When you are part of a megachurch you have no responsibility to anybody else.

The most important thing a pastor does is stand in a pulpit every Sunday and say, 'Let us worship God.' If that ceases to be the primary thing I do in terms of my energy, my imagination, and the way I structure my life, then I no longer function as a pastor.

My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives.

Like the sacramental use of water and bread and wine, friendship takes what's common in human experience and turns it into something holy.

You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.

Church is the textured context in which we grow up in Christ to maturity. But church is difficult. Sooner or later, though, if we are serious about growing up in Christ, we have to deal with church. I say sooner.

Isn't it interesting that all of the biblical prophets and psalmists were poets?