The logic of cross and resurrection, of the new creation which gives shape to all truly Christian living, points in a different direction. And one of the central names for that direction is joy: the joy of relationships healed as well as enhanced, the joy of belonging to the new creation, of finding not what we already had but what god was longing to give us.

When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves--that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.

Worship is love on its knees before the beloved; just as mission is love on its feet to serve the beloved

Fortunately, Paul is much more interesting than most of his interpreters, myself included.

The phrase "spiritual journey" is one that I've only become familiar with comparatively recently. We wouldn't have put it like that when I was a kid.

The Holy Spirit in enabling the already-justified believers to live with moral energy and will so that they really do please God again and again.

True worship is open to God, adoring God, waiting for God, trusting God even in the dark.