The people I used to be surrounded by are getting along without me. Somehow, that really bugs me.

It confuses me that Christian living is not simpler. The gospel, the very good news, is simple.

But the people who took the bus didn't experience the city as we experienced the city. The pain made the city more beautiful. The story made us different characters than we would have been if we had skipped the story and showed up at the ending an easier way.

THINGS JESUS NEVER SAID: "You should come with me to church.

Good stories must travel through conflict. And in epic stories, the conflict must become unbearable.

I think if you like somebody you have to tell them. It might be embarrassing to say it, but you will never regret stepping up. I know from personal experience, however, that you should not keep telling a girl that you like her after she tells you she isn't into it. You should not keep riding your bike by her house either.

The heart responds to the conflict within a story.