On the last day, Jesus will look us over not for medals, diplomas, or honors, but for scars.

No man can adequately reach and explain a single word of God with all his words

The outstretched arms of Jesus exclude no one, not the drunk in the doorway, the panhandler on the street, gays and lesbians in their isolation, the most selfish and ungrateful in their cocoons, the most unjust of employers and the most overweening of snobs. The love of Christ embraces all without exception.

Let us be bold enough to ask ourselves as Christians whether the Church of the Lord Jesus in the United States has anything to say to our nation and its ideologies of materialism, possessiveness, and the worship of financial security. Are we courageous enough to be a sign of contradiction to consumerism through our living faith in Jesus Christ? Are we committed enough to his gospel to become a countercurrent to the drift?

God is loving us - you and me - this moment, just as we are and not as we should be.

Do the truth quietly without display.

Trust is our gift back to God, and he finds it so enchanting that Jesus died for love of it