The Gospel is not ultimately a defense from pain, it is the message of God's rescue through pain. In fact, it allows us to drop our defenses, to escape not from pain but from the prison of "How" and "Why" to the freedom of "Who?"

Grace always runs downhill, meeting us at the bottom, not the top.

The biggest lie about grace that Satan wants the church to buy is the idea that it’s dangerous and therefore needs to be kept in check.

There is no better news than that the God who makes the demand for perfection also meets the demand for perfection on our behalf.

Death is the operative device that sets us free in Christ - when we die, we truly live.

When I was 25, I believed I could change the world. At 41, I have come to the realization that I cannot change my wife, my church, or my kids, to say nothing of the world. Try as I might, I have not been able to manufacture outcomes the way I thought I could, either in my own life or other people's.

The law is God's first word; the gospel is God's final word.