One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his...

We are enjoined to love our neighbor, not our tribe.

Paul was focusing on what was happening in him, not to him. Likewise, we can be sure that when something is happening to us, God is doing something in us–something that will shape us for...

Still, despite all our noise, this universe hinges on a melody, that’s the dismal truth of it. Oh, we can propagandize all we wish, it doesn’t change the fabric of things. This universe was not...

Once a man discovers that his obedience is primarily for others’ sake, that every miracle that ever amazed happened because of someone’s obedience somewhere, that properly understood, his obedience prepares the way for His visitation,...

Consumerism, the new black. I want my burger my way. Shaken not stirred. Sauce on the side and rare but not rare rare. Venti, two-pump, sugar-free vanilla, non-fat, two Splenda, extra-hot, extra-whip, extra-mocha Mocha and...

Indeed if they ever once saw the endless supply of eternal opportunities The Adversary offers them every temporal moment of day after day of their fuddled little lives, they would stagger at the sheer industry...

There were honest people long before there were Christians and there are, God be praised, still honest people where there are no Christians. It could therefore easily be possible that people are Christians because true...

trailer trash,” those living in poverty, or the illegal immigrants. They didn’t tell us it was okay to love everybody except for our ex-lovers, our lovers’ ex lovers, or our ex-lovers’ lovers. The mandate was...

There was a time when skepticism was an act of rebellion. Since to a degree I both believe in evolution and have faith, I can only conclude that, as prophesied, to have faith will someday...

Our comfort in theological traditions should never usurp our desire for spiritual Truth. If we vigorously pursue the rituals rather than a relational experience with God then we’ve missed His message entirely.

Do not lower the standard or cater to the worldly laxness of the average Christian by making the way in easy. Make sure that everyone who joins fully understands his duties and obligations and is...

You are not a success until you start changing other lives permanently.

How should an artist begin to do his work as an artist? I would insist that he begin his work as an artist by setting out to make a work of art.

The facts themselves do not compel belief. God will not force us to trust Him. God gives us the ability to respond and graciously allows us to choose how we will use the freedom that...

As I ponder my pilgrim’s progress to Orthodoxy, however, I realize that I didn’t make the trip alone, but in a two-seater. And I wasn’t the one driving.

Reflected in a rippling pool of gutter water a metal hawk razored across the midday sky, belching a long trailing shriek as she crossed zenith and descended talons-first into her nearby nest on the horizon....

The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came...

Let us be so taken up with the knowledge of God’s goodness and the desire to fellowship with Him that our emotions are warmed and our outer man reflects great love. Although we must not...

Her (Mary’s) Son first had to be the Child of the Father in order then to become man and be capable of taking up on his shoulders the burden of a guilty world.

Law does, “because God said so!”; Grace does because it understands the reason God said so.

Predestination therefore, as it regards the thing itself, is the Decree of the good pleasure of God in Christ, by which He resolved within Himself from all eternity, to justify, adopt, and endow with everlasting...

In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.

Is it I, Lord” (Matt. 26:22).

We know Jesus taught that if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to the left. We know that Mohammed was sacked from his village and stoned at Ta’if, but he quietly left for...

Sometimes it is only through pain that we become who God wants us to be.

I was so tired of this ceaseless, day-to-day tug-of-war between my hormones and my head, my vanity and my virtue. I felt very much as though I were caught in the middle of some dreadful...

Christianity and Buddhism are very much alike, especially Buddhism.

Doing things God’s way is always a matter of the heart.

I liked this God very much because you hardly had to talk to it and it never talked back. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

The art of life is to live in the present moment and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God himself.

You do not esteem good deeds?” She shifted the basket handle to both hands, just as a cool breeze blew a bonnet string across her face. “My dear Miss Keene, what would the world be...

I haven’t even read everything I wrote.

For all works and things, which are either commanded or forbidden by God and thus have been instituted by the supreme Majesty, are ‘musts.’ Nevertheless, no one should be dragged to them or away from...

Jesus is the Son of God.We are sons and daughters of God.

It is not the fact that we are united in common goals or purposes that makes us a community. Rather, it is the fact that we share a common life in Christ.

I was always exceedingly delighted with that saying of Chrysostom, “The foundation of our philosophy is humility”; and yet more pleased with that of Augustine: “As the orator, when asked, What is the first precept...

When the term Christian or even Protestant is used, it seldom refers to any particularly evangelical doctrine or way of life. More often it refers to a religion accepted by the large majority, which assures...

We are peculiar people called to fulfill a great mission.

I am thankful to the Lord for my redemption. I was once lost, now I am saved by grace.

Life is an adventure in forgiveness

If you take a book into your hands, be it ‘God’s book, or any other useful good book,’ rely on God to make it profitable to you. Do not waste time reading unprofitable books. When...

It was William who would climb out of his carriage unafraid and help a farmer drive a herd of cattle or sheep across a road when necessary.

If you want to be a strong, maturing Christian, your first priority is to develop a closer relationship with God.

There’s enough grief in this world without always getting into whose fault it is.

The Gospel is a harsh document; the Gospel is ruthless and specific in what it says; the Gospel is not meant to be re-worded, watered down and brought to the level of either our understanding...

Each forward step we take we leave some phantom of ourselves behind.

The myth of purgatory is an allegory, a projection, from the present on to the future. This is why purgatory appeals to the imagination. It is our story. It is where we are now. If...

There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing and predatory as it is — in our country particularly, and in all other Christian countries in a somewhat modified degree — it...

I didn’t deserve a friend like this, who loved me for no reason— who loved me despite my mistakes. I caught my breath as the thought entered my mind. Could God love me this way...