The role of the pastor is to embody the gospel. And of course to get it embodied, which you can only do with individuals, not in the abstract.

When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.

I think pastors are the worst listeners. We're so used to speaking, teaching, giving answers. We must learn to be quiet, quit being so verbal, learn to pay attention to what's going on, and listen.

Prayer is the disciplined refusal to act before God acts.

Pastors need to know what's going on in the world and what has been going on for 4,000 years. We need a way to read Scripture which is imaginative, interpretive.

Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace. Repentance is the most practical of all words and the most practical of all acts. It is a feet-on-the-ground-kind-of-word. It puts a person in touch with the reality that God creates.

Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship.