But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.

Do you realize that it is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that you get the verdict before the performance?

If we say, 'I believe in Jesus,' but it doesn't affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven't truly understood or believed in Jesus at all.

To preach the gospel is to show people their need for salvation against a backdrop of God's nature and the character of sin, and then present Jesus as the only remedy for what ails them and the world. In my weekly preaching in the worship services I always call people to believe in Christ.

God made you to love him supremely, but he lost you. He returned to get you back, but it took the cross to do it. He absorbed your darkness so that one day you can finally and dazzlingly become your true self and take your seat at his eternal feast.

Friends become wiser together through a healthy clash of viewpoints.

Tolerance isn't about not having beliefs. It's about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.