"Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross … At the foot of the cross, we shrink to our true size." - John Stott

"My generation is gruesomely lonely, but in response, we don't need another handout, another kind gesture, or a better bible study. We don't need more people that will merely know our name and address or care for us sporadically and at arm's length. We need big, reimagined, Jesus kind of love, and people willing to sacrifice themselves in order to live it with us. We need people who will love us enough to get messy. So be deeply involved. Be covered in someone's tears. Be the person who gets the call at midnight. Be the person who hears the gory details when someone’s marriage or career falls apart. Be the person who tells someone the hard stuff that they need to hear but no one wants to say. Be the person who repeatedly gets someone else's mud and blood all over you. Be the person who goes home a little uncomfortable at night, not because of your behavior and thoughts, but because you've been near enough to someone else's. Be a family member to the lonely, messy people of this world, and to my generation" - Josh Riebock

"Look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn't come after the sorrow. It doesn't come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy." - Tim Keller