Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life.

In a smaller church your pastoring sets up your preaching. In a larger church your preaching sets up your pastoring.

We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life.

Tolerance is not the absence of belief. Tolerance is how your beliefs teach you to treat other people

Without the gospel we hate ourselves instead of our sin.

Most people in the world believe that if there is a God, you relate to God by being good. Most religions are based on that principle, though there are a million different variations on it...But they all have the same logic: If I perform, if I obey, I’m accepted. The gospel of Jesus is not only different from that but diametrically opposed to it: I’m fully accepted in Jesus Christ, and therefore I obey.

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