“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.”

If you don’t feel like praying, pray to God to give you the desire.

If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshipping an idealized version of yourself.

To fear the Lord is to be overwhelmed with wonder before the greatness of God and his love.

Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, but it does provide deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair

…the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.

Nothing is more important than to learn how to maintain a life of purpose in the midst of painful adversity.

This is why so many churches quench the motivation of people for ministry. In our shoes, Paul would say: Remember the grace God has showered on you—what does living out and enjoying that grace look like in this situation?

What you do today is shaped by what you believe about tomorrow.

How you experience your present is completely shaped by what you believe your ultimate future to be.

Where you find your significance is where you find your salvation.

God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.

The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe.

…Singles, too, must see the penultimate status of marriage. If single Christians don’t develop a deeply fulfilling love relationship with Jesus, they will put too much pressure on their DREAM of marriage, and that will create pathology in their lives as well.

No, he was in agony, and he looked down at us – denying him, abandoning him, and betraying him – and in the greatest act of love in history, he STAYED. He said, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” He loved us, not because we were lovely to him, but to make us lovely.

In the original language, ‘Fear the Lord’ doesn’t mean be afraid. It means sustaining a joyful, astonished awe, and wonder before Him.

Are you living to justify yourself, or are you living because you are justified?

America is a very seductive place in terms of lifestyle and comfort, but it wasn’t for me.

I think everyone is a case-by-case basis. Whatever the circumstances are that come with any individual, they exist and you have to make a determination as to what your comfort level is with that person and the characteristics that they bring.

This is how we must comport ourselves if we are to fulfill our Lord’s command in the Gospel of John (17:21), Ut unum sint, that all may be one.

There is no intrinsic worth in money but what is alterable with the times, and whether a guinea goes for twenty pounds or for a shilling, it is the labor of the poor and not the high and low value that is set on gold or silver, which all the comforts of life must arise from.

The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.

I can say that even in the midst of my most cynical comic stripping: Opus shone through with a bit of heart, anchoring the ugly proceedings with a comforting pull of emotion.

It is a great comfort to a rambling people to know that somewhere there is a permanent home–perhaps it is the most final of the comforts they ever really know.

We can take full comfort in realizing the continuing strength of our nation. Americas lands remain radiantly rich with diversity, and freedom still reigns.