The way you are with others every day, regardless of their status, is the true test of faith.

The confessing church of American Ragamuffins needs to join Magdalene and Peter in witnessing that Christianity is not primarily a moral code but a grace-laden mystery; it is not essentially a philosophy of love but a love affair; it is not keeping rules with clenched fists but receiving a gift with open hands.

There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.

Quia amasti me, fecisti me amabilem. (In loving me, you made me lovable.)

Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.

I believe that the real difference in the American church is not between conservatives and liberals, fundamentalists and charismatics, nor between Republicans and Democrats. The real difference is between the aware and the unaware.

Without exposure to potential failure, there is no risk.