1. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  2. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  3. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  4. You are the friend in low places. It’s only from this place that you are free to look outside yourself for the remedy to the issues that plague you and humanity.
  5. You’re not new because of what you do. You’re new and so you do new things, even in spite of yourself, because of your sinful nature.
  6. The good news is that with our God there is always more: more than we deserve, dare, ask, or expect, more than we can see, hear, feel, or think.
  7. Every incendiary move of God’s Spirit is accompanied by a group of penitent people rediscovering the power and preeminence of God’s Word.
  8. Sometimes in hanging on to our useless guilt, we are idolaters. We believe our sin or conscience is more powerful than our God.
  9. We need to hear the gospel because it is good news that is not from you, or about you, or because of you.
  10. Stoicism’s opening premise fails to understand that, from its conception, the heart is a thorny bramble.
  11. Christ is not an idea. He isn’t a concept. He isn’t a religious notion or sentiment. He isn’t a product. He is the Savior, flesh and blood.