Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks.

Anger is the noise of the soul; the unseen irritant of the heart; the relentless invader of silence.

I do believe that leaders have to be held to a higher standard, especially Christian leaders. I put myself in that camp.

There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near him [Jesus]. There were those who mocked him. There were those who were envious of him. There were those who misunderstood him. There were those who revered him. But there was not one person who considered him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to touch. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected.

The path marked Humility will take you to the manger of the Messiah.

I do think there is great strength, though, in starting a sermon with a story, then returning to that story at the end. That puts book ends to a sermon. It is a real simple technique that communicates to the audience that there is a sense of closure, that they have a package here, or we began and we closed with this. I think that's just a nice technique.

Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love.