His is a joy which consequences cannot quench. His is a peace which circumstances cannot steal.

Somewhere, sometime, somehow you got tangled up in garbage, and you've been avoiding God. You've allowed a veil of guilt to come between you and your Father. You wonder if you could ever feel close to God again. The message of the torn flesh is you can. God welcomes you. God is not avoiding you. God is not resisting you. The curtain is down, the door is open, and God invites you in

If God was willing to wrap himself in rags and drink from a mother's breast, then all questions about his love for us are off the table.

You see, it's one thing to accept Him as Lord, another to recognize Him as Savior - but it's another matter entirely to accept Him as Father.

Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.

There is nothing on earth that can satisfy our deepest longing. We long to see God. The leaves of life are rustling with the rumor that we will - and we won't be satisfied until we do.

We preachers, people entrust us with their time week after week. I'm still stunned that people will let me talk to them for thirty minutes about anything I want to. It's a wonderful treasure that we are to steward.