Submitting self to God is the only real freedom-because the deepest slavery is self-dependence, self-reliance. When you live your life believing that everything (family, finances, relationships, career) depends primarily on you, you're enslaved to your strengths and weaknesses. You're trying to be your own savior. Freedom comes when we start trusting in God's abilities and wisdom instead of our own. Real life begins when we transfer our trust from our own efforts to the efforts of Christ.

From the time God saved me at 21 years old, I've always been fascinated by the parables of Jesus.

Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.

People who know they are not good make the best messengers of grace because they are desperately aware of their own need for it.

The desperate addict is closer to the heart of grace than the devout moralist.

We must reacquaint ourselves with the biblical weight of the problem that we less-than-perfect human beings contend with in the face of a holy and righteous God.

A preacher who doesn't believe he's that bad will attract people who don't think they're that bad. And that's bad.