music designed to remind each generation of whatever was playing at the youth rallies of their college days. Our congregations are made up of people who look, talk, and think just like we do. And it never occurs to us that this is the same kind of unity the world has to offer. Even in our churches, we seem to identify ourselves more according to the corporate brands we buy and the political parties we support than with each other.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 38

“Becoming a Christian might look more like falling in love than baking cookies.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 155

“Beauty often seduces us on the road to truth.” – Wilson
“And triteness kicks us in the nuts.” – House, House, “Occam’s Razor”

“…it makes me wonder if secretly we don’t wish God were a genie who could deliver a few wishes here and there.  And that makes me wonder if what we really want from the formula are the wishes, not God.  It makes me wonder if what we really want is control, not a relationship.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 12

“The quiet scares me ’cause it screams the truth” – “Sober” by Pink

“There’s something about patience that God deems necessary for our life in the age to come and so, whether through agriculture or discipleship or bodily development or eschatology or procreation, God makes us wait.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 142

“And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.” – “Praise You in This Storm” by Casting Crowns

“He had forgotten how American children slept. They stretched out long and wide, dreaming of sugar-plums while they waited for handouts from tooth fairies.” – Run by An Patchett, 100

“It seems like, if you really knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you are the center of the universe.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 38

“…the masses of the people could not be held back from Nazism, so powerful was its appeal, and this same priest, who would not leave his people, went with them to Nazism, too.” – They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer, p. 219

“With the right lever you can move a planet.” – Dune by Frank Herbert (paraphrasing Archimedes)

“What my friends believed [against the Jews]–and believe–is an accumulation of legend, legend which comes to them no more guiltily than the cherry tree story comes to us.” – They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 142

“And we’re content with the world we know, just adjusted a little for our identities as Christians. That’s precisely why so many of us are so atrophied in our prayers, why our prayers rarely reach the level of ‘groanings too deep for words’.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 55

“I have learned the hard way that ‘well-educated’ doesn’t always mean ‘smart.’ ” – Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison, p. 8

“You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?”
“Yeah, and you’re the good guy.”
“At least I try.”
“As long as you’re trying to be good, you can do whatever you want.”
“And as long as you’re not trying, you can say whatever you want.”
“So between us, we can do anything. We can rule the world!” – Conversation between Wilson and House, House, “Fidelity”

“It is one thing when the culture doesn’t ‘get’ adoption and so speaks of buying a cat as ‘adopting’ a pet. But when those who follow Christ think the same way, we betray that we miss something crucial about our own salvation.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 19

“We’ll continue to enforce all the laws…especially the immigration laws.” – Joe Arpio, Maricopa County Sherriff

“But I didn’t want to see it, because I would then have had to think about the consequences of seeing it, what followed from seeing it, what I must do to be decent.” – Herr Hildebrandt in They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 201

“We adopted her when she was 3.  She was the perfect child–healthy, bright and beautiful.  But when Karen turned 4, we began to notice some neurological problems….we have learned that perfect is all about perception.” – Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison, p. 8

“…the same lie, at bottom, that dominated the Hitler Youth, the lie that children can educate themselves.  Children who grow up without religion cannot decide about religion for themselves; that’s a fallacy, that people can choose intelligently between what they know and what they don’t know.” – They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 214

I’ve already talked about how much I enjoyed Radical. It was the kick in the pants that I needed.

I needed to get back to the basics.  All the seminary training and reading won’t do me any good if I’m not whole-heartedly seeking God through His Word and prayer.  And all of that is meaningless if I’m not working out my faith.

Spending last week with the kids at camp I learned the same thing: it’s all about the basics.  Not only do I need to teach them the how of the faith, but I need to model it.

This is why I’ve been working on re-establishing good habits: reading 6 chapters of the Bible everyday (3 of each testament), praying not only for those around me but for the world, and memorizing  and meditating God’s Word.  These are building blocks…but they are necessary.

I’m far from perfect even in these small things (in fact, part of my reason for writing this is to be held to it), but they’re necessary.  Not that doing the right things will earn favor with God, but it is how I will know God.

