Religious matters are to be separated from the jurisdiction of the state, not because they are beneath the interests of the state but, quite to the contrary, because they are too high and holy and thus are beyond the competence of the state.
The moment we Christians think we have all the right answers for another person, for a group of people, for an entire state, or a whole nation, that’s when we know we’ve not only begun to confuse worshiping God as being God ourselves, but we’ve also confused...
Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and as a preacher it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less...
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an...
The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.
We must picture Hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and...
I’ve come to see that the call of God, the love that bids us welcome, is always a call to become the true you. Not a doormat. The true you. Not an imitation of someone else. The true you: someone made in the image of God, deserving of and receiving love. The ability...
It isn’t a bit surprising that you find the Psalms and even your own attempts to develop personal prayer an ‘exercise’ rather than an ‘experience.’ One has to make up one’s mind to submit to training, including the drudgery of training; nor is one’s spiritual state...
There is no side to take in the Twelve Step Program! It is not a worthiness contest. There is only an absolutely necessary starting point! The experience of "powerlessness" is where we all must begin. And Alcoholics Anonymous (A. A.) is honest and humble enough to...