“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Nelson Mandela

"The greatest Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was always there."

"Some of us seem so anxious about avoiding hell that we forget to celebrate our journey toward heaven."

"The world can do almost anything as well or better than the church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace."

"Grace is Christianity's best gift to the world, a spiritual nova in our midst exerting a force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, stronger than hate."

"Guilt was not my problem as I felt it. What I felt most was a glob of unworthiness that I could not tie down to any concrete sins I was guilty of. What I needed more than pardon was a sense that God accepted me, owned me, held me, affirmed me, and would never let go of me even if he was not too much impressed with what he had on his hands." ~ Lewis Smedes

"What blocks forgiveness is not God's reticence - 'But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him' - but ours. God's arms are always extended, we are the ones who turn away. (the italicized part is an excerpt from the parable of the prodigal son.)

"God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are praising him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found." ~ Henri Nouwen

"Throughout the Bible, in fact, God shows a marked preference for 'real' people over 'good' people."

"...grace does not depend on what we have done for God, but rather what God has done for us."

"He came for the sick and not the well, for the unrighteous and not the righteous. And to those who betrayed him - especially the disciples, who forsook him at his time of greatest need - he responded like a lovesick father."

"Remember, merficul Jesu, that I am the cause of your journey." ~ Mozart's Requiem

"Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self; you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me,if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?"

"[The Old Testament] taught me about life with God. Not how it is supposed to work, but how it does work."

"I would rather only consider the kindness of God, but by doing so I would construct my own image of God instead of relying on God's self-revelation. I dare not speak for God without listening to God speak for himself."

"God prefers honest disagreement to dishonest submission. He takes human beings seriously, conducts dialogues with them, includes them in his plans, listens to them...what we say, how we behave, even what we think and feel - these things have an enormous effect on God."

"The closest we can come to understanding how God looks upon us is by thinking about the people who mean most to us: our own child, our lover. Think of a doting parent with a video camera, coaxing his year old daughter to let go of the living room coffee table and take three steps toward him. "Come on, sweetie, you can do it! Just let go. Daddy's here. Come on." Think of a love-struck teenager with her phone permanently attached to her ear, reviewing every second of her day with a boy who is himself infatuated enough to be interested. Think of those two scenes and then imagine God on one end and you on the other. That is the message of the Old Testament."