Goodness cannot be imposed externally, from the top down; it must grow internally, from the bottom up.

Prayer is - not just bowing your head a few times a day, it pervades all of life.

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

John Wesley taught that the gospel of Christ involved more than saving souls. It should have an impact on all of society, and his followers worked to accomplish just that. They were dispensing grace to the broader world, and in the process their spirit helped change a nation, saving it from the revolutionary chaos that had spread across Europe.

The Old Testament anticipates [Jesus] all the way through.

In the move The Last Emperor, the young child anointed as the last emperor of China lives a magical life of luxury with a thousand eunuch servants at his command. "What happens when you do wrong?" his brother asks. "When I do wrong, someone else is punished," the boy emperor replies. To demonstrate, he breaks a jar, and one of the servants is beaten. In Christian theology, Jesus reversed that ancient pattern: when the servants erred, the King was punished. Grace is free only because the giver himself has borned the cost.

The self-sacrificing, servant aspect of the Christian life has many parallels to parenthood.