“When you or I open the Bible, we are beholding the very words of God — words that have supernatural power to redeem, renew, refresh, and restore our lives to what he created them to be. That is why I believe it is more important for you and me to read Leviticus than it is for us to read the best Christian book ever published, because Leviticus has a quality and produces an effect that no book in the Christian marketplace can compete with.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 192

Photo by Artful Magpie

“In our quest for the extraordinary, we often overlook the importance of the ordinary, and I’m proposing that a radical lifestyle actually begins with an extraordinary commitment to ordinary practices that have marked Christians who have affected the world throughout history.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 193

“Why can’t others think and see the world the way I see it?” – Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, p. 23

“Lyman firmly believed that the best fisherman was he who caught the most fish, regardless of the bait used.” – The Most Famous Man in America: the Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate, p. 57

“And most pastors in Germany had always preached Christ crucified without seeing–who does?–that he was being crucified all around them every day.” – They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 87

“When I went back into Darfur with my first reporters, the African journalists, I was asked why I was taking the risk, and I told them, not trying to be too dramatic, that I was not safe because my people were not safe–and how can you be safe if your people are not safe? And so who are your people?  Perhaps everyone is your people.  I was wondering about that.” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. 173

“To do its worst, evil needs to look its best.  Evil has to spend a lot on makeup.” – Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 98

“And the bitterest single disappointment of Nazism–both to Simon, the insensitive bill-collector, and to Hofmeister, the sensitive policeman–was the fact that Hitler had promised that no officer would get more than 1,000 Reichsmarks per month and did not keep his promise.” – They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer, p. 102

“There’s a big difference between not being a bad person and being a good one.” – Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley, p. 252

“It also bugs me when I hear about ‘Angelina’s adopted son’ or ‘Rosie’s adopted children’ — as if that word will always separate them instead of binding them together.” – A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth, p. 14

“Fair enough: evil fascinates people who walk down the Tornabuoni and also those who channel surf across daytime TV.  The fastest way to kill the dramas on daytime TV would be to rewrite the scripts so that shows would begin to dwell on moral stabilities–on marital fidelity, loyal friendship, and generous cooperation in the workplace.  Nobody would watch.” – Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 91

“I know now that there are rare people who will help you carry your burdens through this life.” – The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, p. 139

“[debating]…whether it was God’s will to install a woodstove to warm the meetinghouse in winter.  Surely, some argued (out of piety or stinginess it was hard to say), such an indulgence would send them down a slippery slope to decadence.” – The Most Famous Man in America: the Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate, p. 24

“God does not exist for our comfort or happiness or satisfaction, or to provide us with ‘religious experiences,’ as if these were the most interesting and important things in life.” – Knowing God by J. I. Packer

“Regardless of what we say or sing on Sunday morning, rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 115

“That’s the problem with being desperate for attention.  You never ask who the other person is–he could be a serial killer, for all you know–you’re too busy feeling grateful he picked you to notice.” – Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney, p. 306

“Some of the BBC people had to return to Chad, where they were in a medical clinic for three days to recover from what they saw, and smelled, and learned about the nature of what simply must be called evil.” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. 113

“Some wonder if it is unfair for God to allow so many to have no knowledge of the gospel.  But there is no injustice in God.  The injustice lies in Christians who possess the gospel and refuse to give their lives to making it known among those who haven’t heard.  That is unfair.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 159

“But it was ten years ago, and twenty, that the United States Air Force (in its own words) ‘produced more casualties than any other military action in the history of the world’ in its great fire raid on Tokyo, and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson appalled by the absence of public protest in America, thought ‘there was something wrong with a country where no on questioned’ such acts committed in its name.” – They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer, p. xv

“Carter, nothing good comes easy,” she says, “Adversity is just opportunity in work clothes.” – Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, p. 24

“…all these material discomforts which were yet to be account as so many privileges soon to be withdrawn kept constantly before her the disadvantages of her state.” – House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

