We live in a relativistic culture, where people are more con- cerned with being liked than being truthful. In A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper does an outstanding job of bibli- cally defending key truths that the church often ignores. He gives us an example of how to take a bold and educated stand on issues of race, purity, and God's sovereignty.

People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them and who can never love them back.

God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard.

Proclaiming the gospel to a lost world cannot be just another activity to add to the church's crowded agenda. It must be central to who we are. It forms our identity.

It hit me that the students were talking about me, not God. I was standing before a holy God and robbing Him of the glory that was rightfully His.

One of my biggest fears - maybe my biggest weakness as a Christian - is that I have a hard time going up to a stranger and talking to them about Jesus.

Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so that they don't have to.