if Jesus really is God—if he really did sacrifice himself so that we could be forgiven and set free to experience his love forever—then why should we hesitate to give all of ourselves to him? Who could be more trustworthy than someone who lays down his life so that others might live?

“He’s the Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world. He’s the one to whom I owe my life, and through him I’ve come to know God. He is the one who provided me complete forgiveness of sins, who loved me when I was a miserable, ungrateful, rebellious, proud wretch. He put a new heart and a new spirit within me; he has turned my life around and

Many skeptics only appear to be liberals; they’re actually a species of fundamentalist.

Indeed, the attitude of many Americans is that they like Jesus but not the church, which they see as exclusivistic, condemning, intolerant, and intent on strapping people into a straitjacket of rigid dogma.

we need to quit turning Jesus into our buddy. He’s the sovereign Lord of the universe, and we need to understand that and respond accordingly.”

“Given a choice, we tend to select beliefs that elevate who we are, that diminish personal responsibility, that give us greater freedom to call ‘good’ what the scriptures call ‘sin,’

‘An ounce of evidence is worth a pound of presumption.’

“Until we bring sin back into our vocabulary, we’re not going to take the depths of evil or our moral responsibilities—or God—seriously. We don’t simply need more therapy to resolve our issues in this fallen world. We need to acknowledge our own guilt and humble ourselves in asking for forgiveness. Otherwise, the therapeutic mind-set relieves us

True tolerance grants people the right to dissent.”