To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians.

We can tell the world that there is life after death, but the world really seems to be wondering if there is life before death.

There are congregations on nearly every corner. I'm not sure we need more churches. What we need is a church. I say one church is better than fifty. I have tried to remove the plural form churches from my vocabulary, training myself to think of the church as Christ did, and as the early Christians did. The metaphors for her are always singular - a body, a bride. I heard one gospel preacher say it like this, as he really wound up and broke a sweat: "We've got to unite ourselves as one body. Because Jesus is coming back, and he's coming back for a bride not a harem.

The question becomes not just how to accumulate more, but how to covet less.

The true atheist is the one who refuses to see God's image in the face of their neighbour.

If you have two coats you have stolen one. We have no right to have more than we need when someone else has less than they need.

I think in the end, God's justice is redemptive, it's restorative, it's about giving life, not taking life.