Liberation movements - operating surreptitiously and conspiratorially - thrive on discipline and suspicion, and punish deviation or dissent.
It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel superior to him or her.
God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are.
The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.
God looks at the anxious and says, I tore my Son to shreds for you, and you're afraid I will not give you what you need?
The basic purpose of prayer is not to bend God's will to mine, but to mold my will into His.
You don't fall in love. You commit to it.
So when I was beating the guy, I started thinking, 'What if I was Hannah Montana?'. . . And little do they know that that's why I look so insane. . . I'm torturing myself with thoughts of, 'How could I actually pull off being a high school student and a pop star at night?'
In some ways, I've always approached singing as acting, and the voice is just like a way of carrying the song.
What fire does not destroy, it hardens
Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people, like fishes caught in a net, can be restored to wholeness.