Prayer is to the skeptic a delusion, a waste of time. To the believer it represents perhaps the most important use of time.

All of the images of Jesus and of the kingdom are small things: be a light in the darkness.

I have more appreciation for why the Bible avoids fuzzy psychologisms and says simply to the stealer, "Steal no more," and to the tempted, "Flee temptation." The Bible challenges us to look upward, not inward, for counsel at moments of crisis.

The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for God to step in and set right all that is wrong. Rather, they are to model the new heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for what God will someday bring to pass.

One Harlem preacher likens us to the pink plastic spoons at Baskin Robbins: we give the world a foretaste of what lies ahead, the vision of the Biblical prophets. In a world gone astray we should be activity demonstrating here and now God's will for the planet.

Some of us seem so anxious about avoiding hell that we forget to celebrate our journey toward heaven.

In no other arena is the church at greater risk of losing its calling than in the public square