Brad

“if God is not a Father, if he has no Son and will have no children, then he must be lonely, distant and unapproachable; if he is not triune and so not essentially loving, then no God at all just looks better.”
― Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith

“We know what the power of the world looks like. When push comes to shove, as it often does, it is the power of violence, using the threat of pain and death. It is, yes, the power of tanks and bombs, and also of guns and knives and whips and prisons and barbed wire and bulldozers. Weapons to destroy people’s lives; machines to destroy their homes. Cruelty in the home or at work. Malice and manipulation where there should be gentleness, kindness, and wisdom. Jesus’s power is of a totally different sort, as he explained to the Roman governor a few minutes before the governor sent him to his death—thereby proving the point. The kingdoms of the world run on violence. The kingdom of God, Jesus declared, runs on love. That is the good news.”
― N.T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good

“Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing.
Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this
attend strictly to
the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered
to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and
reward you when
he cometh in the clouds of heaven.”
― John Wesley

“The only reason the death of Jesus was ever thought of as good news was because of what happened next.”
― N.T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good