The ministry of mercy, then, is the best advertising a church can have. It convinces a community that this church provides people with actions for their problems, not only talk. It shows the community that this church is compassionate.

A rich, vibrant, consoling, hard-won prayer life is the one good that makes it possible to receive all other kinds of goods rightly and beneficially. [Paul] does not see prayer as merely a way to get things from God but as a way to get more of God himself.

If God does not have our highest allegiance, we will use prayer to try to get things that have that designation.

Faith is not opposed to reason, but it is sometimes opposed to feelings and appearances.

When you experience God it is deeply personal, but it's not at all private.

Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially 'deify.' We will look to it with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion, even if we think ourselves as highly irreligious.

Ministry to the poor is a crucial sign that we believe the gospel.