1. When we read a good story, we sojourn with the characters and authors upon the trail of longing. Such is the pilgrim’s path.
  2. The sword of the spirit in Holy Scripture does indeed show us our sin, but thanks be to God, it also shows us our Savior.
  3. Our only claim to fame is that we have been claimed by a God who is consistently drawn to losers!
  4. What I like about Giertz’s approach is the devotional nature of these commentaries. He’s a pastor concerned with what these texts have to say to us today.
  5. The church is the only place God promises to lift us out of ourselves not in order to become more like God but so that we may finally be freed from our obsession with becoming little gods.
  6. Bo Giertz attained infamy in Sweden for a humble adherence to unpopular, orthodox practice and doctrine.
  7. We do not live in the greatness of our own deeds. We boast in the greatness of one deed that God himself has done through Jesus Christ on the cross.
  8. Despite his trust in empiricism, throughout his life, Locke never entirely let go of the inspired Scriptures—or perhaps more accurately, the Scriptures never let go of him.
  9. For all mankind, the answer is terrifically simple and remains the same: God wants to turn us towards the cross and then turn us back to our neighbors.
  10. God invites you to confess the skeletons in your closet so that he might bury them in the grave for good.
  11. Christian hope means always hope in God and hope in Christ simultaneously without distinction.
  12. Forde’s work testifies to the liveliness and vitality of confessional Lutheranism, and its promise for the continuing need to preach Christ crucified in this, and every, age until the Lord’s return.