I had turned personal validation into my primary source of meaning and value, so that without it I was miserable and depressed.

Christianity is not about good people getting better. It is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good.

Sanctification consists of the daily realization that in Christ we have died, and in Christ we have been raised.

I was spending too much time thinking about how I was doing, if I was learning everything I was supposed to be learning during this difficult season, whether I was doing it right or not, taking my spiritual pulse, etc - my inner lawyer was working overtime.

I was a surfer so I hung out with people who were surfers and made fun of people who weren't surfers and I listened to surf music and made fun of people who didn't listen to surfer music.

Self-righteousness is the fruit of a low view of God's law and a lite view of your own sin.

I actually think one of most profoundly and deep pastoral moments between a pastor and his church is what happens between them before God in the context of preaching.