It is such a letdown to rise from the dead and have your friends not recognize you.

Doctrine is a wonderful servant and a horrible master.

Any time someone makes you feel guilty about how you are living, that is part of the old system (pre-Christ).

I like to say that I practice militant mysticism. I'm really absolutely sure of some things that I don't quite know.

I believe that God is with you, that there is a presence. I believe this God is for you. I don't think the universe is a cold, dead place that is indifferent.

If this understanding of the good news of Jesus prevailed among Christians, the belief that Jesus’s message is about how to get somewhere else, you could possibly end up with a world in which millions of people were starving, thirsty, and poor; the earth was being exploited and polluted; disease and despair were everywhere; and Christians weren’t known for doing much about it. If it got bad enough, you might even have people rejecting Jesus because of how his followers lived. That would be tragic.

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