At the heart of the gospel is a God who deliberately surrenders to the wild, irresistable power of love.

The Quakers have a saying: "An enemy is one whose story we have not heard." To communicate to post-Christians, I must first listen to their stories for clues to how they view the world and how they view people like me.

A philosophy may explain difficult things, but has no power to change them. The gospel, the story of Jesus' life, promises change.

I once heard a theologian remark that in the Gospels people approached Jesus with a question 183 times whereas he replied with a direct answer only three times. Instead, he responded with a different question, a story, or some other indirection. Evidently Jesus wants us to work out answers on our own, using the principles that he taught and lived.

Misunderstanding must be nakedly exposed before true understanding can begin to flourish.

Jesus tended to honor the losers of this world, not the winners. Our modern culture extravagantly rewards beauty, athletic skill, wealth, and artistic achievement, qualities which seemed to impress Jesus not at all.

Sometimes I feel like the most liberal person among conservatives, and sometimes like the most conservative among liberals.