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.

Be salt, and a little bit of salt keeps the whole society from going rancid.

We're concerned with how things turn out; God seems more concerned with how we turn out.

The world is not against you, but the world is a place where bad things happen. It's just true. Airlines crash, people do evil things. A lot of bad things happen and it causes pain.

Our confused society badly needs a community of contrast, a counterculture of ordinary pilgrims who insist living a different way. Unlike popular culture, we will lavish attention on the least "deserving" in direct opposition to our celebrity culture's emphasis on success, wealth, and beauty.

True faith does not so much attempt to manipulate God to do our will as it does to position us to do his will.

The more we love, and the more unlikely people we love, the more we resemble God - who, after all, loves ornery creatures like us.