We've long loved the metaphor of being an "Army for the Lord." It can be confusing. Especially today. Jesus offers a beautiful metaphor in the form of shelter from the storm. Jesus teaches us from the ethos of the Beatitudes and the pathos of the cruiciform that which gives Christianity it's distinctive beauty. This is the beauty we must embrace.

Jesus is tempted in the desert with safety, influence and political power; or, the most common desires of the world. Over the last generation or so, the evangelical church has been more adept at endorsing these dominant desires and is in need of recovering its true form and beauty.

Beauty, mystery and wonder. All three of them go together. We wonder at things that are beautiful and mysterious. Children most often find themselves in a state of wonder because everything is a new journey into beauty and mystery. The greatest wonder of all is the Incarnation. Gazing on the Word made flesh keeps the gospel beautiful.

Patience, prayer and sacrificial love will mark the lives of true followers of Jesus. 

Humility is the most direct route to becoming like the God we believe in.

The world is confused and confusing, true religion cuts through the noise and leads us to eternal perspective (and this perspective is seen most profoundly in the way we communicate.)