Swords appear strong, but they're actually quite weak. Jesus appears weak, but he's actually quite strong.

Suffering, it turns out, demands profound imagination. A new future has to be conjured up because the old future isn't there anymore.

Because with every action, comment, conversation, we have the choice to invite Heaven or Hell to Earth.

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.

I live with the understanding that truth is bigger than any religion and the world is God's and everything in it.

The modern world has created airports and hospitals and put 10,000 songs in our pocket. It has built gleaming buildings and computers and advances and innovations that blow our minds. But we have soul, and spirit, and consciousness, and the modern world hasn't done so well at helping us name and understand what it means to be thriving and fully alive with a full heart.

[The Bible] has to be interpreted. And if it isn’t interpreted, then it can’t be put into action. So if we are serious about following God, then we have to interpret the Bible. It is not possible to simply do what the Bible says. We must first make decisions about what it means at this time, in this place, for these people.