How Religion Works: If I obey, then God will love and accept me. The Gospel: I'm loved and accepted, therefore I wish to obey.

Religion says earn your life. Secular society says create your life. Jesus says, 'My life for your life.

So live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.

Secularism and Religion are both all about your personal performance. The Gospel is the performance of another applied to you.

The most liberating act of free, unconditional grace demands that the recipient give up control of his or her life.

There are many ways to cover up our sin. We may justify or minimize it by blaming circumstances and others people. However, real repentance first admits sin as sin and takes full responsibility. True confession and repentance begins when blame shifting ends...Just as real repentance begins only where blame shifting ends, so it also begins where self-pity ends, and we start to turn from our sin out of love for God rather than mere self-interest.

Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you.