Joylessness may be the sin most readily tolerated by the church.

When I teach the formal curriculum, I have the chance to think about it ahead of time. I can rehearse it. I can illustrate it with self-deprecating humor and humble-sounding personal disclosure. I can try to make it comes out just right.

The Bible does not say you are God’s appliance; it says you are his masterpiece. Appliances get mass-produced.

We may be unlovely yet we are not unloved.

We are tempted to live under the illusion that somewhere out there are people who are normal.

The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope.

Jesus is mysterious not just because of what we don't know about him, but because of what we do know about him.