I simply cannot get over what a surprising and wonderful life God has given me.

I fear that much of the Christianity that surrounds us assumes our task is to save appearances by protecting God from Job-like anguish. But if God is the God of Jesus Christ, then God does not need our protection. What God demands is not protection, but truth.

Never think that you need to protect God. Because anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure that you are worshipping an idol.

For Christians do not place their hope in their children, but rather their children are a sign of their hope . . . that God has not abandoned this world.

It’s hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God’s new age, a kingdom of surprise.

If I were a person who was non-American, I would think humanitarian intervention is just another name for United States imperialism.

Another hallmark of Christianity is that salvation is not individualistic-it's not something one person receives for himself or herself. Salvation is the reign of God. It is a political alternative to the way the world is constituted. That's a very important part of the story that has been lost to accounts of salvation that are centered in the individual. But without an understanding that salvation is the reign of God, the need for the church to mediate salvation makes no sense at all.