We tend to see God as a means through which we get things to make us happy. For most of us, He has not become our happiness.

Prayer turns theology into experience.

The resurrection makes Christianity the most irritating religion on the face of the earth.

What you treasure will ultimately require you die for it, Jesus is the only treasure that died for you.

In the secular view, suffering is never seen as a meaningful part of life but only as an interruption.

The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.

Our character is mainly shaped by our primary social community - the people with whom we eat, play, converse, and study.