Prayer is both conversation and encounter with God.

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.

If there is a God, you owe him far more than a morally decent life.

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.

The basic purpose of prayer is not to bend God's will to mine, but to mold my will into His.

Jesus Christ, who had all the power in the world, saw us enslaved by the very things we thought would free us ... He laid aside the infinities and immensities of His being and, at the cost of His life, paid the debt for our sins, purchasing us the only place our hearts can rest, in His Father's house. Knowing He did this will transform us from the inside out.

The cross is the place where the Judge takes the Judgment.