Risk Before the Fall

“God did not create a safe world for us. Even before the sin of man ruined so much, the paradise of Eden had a serpent in it. Adam was in a momentous conflict before he sinned. God insists that we bet with real money. God requires us to risk things. This risk includes all that we hold dear, and to shrink back from it is to incur the displeasure of God. The wicked and lazy servant was the one who would not risk what had been entrusted to him. To play it safe is to play it dangerous.”

Concise and to the Point, p. 127

Fighting for Love is Not Loving to Fight

“The shepherd who will not fight the wolves does not love the sheep. The shepherd who loves to fight simply for the sake of fighting, and wolves will do for an adversary, is a shepherd with disordered affections. The shepherd must hate the wolves because he loves the sheep. If he hates the wolves because loves to hate, then he is a wolf himself.”

Concise and to the Point, p. 126