The hub of Christianity is not "do something for Jesus." The hub of Christianity is "Jesus has done everything for you".

When the Christian faith becomes defined by who we are and what we do and not by who Christ is and what he did for us, we miss the gospel - and we, ironically, become more disobedient.

The law demands that we do it all; the gospel declares that Jesus paid it all.

If the depths of everyone's sin was made public, we would all be much more gracious to each other.

Only when you realize that the gospel has nothing to do with your obedience but with Christ's obedience for you, will you start to obey. The only Christians who end up getting better are those who realize that if they don't get better, God will love them anyway.

Unfulfilled dreams, ongoing relational tension, the loss of friendships, a hard marriage, rebellious teenagers, the death of loved ones, remaining sinful patterns - whatever it is for you - live long enough, lose enough, suffer enough, and the idealism of youth fades, leaving behind the reality of life in a broken world as a broken person.

I never had an intellectual struggle with the Bible, with the gospel, with the claims of Christ.