The call of Christ is to deny ourselves and to let go of our lives. To relinquish control of our lives, to surrender everything we are, everything that we do, our direction our safety our security is no longer found in the things of this world. It is found in Christ. And that is great risk when it comes to the things of this world.

And while we stand with conviction and courage, we must live with compassion. Amid a world with massive social needs around us, ranging from desperate poverty and orphan crises and millions of girls being trafficked for sex, to the degradation of marriage and the abortion of babies, we need to speak and act with selfless love on all of these issues.

We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.

To be a Christian is to realize that in your sin, you were separated from God's presence, and you deserved nothing but God's wrath.

I wonder sometimes, though, if we intentionally or just unknowingly mask the beauty of God in the gospel by minimizing his various attributes.

Craig Bellamy's got pace, but he's also rapid as well

In a world where everything revolves around yourself-protec t yourself, promote yourself, comfort yourself, and take care of yourself-Jesus says, 'Crucify yourself. Put aside all self-preservati on in order to live for God's glorification, no matter what that means for you in the culture around you.'