“We express enthusiasm, emotion, and affection for football and other sports, and it begs the question, what would happen in our culture if the church prayed with such passion?  What would happen if Jesus dominated our affections more than the superficial trivialities that garner our attention?” – Radical by David Platt, p. 188 (ignore the misuse of “beg the question” as the quote is worth it)

“It’s sometimes easier to believe what everyone else believes.”  - The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, p. 104

“It is interesting to me that people bother to shout at you, or even to hurt you, when they are planning to kill you.  What lesson will that teach you if you are going to be dead?” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. 153

“Mah-mee believes she does more than her share by donating to charities.  She would rather live her own life of mah-jongg games, while pretending all those starving in the streets are invisible.” – The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, p. 118

“I’ve received many emails from opinionated folks saying, ‘I have extensively researched this issue,’ by which they mean, ‘I’ve read a lot of blogs.’ Let’s be clear: neither frequent viewership of Fox News nor owning a copy of An Inconvenient Truth makes one ‘an expert.’ ” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 166

“A human being is like a novel: until the last page you don’t know how it will end. Or it wouldn’t be worth reading…” – We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, p. 162

“We realize that we are saved not just to be forgiven of our sins or to be assured of our eternity in heaven, but we are saved to know God.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 39

[girls are] “an impenetrable fortress of unknowability, really.” – An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, p. 76

“Of all the great world religions, Christianity should value the body most. After all, it taught that God had in some sense taken a human body and used it to redeem the world; everything about the physical should have been sacred and sacramental.” – The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong, p. 219

“I’m at a point now where if preachers can’t come up with something other than inspirational speeches, then maybe they should just read from the word for their sermon.” – a college student quoted in Radical by David Platt, p. 40

“Americans are a charitable people, but what we give away is not quite as astounding when seen in proportion to what we keep.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 130-131

“Poems are short because nobody can keep up that level of stupidness for more than one page.” – Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson

“As for the future, the only way that the world can say no to genocide is to make sure the people of Darfur are returned to their homes and given protection. If the world allows the people of Darfur to be removed forever from their land and their way of life, then genocide will happen elsewhere because it will be seen as something that works.” – The Translator by Daoud Hari, p. X

“For example, you’re probably not expecting me to ask you out for dinner tonight.” – Taub
(immediately)”No thanks.” – House
“You won’t even consider it?”
“I did, just very quickly.” – House episode “The Choice”

“Do you ever wonder whether people would like you more or less if they could see inside you?” – An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, p. 149

“Well, I got a degree, but I’m not going to let it ruin my life.” – Sully, Bones episode “The Girl in the Gator”

“No one around may see the black, indelible spots I am covered with, but I know that I–a criminal–have no right to be among these frank wide-open faces.” – We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, p. 140

“I never want to run away from anything because it is considered cool or fun by the secular world.  I also never want [to] run toward anything because it is considered glam-worthy.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 16

“I was born a seesaw, auntie, and nothing can ever prevent me from teetering.” – Philippa in Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

“It’s a shame,” he said, “you don’t learn more about the countries you f*** with.” – An Aussie to an American in His Illegal Self by Peter Carey

“Though God wants us to protect our land, we keep treating it like dirt.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 106

“In 1995 the world spent less than US$250 million trying to extinguish the HIV epidemic. These days, Americans spend over eight times that amount, two billion dollars a year, just on Botox injections to extinguish their wrinkles.” – The Wisdom of Whores by Elizabeth Pisani, p. 20

“Exactly, just like children, we must always ask, ‘And what next?’ ” – We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, p. 175

“…it isn’t fair to fault Jesus for failing to offer answers to questions the culture wasn’t asking.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 85

“How very odd, to believe God gave you life, and yet not think that life asks more of you than watching TV.” – An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, p. 33

“Psalm 19:10 says that Scripture is sweeter than honey, but you’d never know that judging by some believers. You see, there are three basic kinds of Bible students. There are the ‘castor oil’ types. To them the Word is bitter–Yech!–but it’s good for what ails them. Then there is the ‘shredded wheat’ kind. To them Scripture is nourishing but dry. It’s like eating a bail of hay. But the third kind is what I call the ‘strawberries-and-cream’ folks. They just can’t get enough of the stuff. How did they acquire that taste? By feasting on the Word.” – Living By the Book by Howard and William Hendricks, p. 19

