As a pastor, you get invited into the most poignant moments of people's lives. Whether it's a wedding or a funeral or a hospital visit, you get invited into the center of the event, whether or not you know the people.

Sociologically, large groups of people don't generally have massive changes in their belief instantaneously.

Every generation has to ask difficult questions about what does it mean to follow Jesus.

The great German scholar Helmut Thielicke once said that a person who speaks to this hour’s need will always be skirting the edge of heresy, but only the person who risks those heresies can gain the truth.

People have a view of a God who is terrible that they can't even imagine being loving or wanting anything to do with.

A lot of Christians have been taught a story that begins in chapter 3 of Genesis, instead of chapter 1. If your story doesn't begin in the beginning, but begins in chapter 3, then it starts with sin, and so the story becomes about dealing with the sin problem. So Jesus is seen as primarily dealing with our sins.

If we are serious about loving someone, we have to surrender all the desires within us to manipulate the relationship.