Barre 3 Quotes

Everything ok?” Charlie’s voice came from behind me. “I already said it was.” “I know, but you’re standing there holding onto that barre for dear life. I know I’m good, but I don’t think I’ve ever paralyzed a woman before.

It is in Genesis 3:16 (God speaking to the woman) where we first see hierarchy in human relationships. . . . Hierarchy was not God’s will for the first pair, but it was imposed when they chose to disregard his command and eat the forbidden fruit. . . . Adam would now be subject to his source (the ground), even as Eve was now subject to her source (Adam). This was the moment of the birth of patriarchy. As a result of their sin, the man was now the master over the woman, and the ground was now master over the man, contrary to God’s original intention in creation.34 Patriarchy wasn’t what God wanted; patriarchy was a result of human sin.

Anna was too old to believe that people always lied for a reason. Mostly they lied because it was easy, felt good, or was habit.

Ghosts were not the spirits of the dead returning but the memories of the living not yet laid to rest.

In the lowlands around Lake Superior weather fronts, with their attendant changes in pressure, gave her headaches. Not so the mountain storms. Cracking thunder and flashing lightning filled the air with ozone till it tingled in the lungs, rejuvenating body and spirit much the same as the air at the seaside or near waterfalls.

The catalogue of misleading models for a normal Christian life could be extended almost indefinitely. In fact the very phrase, “normal Christian life,” can’t help but remind the older ones among us of Watchman Nee’s book of that title. Published in the 1950s, its title couldn’t have been better: we do want a normal Christian experience, and some of the things Nee says are helpful.3 Once again, however, his structure for spirituality is misguided. For one thing, he says the Bible teaches a tripartite view of the human self—body, soul, and spirit—which it is vital to accept in order to gain a proper understanding. But is it? Then he insists that our human minds, wills, and emotions belong not within the spirit but within the soul and as such can only be a hindrance. By contrast the soul, mind, and emotions need to be “put to death” in order that the human spirit may be released for its proper communion with God. The upshot is that most of our humanity has, somehow, to be jettisoned. This being so, it becomes difficult to see what Jesus means when he commands us to love God with our minds. Nee’s writings, however, were a big influence in the post-war years, especially in the early charismatic movement.

Yes, it is a fallen world and art, like Aaron’s sculpted golden calf, can be perverted for evil ends (Exod. 32). But that does not make art and culture wrong or less significant or worldly. Sculpture can also be used to God’s glory (Exod. 25:17–22, 31–40, Ez. 4:1–3).

Scripture frowns on those “who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not” (Jer. 5:21). Similarly if we prefer artwork which tells us what we want to hear, as opposed to helping us see what is actually there, such work may actually constitute “itching ears [gathering] teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Tim. 4:3). If our preferred art only tells us what we already know and does not challenge us to see what we never before perceived, it will not only fail to develop in us ears to hear, it may actually deepen our (culpable) deafness.

We want “God is love” to always mean “God is nice; God is cozy.” But what if coziness turned out to be the enemy of one’s eternal soul? “You say, ’I am rich… and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire…. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (Rev 3:17–19).

If the essence of the Cultural Mandate could be distilled into three headings, it would be these: 1. The blessing of God on the human race. The heart of humanity’s calling is to know the covenant presence of the Lord God, who is our God just as we are his people. As he has done everything to shower his love on us, he has given us all the gifts we need to flourish and return his love. 2. To be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with our productive presence. The human race was to populate the entire earth, always with the purpose of discovering God’s life-giving purposes for us, in all our diversity and talents. 3. To rule over the creation with gentle lordship. Always under the greater lordship of God, we are vicegerents in this marvelous place, taming what is untamed so that it redounds to God’s greater glory.

In the very first expression of the Gospel, God tells the serpent he will be the enemy of the woman’s seed until the day his head is bruised (Gen. 3:15). Thus, Satan, represented by this strange crawling voice piece, would eventually be crushed under foot. God, our refuge, will enable us to tread on the lion and the adder (Ps. 91:13). Jesus gave his disciples authority to tread on serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:19). In the end Jesus’ death and resurrection was his own bruising and the powers of darkness’ ultimate defeat (Col. 2:14–5; Rev. 20:2). So the mandate to have dominion still holds, but now it must include reversing the effects of sin through the one who gained the power over sin, Jesus Christ. Through death he destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. Now, we too, through him have that power (Heb. 2:14–15).

