“To those who receive [Jesus], that is not only to believe in His existence but to believe that He brings life through salvation by His death and resurrection, God promises the right to become His own children.”

“Very few people believe in the devil these days, which suits the devil very well. He is always helping to circulate the news of his own death. The essence of God is existence, and He defines Himself as: 'I am Who am.' The essence of the devil is the lie, and he defines himself as: 'I am who am not.' Satan has very little trouble with those who do not believe in him; they are already on his side.”

“You can imagine Herman Melville coming to his publisher with his new manuscript. They ask him what it's about, and he says, 'It's about a one-legged captain who's had his leg bitten off by a whale.' It wouldn't have sounded that promising. Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby, he was told you couldn't write seriously about a bootlegger. If a man cares intensely enough about tiddley winks, his book about tiddley winks ill be a great novel.”

“He sees by faith an unseen Savior, who . . .loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions, rose again for him, and appears in Heaven for him as his Advocate at the right hand of God. He sees Jesus — and clings to Him. Seeing this Savior and trusting in Him — he feels peace and hope and willingly does battle against the foes of his soul.He sees . . .his own many sins, his own weak heart, a tempting world, a busy devil — and if he looked only at them, he might well despair. BUT he sees also a mighty Savior, an interceding Savior, a sympathizing Savior — His blood, His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood — and he believes that all this is his own. He sees Jesus — and casts his whole weight on Him. Seeing Him, he cheerfully fights on, with a full confidence that he will prove more than conqueror through Him that loved him (Romans 8:37).”

“We must believe that He is able to do what He will, wise to do what is best, and good, according to His promise, to do what is best for us, if we love Him, and serve Him.”

“He did not deserve to die, and his death absolutely proves that life is randomand fucked-up and arbitrary, until you find someone who can make sense of it all for you—if only temporarily.”

“It was his fault too,” Fredrick said. “He never really asked her why. It was like he didn’t want to know.”