There will be people who will teach for the sake of greed or for the sake of ego. So watch their lives. Do they look and act like Jesus?

Frankly, you need to get over yourself. It might sound harsh, but that's seriously what it means [1 Corinthians 10:31].

I could be wrong about salvation. I could be wrong about a lot of things.

You've got to do some work now. Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. Virtue is about moral excellence.

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.

I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.

God is so clear in spelling out His attributes in scripture in order that others would know what He is really like.