Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean there can't be one.

Everyone says they want community and friendship. But mention accountability or commitment to people, and they run the other way.

Jesus asks for far more than you ever thought, but offers more than you ever dreamed.

While we want doubts to give way to faith, we should be merciful and patient with those who are still in a doubt-troubled place.

I've heard plenty of Christians try to answer the why question by going back to the what. "You have to believe because Jesus is the Son of God." But that's answering the why with more what. Increasingly we live in a time in which you can't avoid the why question. Just giving the what (for example, a vivid gospel presentation) worked in the days when the cultural institutions created an environment in which Christianity just felt true or at least honorable. But in a post-Christendom society, in the marketplace of ideas, you have to explain why this is true, or people will just dismiss it.

Hell is having to execute a pointless act from which nothing ever comes except the need to do it again.

Marriage has the power to set the course of your life as a whole. If your marriage is strong, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are filled with trouble and weakness, it won't matter. You will be able to move out into the world in strength.