My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus' words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to Him.

God beckons storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there,' and He says to the seas, 'You stop here, and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, 'No.

Consider what it takes for successful businessmen and businesswomen, effective entrepreneurs and hardworking associates, shrewd retirees and idealistic students to combine forces with a creative pastor to grow a "successful church" today. Clearly, it doesn't require the power of God to draw a crowd in our culture. A few key elements that we can manufacture will suffice.

Some people think that if they will do certain things, they will somehow earn the favor of God, but this misses the whole point of Christianity and ironically devolves into a me-centered approach.

There is a sense in which the danger of our lives increases in proportion to the depth of our relationship with Christ.

Our greatest need is not to try harder. Our greatest need is a new heart.

God has made a way of salvation for the lost. Not a way, but the way. And this is the good news - the gospel.