Theology That Bites Back
“I am a slave to Christ, which means I can’t do certain things. One of the things I am prohibited from doing is using my liberty as a device for enslaving myself. These are liberty chains—you may not use your liberty (which is real) as a cover for tying yourself up in bondage again”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 41
“A sermon exists in and for its purpose. That purpose is the persuading and moving of men’s souls . . . It is always aimed at men”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 92
“What is the meaning of liberty? In order to make any progress at all when it comes to understanding the use of marijuana, we have to know what freedom is. We also have to discuss it, and work through it carefully, with very sober minds. That means we should debate the question of pot without having smoked any”
Devoured by Cannabis, pp. 39-40
“Ordinarily, reading sermons is like listening to an echo. The words there, but the personal intonation is gone out of them and there is an unreality about it all . . . In general it is true that the sermon which is good to preach is poor to read and the sermon which is good to read is poor to preach.”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 91
“One wine might be selected because it would go well with the beef, and another chosen because it complemented the pasta. Marijuana goes with (recalling Cheech and Chong) Oreos and mustard”
Devoured by Cannabis, p 31
“Never allow yourself to feel equal to your work”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 88
“If the use of wine was sinful and problematic , then it would have been really problematic for Jesus to have made 160 gallons of it”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 26
[Concerning Ps. 104:14-15] “And lest anyone’s heart leap for joy because it mentions herbs ‘for the service of man,’ it is talking about your salad, and not about your stash.”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 25
“Take, for instance, the matter of preaching old sermons. It is not good. A new sermon, fresh from the brain, has always a life in it which an old sermon, though better in itself, must lack . . . the main objection which the people have to the preaching of old sermons is in the impression that it gives them of unfaithfulness and idleness”
Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching, p. 86
“The book of Proverbs is given to all God’s people. And the word that mean ‘to speak a proverb’ is also a word that mean ‘to rule.’ Learning to live in accordance with the proverbs God gave us is preparation for dominion”
Devoured by Cannabis, p. 24
