Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading us to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance)." And: "As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both 'I did it, my sins sent him there' and 'he did it, his love took him there.

The church, if it is going to be the church God designed it to be, must become a space for the full story of God's artistic grace — the story about where we were, where we are now, and where we will be someday.

Gospels of Sin Management" presume a Christ with no serious work other than redeeming humankind … [and] they foster "vampire Christians," who only want a little blood for their sins but nothing more to do with Jesus until heaven. Dallas

Salvation history reveals sin as literally a broken home.

Asceticism is the denial of the will to live; and the transition from the Old Testament to the New, from the dominion of Law to that of Faith, from justification by works to redemption through the Mediator, from the domain of sin and death to eternal life in Christ, means, when taken in its real sense, the transition from the merely moral virtues to the denial of the will to live.

If man is a totally depraved being, can he possibly take the first step in the matter of his return to God?

The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: 'grace.

You don't need to beat yourself up in order to make God love you. Jesus already took your beating.

Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.

I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.

My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, amazing grace!

God loves you enough to receive you as you are. He loves you too much to keep you as you are.