1. Past, present, and future are tied together in Christ.
  2. Unprompted, without any warning, for no reason at all, without any instigation say, "I love you." And that will wash over your parents like a beautiful absolution.
  3. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  4. His love for you is so deep that in his mercy, while you were yet a sinner, God sent his only begotten Son to die for you.
  5. Zephaniah has given us something more visceral to help us understand the love of God: the sound of salvation.
  6. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  7. Christ our Word, as with a two-edged sword, burst the devil's belly.
  8. I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.
  9. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  10. The usual acclamation when one becomes King is: “Long live the King!” But this King of kings, this son of David, has come to die.
  11. The nefarious thing about idolatry is that just about anything can become your idol: career, family, fame, wealth, status, spouse, you name it, any good thing can become a ‘god-thing” with ease. 
  12. It makes perfect sense that the day honoring Jesus' birth would be observed in a decidedly less than refined manner.