“If everyone on Earth actually consumed resources the way Americans do, experts estimate that it would take several Planet Earths just to sustain life.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 126

“All the questions I have given you are very important,” he said.  ”But the most important question you can ask is, ‘Where is Jesus in your theory?’ ” – quoted in Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 83

“You held out your arms, I walked away / Insolent, I spurned your face / Squandering the gifts you gave to me / and holding close forbidden things” – “The Prodigal,” Sovereign Grace music

“Most Americans don’t hate the environment.  They don’t start forest fires to watch them burn or refuse to carpool because they think the sky looks prettier with a sooty grey hue.  They just think they have more important things to do.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 50

“I do know my own mind,” protested Anne.  ”The trouble is my mind changes and I have to get acquainted with it all over again.” – Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

“[C]hurchmen who look at God, so to speak, through the wrong end of the telescope, so reducing him to pigmy proportions, cannot hope to end up as more than pigmy Christians, and clear-sighted people naturally want something better than this.” – Knowing God by J. I. Packer

“My tendency to pursue more and better is impossible to reconcile with the divine plan.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 133

“You’re not racing?” the officer asked, chaffing him.
“My race is a harder one, ” Alexey Alexandrovitch responded deferentially.
And though the answer meant nothing, the general looked as though he had heard a witty remark from a witty man, and fully relished la pointe de la sauce.
-Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.  There is a saying that “paper is more patient than man;” it came back to me on one of my slightly melancholy days, while I sat chin in hand, feeling too bored and limp even to make up my mind whether to go out or stay at home.” – Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl

“Overconsumption of energy, and virtually every resource imaginable, has become ‘the American way of life.’  What’s worse is that Americans are the only ones who don’t seem to realize it.” – Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt, p. 117

“But do you know, they interest me more than blind conformity to tradition–somebody else’s tradition–that I see among our own friends.  It seems stupid to have discovered America only to make it into a copy of another country.” – Ellen Olenska, Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

“While entertaining is having guests with everything prepared and served correctly, hospitality is having people feel comfortable in my home and happy to be there no matter what we are doing or eating.” – Laurie Twibell, Practicing Hospitality, p. 64

“A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him.” – Knowing God by J. I. Packer

“I didn’t want to be treated as a girl-like-all-others, but as Anne-on-her-own-merits.” – Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

“Only women are called on to prove that they are ‘comfortable in this way.” (by taking off their clothes in front of cameras) – Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit, p. 156

” ‘What you mean is,’ I said caustically, ‘that religion is really just for idiots, weaklings, and defectives.’  ’Oh, dear,’ Jennifer grinned rather nervously at me.  ’How awful.  But yes…yes, if I’m honest, I suppose that is what I think.” – The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong, p. 114

“Just because I’m single doesn’t mean I have a forty-eight hour day.  I have the same amount of time as everyone else.” – Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? by Carolyn McCulley, p. 128

“…nowhere in the Establishment clause have I ever seen the words, ‘God-believing people are to be relegated beyond considered judgment.” - Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit, p. 191

“You’ve known me for two years, Sweets.  You should expect to be impressed by me.” – Bones on Bones episode “The rocker in the Rinse Cycle”

“My mathematics–until now the only firm and immutable island in my entire dislocated world–has also broken off its moorings, is also floating, whirling.” - We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, p. 101

“Unfortunately, if a man does not behave like a gentleman and treat women with respect, there is very little a woman can say to change his behavior.” – Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit, p. 277

“Knowing His standards and goals for marriage helps two individuals live together for a greater common goal than their own pleasure and preferences.” – Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? by Carolyn McCulley, p. 94

“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him.” – Derek Loux

“We hear so much from feminists about not being ‘objectified by men,’ but we are learning that self-objectification is not a path to lasting confidence, either.” – Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit, p. 165-166