I think you have to be very careful about any story that puffs you up.

We are presumptuous not when we marvel at His grace, but when we reject it.

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.

Look at the Bethlehem birth. A king ordered a census. Joseph was forced to travel. Mary, as round as a ladybug, bounced on a donkey's back. The hotel was full. The hour was late. The event was one big hassle. Yet, out of the hassle, hope was born. It still is.

God will use your mess for good. We see a perfect mess; God sees a perfect chance to train, test , and teach.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. God tapped humanity on its collective shoulder, "Pardon me," he said, and eternity interrupted time, divinity interrupted carnality, and heaven interrupted the earth in the form of a baby. Christianity was born in one big heavenly interruption.

I was about 21 when I read that [Mere Christianity], and my faith was really being shaken during those days. Its a great, classic book.