“It’s better to have the faith to embrace reality with all its pain than to cling to the false comfort of a painless fantasy.”

We must assess our thoughts and beliefs and reckon whether they are moving us closer to conformity to Christ or farther away from it.

The most frequent promise in the Bible is ‘I will be with you.’

The most important task of your life is not what you do, but who you become.

I’m more concerned about who you’re becoming than what you’re doing.

Peace does not lie in getting God to give me other circumstances. Peace lies in finding God in these circumstances.

The miracle of Sunday is that a dead man lives. The miracle of Saturday is that the eternal Son of God lies dead.

If I have the courage to acknowledge my limits and embrace them, I can experience enormous freedom. If I lack this courage, I will be imprisoned by them.

Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation.

One of the most painful aspects of suffering is the loneliness of it. Others may offer support or empathy, but no one can walk the road to Moriah in our place.

God is so immense that if he were ‘too visible,’ people would give forced compliance without expressing their heart. So God made it possible, in enormous love, for us to live as if he were not there.

The ministry of bearing with one another is learning to hear God speak through difficult people.

Our beliefs are not just estimates of probabilities. They are also the instruments that guide our actions.

Both hope and pessimism are deeply contagious. And no one is more infectious than a leader.

We who preach have one tool. We are people of the book.

The problem with spending your life climbing up the ladder is that you will go right past Jesus, for he’s coming down.

What matters is not the accomplishments you achieve; what matters is the person you become.