The simple fact is that only if I love Jesus more than my wife will I be able to serve her needs ahead of my own.

A church must be more deeply and practically committed to deeds of compassion and social justice than traditional liberal churches and more deeply and practically committed to evangelism and conversion than traditional fundamentalist churches. This kind of church is profoundly counter-intuitive to American observers. It breaks their ability to categorize (and dismiss) it as liberal or conservative. Only this kind of church has any chance in the non-Christian west.

When pain and suffering come upon us, we finally see not only that we are not in control of our lives but that we never were.

Idolatry happens when we take good things and make them ultimate things

As long as we think we are not that bad, the idea of grace will never change us.

Change happens not just by giving the mind new arguments but also by feeding the imagination new beauties

Only when our greatest love is God, a love that we cannot lose even in death, can we face all things with peace. Grief was not to be eliminated but seasoned and buoyed up with love and hope.