When you keep the porch light on for the prodigal child, you do what God does every single moment.
What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?
We need hope. There’s nothing worse than to live a life of despair. For a person to have no hope just sucks the blue out of every sky.
Never underestimate the power that comes when a parent pleads with God on behalf of a child.
We act like God’s only good when the outcome is good. We say, ‘We’ve got a good God because I’ve got a good job.’ But what if I don’t have a good job? Does that mean God’s not good anymore?
Not everybody can create a foundation that’s worth a billion dollars, but all of us can figure out those things we do. I really think God loves us too much to give us an assignment we don’t enjoy doing.
We preachers, people entrust us with their time week after week. I’m still stunned that people will let me talk to them for thirty minutes about anything I want to. It’s a wonderful treasure that we are to steward.
The one thing that I cannot do without each day is hope.
Never let the church become a place where it’s just a Las Vegas display place for you to show off.
I don’t think God is a gender. He presents himself as a father but he comes to us with the tenderness of a mother. In some of the parables, he is the housewife who cleans the house looking for the lost coin.
It’s up to me to promote my faith and somebody else to promote theirs. Let the government just protect our right to do so.
God’s goal is not to get what you want; it is to get you what you need.
Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you’ll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder.
We have the freedom to pray and the freedom to love the God of our heart. And we have been forgiven by the only one who could condemn us. We are truly free.
I simply think God is greater than our weakness. In fact, I think it is our weakness that reveals how great God is.
Humility has such power. Apologies can disarm arguments. Contrition can defuse rage. Olive branches do more good than battle axes ever will.
Today’s belief is tomorrow’s behavior. If you want to be happier person tomorrow, sow seeds of happiness today.
Nature is God’s workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done.
As we meditate on Christ’s life, we find strength for our own.
It’s nothing mystical, necessarily. It’s nothing secretive. It’s just what we do with our body we do with our soul.