This is part of a series of posts on 20 quotes. Click here to see others.

I spent last week in Colorado with a group of guys connected with Carl Medearis. Some were pastors and some were business leaders but all wanted to talk more about Jesus. Carl is an author and has a way of connecting people to Jesus. He models how to engage Muslims through a conversation in community rather than opposition. During this gathering we had the opportunity to hear from a pastor named Bart Tarman who they affectionately refer to as “Yoda.”

Below you’ll see my 20 favorite ideas shared throughout our time together from ideas Bart shared. Normally I save my ’20 quotes’ posts for conferences, but this week brought a ton for me to think about so I decided to include it. This list is my best attempt at capturing some of the incredible insights I received from this week in hopes it can be a blessing to you as well. These are in order of our conversations, not in rank.

1. Dying is hard work. But following Christ is a journey of dying.
2. When Jesus says “I am the Way,” He is describing a journey, not a destination.
3. We believe IN Jesus, but what if we believed LIKE Jesus? What did Jesus believe?
4. The God of Jesus is the dad you always wish you had.
5. Jesus’ view of God as Daddy (Abba) was one of the most unique things He taught.
6. Do you believe you’re loved as you are, not as you should be?
7. Trusting God is the currency of the Kingdom.
8. Right now in the presence of God there is nothing missing.
9. There’s no getting into love without humility.
10. If your beliefs about God collide with reality, then change your beliefs.
11. Humility ultimately produces empathy for others.
12. Jesus was a friend of sinners, not just repentant sinners.
13. God is perfect but He isn’t a perfectionist.
14. True humility allows us to be a safe place for others.
15. You have to let your illusions about Jesus die in order to truly follow Him.
16. The model of community is the Trinity and it predates creation.
17. Protestants tend to focus on Paul and Catholics tend to focus on Mary. But if you talked with Paul or Mary they would have talked to you about Jesus.
18. If you bump into God you are going to feel welcome.
19. If there’s something about Jesus that isn’t good news then it isn’t Jesus. It’s an idol.
20. When God thinks about you, He’s not thinking about the ‘you’ that you tend to think about.