Clarence Jordan, The Substance of Faith: And Other Cotton Patch Sermons

"God is not a celestial prison warden jangling the keys on a bunch of lifers--he's a shepherd seeking for sheep, a woman searching for coins, a father waiting for his son."

"Fear is the polio of the soul which prevents our walking by faith."

"Faith is not belief in spite of evidence but a life in scorn of the consequences."

"Even though people about us choose the path of hate and violence and warfare and greed and prejudice, we who are Christ's body must throw off these poisons and let love permeate and cleanse every tissue and cell. Nor are we to allow ourselves to become easily discouraged when love is not always obviously successful or pleasant. Love never quits, even when an enemy has hit you on the right cheek and you have turned the other, and he's also hit that."