Quotes from Rick Richardson

But the chance of him taking a step toward God was well worth the risk of me feeling rejected. Because it's not about me. It's about God.

Whenever you speak of Christ with another, you do not stand alone. God is with you, in front and behind, before and after.

Witness is not about us. It's about God, and God's presence in the journey of others.

Pity – it was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.

GANDALF: So do all that live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you also were meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought.

Your authority in part comes from your authenticity, the authenticity of your struggles and your flawed humanity.