“God build’s God’s kingdom. But God ordered this world in such a way that His own work within that world takes place through the human beings that reflect His image. That is central to the notion of being made in God’s image. He has enlisted us to act as His stewards in the project of creation. So the objection about us trying to build God’s kingdom by our own efforts, though it seems humble and pious, can actually be a way of hiding from responsibility, of keeping one’s head well down when the boss is looking for volunteers.” WorldWayTryingHumansWellsMadeSeemsHuman BeingsEffortResponsibilityCreationThis WorldProjectsNotionHumbleKingdomsBossHidingVolunteerObjectionsPiousStewardsEnlisted Author:N. T. Wright
“The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.” HumansWellsMaySelfReasonFightingBeliefReligiousHuman BeingsAnimalResultsViewsAwarenessBehaviorImportanceIndependenceAssumingSpeciesGuidesKingdomsCharacteristicsDestructiveDelusionNo ReasonConformityTerritoryTraitsWarfareStubbornExtinctionSelf DestructiveConformistAnimal Kingdom Book:The Lost World Source: The Lost World
“Turtles have always been my sigil, I suppose. When I was a kid, growing up in Bayonne, NJ, I lived in a federal housing project, and we were not allowed to have a dog or cats. The only pets I could have were turtles. So, I had an entire toy castle filled with dime-store turtles. I gave them all names, and since they were living in a toy castle, I decided they were all knights and kingsand I made up stories about how they killed each other and betrayed each other and fought for the kingdom. So, Game of Thrones, actually began with turtles. I decided later to recast it with actual human beings.” HumansMadeStoriesKidsGamesNamesHuman BeingsGrowing UpGrowingDogProjectsCatDecidedFilledStoresKingdomsPetToysThronesBetrayedHousingCastlesKnightsDimesTurtlesKids Growing UpMade Up Stories Author:George R. R. Martin
“For Jesus, it is clear, poverty is not the problem; it is the solution. Until human beings learn to live in naked contact and direct simplicity and equality with each other, sharing all resources, there can be no solution to the misery of the human condition and no establishment of God's kingdom. Jesus' radical and paradoxical sense of who could and who could not enter the Kingdom is even more clearly illustrated by his famous praise of children.” HumansChildrenProblemJesusHuman BeingsPovertyClearConditionsSolutionsResourcesDirectPraiseMiserySimplicityKingdomsNakedContactRadicalEstablishmentHuman ConditionParadoxical Author:Andrew Harvey
“The heart is God's most magnificent creation, and the prize over which he fights the kingdom of darkness. Now consider this - marriage is the sanctuary of the heart. You have been entrusted with the heart of another human being. Whatever else your life's great mission will entail, loving and defending this heart next to you is part of your great quest.” HumansHeartHas BeensFightingNextHuman BeingsDarknessCreationMissionsKingdomsPrizeQuestsMagnificentSanctuary Author:John Eldredge