The Apostle Peter warns of three temptations Christians face when other-than-Christian people try to figure us out. First, we are tempted to let our fears and anxieties get the best of us. Peter writes, “Have no fear, nor be troubled” (1 Pet. 3:14). Second, we are tempted to pay no mind to the questions our other-than-Christian neighbors might ask us. Peters counters that we should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). Third, we are tempted to betray the character of Jesus with our ways while trying to commend the Gospel of Jesus with our words. According to Peter, this cannot be. When you defend the hope you have in Jesus, he says, “do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15). This gentleness and respect is even for those who might slander you. He writes, “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Pet. 3:17).

Sharing beauty with total strangers made the world seem a friendlier place. In a culture dominated, if not by violence, then certainly by overheated reports of it dished out by a ratings-starved news media, it reassured her that the love of peace and natural order was still extant in the human soul.

Feelings came alive in Vicki for which the earth and sea had never taught her names.

shock of black hair. “Or are rangers’ sex drives too low?” “IQs are too

The hanging of the twenty-three-year-old Schlomo Yousef on 29 June led to outrage because he was the first Jew to be executed by the British in Palestine, and because, until that point, the British had condoned Jewish efforts to defend themselves using their defence organisation, the Haganah.2 The execution triggered a wave of revenge attacks by the Irgun Zvai Leumi,3 a right-wing faction of the Haganah, of which Yousef had been a member.

In a culture dominated, if not by violence, then certainly by overheated reports of it dished out by a ratings-starved news media, it reassured her that the love of peace and natural order was still extant in the human soul.

Only humans, cursed with the knowledge of their own mortality and that of those whom they loved, were truly alone; each trapped in an ivory tower of skull and bone peeking out through the windows of the soul.     THE

Widowhood conferred a mystery and status divorce lacked. The difference between returning World War II and Vietnam veterans. Both had been through a war, but a judgmental public conferred glory only on those who had been victimized in a socially acceptable manner.

To let the living see the dead were most certainly dead and so to let them go. Ghosts were not the spirits of the dead returning but the memories of the living not yet laid to rest.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 says, “a time to search and a time to give up.

As with most things in our experience the nub of the issue involves the cross. We need to be clear not just about Christ’s death but about our own also. First, we have to accept the fact that only Jesus can take away the guilt of our sin. Then we have to be clear that Jesus died for us not merely to reconcile us to the Father but to transform us into his likeness. As soon as we understand this, we realize that the height of Christian experience is not the forgiveness of our sins—though that is the indispensable “door” that Jesus speaks about (cf. John 10, Rev. 3). To be properly human we need first to accept this unique salvation and to hold onto it throughout our lives, for it is the rock upon which all else rests. But what follows is equally important. Jesus says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Paul says, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us (Eph. 5:1–2). God welcomes us into his family not to provide us with rest and relaxation, but in order to change us into his likeness. Not that the rest isn’t real, as Isaiah makes clear: “in repentance and rest is your salvation” (Isa. 30:15, NIV). We never work for our salvation the way man-made religions require. But alongside the rest comes our repentance. We commit ourselves to undergo, at God’s hand, a process of gradual transformation, of continual repentance, of laying aside what is un-human so as to become properly human. On one hand this means becoming like Jesus in positive virtues, on the other it means being willing to die with him and to imitate his sufferings. He was kind, just, patient, generous, merciful, and all the rest. He was prepared to go to the cross. We have to become like that too, though always conscious of our shortcomings.

We got this, guys. We have to turn our fear into courage, our doubt into hope, and our innocence into strength. We can do this!

as far as the British were concerned, the Sykes–Picot agreement had been an academic exercise to resolve an argument, not a blueprint for the future government of the region. As a hypothetical division of country that neither of its signatories yet controlled, it was extremely vulnerable to events, all the more so because it was a secret that was bound to cause controversy when finally it was exposed. As the British hoped, and the French feared, events in the Middle East might yet render the pact redundant. It was this weakness that one man now did his utmost to exploit.   3 ENTER T.