Quotes from Lee Strobel

An authentic relationship means telling the truth about how we feel — and that's the kind of relationship God wants with us.

Luke, the theologian of the poor and of social concern; Matthew, the theologian trying to understand the relationship of Christianity and Judaism; Mark, who shows Jesus as the suffering servant. You can make a long list of the distinctive theologies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Just as certain people are more susceptible to particular diseases, some temperaments —especially those that tend to be melancholy or contemplative — are more vulnerable to questions and doubts.

face." I sat spellbound. Here it was — the image of grace I had been seeking: an aspiring father bringing unconditional acceptance to a child who had absolutely nothing to offer, no accolades or accomplishments, just herself in all of her vulnerability and scars and weaknesses. My eyes moistened. This is the love of a dad. Maybe — just maybe — this is the love of a Father.

Christianity has been a boon to mankind . . . (and) has had a beneficent effect upon the human race. . . . Most people today who live in an ostensibly Christian environment with Christian ethics do not realize how much we owe Jesus of Nazareth. . . . What goodness and mercy there is in this world has come in large measure from him. D. James Kennedy, Christian

It flows out of the point I just made. Christians believe that as wonderful as Jesus' life and teachings and miracles were, they were meaningless if it were not historically factual that Christ died and was raised from the dead and that this provided atonement, or forgiveness, of the sins of humanity.

So do whatever it takes to keep the wonder of God's grace fresh in your heart.

Jesus, the ultimate sacrificial lamb of God, who paid for sin once and for all. Here was the personification of God's plan of redemption.

Until that moment, I only saw Jesus as the Son of God. I knew he had come down to earth, but that night for the first time it dawned on me: He understands me. He walked in my shoes! As a matter of fact, he was sort of a toogee. You know? His daddy — his earthly father — wasn't his real daddy. He slept in the straw as a child. He was ridiculed and abused. They chased him and tried to kill him.

We see them reporting the words and actions of a man who called them to as exacting a level of integrity as any religion has ever known. They were willing to live out their beliefs even to the point of ten of the eleven remaining disciples being put to grisly deaths, which shows great character. "In terms of honesty, in terms of truthfulness, in terms of virtue and morality, these people had a track record that should be envied.

Grace liberates us. Our tendency toward performance imprisons us.

God didn't love me because I made myself valuable through service; on the contrary, I was valuable because I was loved by God.