What are some good Bible verses to study about being in the will of God? Check out this list of scripture quotes.

Aristotle said, “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” It seems that many people settle for this way of living in mediocrity instead of pursuing purpose. The book of Proverbs calls this type of thinking a snare, which is a trap for catching animals. If you are afraid of failure or man’s criticism, do nothing, because if you do something, you will experience them both.

This commandments seems pretty straightforward. But is it?

You can see this at work in all three of the controversies that have earned headlines recently: The Obama administration’s attempt to require religious institutions to pay for contraception, sterilization and the morning-after pill; the brouhaha over the Susan G. Komen foundation’s attempt to stop funding for Planned Parenthood; and Tuesday’s Ninth Circuit ruling affirming an earlier lower court decision that overturned the results of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.

So how many people go to your church?” That’s a question just about every pastor faces at just about every conference he attends. I wonder, what would happen if we found better questions to ask and better ways to answer them. Instead of going to the easy question of, “How many people go to your church?” why don’t we ask things like this instead:

A couple Sundays ago, I announced to my congregation that we would be moving from where we currently meet---a New York City public school---to our new meeting space. We aren't moving because we've outgrown the space where we meet, but because the city has ruled that churches can no longer meet in public schools. We will need to be out February 19.

“To actually do anything [about abortion], then you were a theocrat. You were the pastor-in-chief. You are this radical that wants to try to force your views on everybody else and try to moralize everybody. All you’re doing is standing up for the dignity of every human life, but that doesn’t matter.”

What are your favorite Bible stories? Check out my five favorite stories from the Bible

The most frustrating thing in life is trying to be someone you are not. We cannot live in the boxes that society or religion makes for us. We cannot live in the boxes others make for us regardless of their good or bad intentions.

This is the point of the law and the gospel: with us, salvation is impossible (law), but for God, everything is possible (gospel). It’s when we face the impossibility of doing anything to save ourselves that the gospel of Jesus floods in.