Quotes from Andy Stanley

Make today's decisions in light of tomorrow's hopes and dreams. The future is what brings today's choices into proper focus. Making choices with the end in mind goes a long way toward ensuring a happy ending.

Circumcision was invisible to the public. A once and done. All male. Decided by parents. The mark of the new covenant is visible and public. It involves daily decisions. It's not gender-specific. It's an all-skate. And while it doesn't require surgery, it's painful. Love requires sacrifice, and sacrifice is always a bit painful.

What have we fallen in love with that's not as effective as it used to be? What do we love doing that's not really working? What's off limits for discussion? Do we have any "old couches" that need to be thrown out?

Nothing hinders morale more than when team members with separate agendas are pulling against one another. When this happens, it's usually because those in charge have not taken the time necessary to clarify the win for their team.

Actions don't only speak louder than words; actions should be used to interpret words.

Intimate relationships are not built on obedience. They are built on trust. Walking by faith, again, is simply living as if God is who he says he is and that he will do everything he has promised to do. As a person's confidence in God grows, he or she matures.

The minute you decide to get back in the business the church was commissioned for in the first place, you will pray for boldness.

What is the wise thing for you to do? You are a unique blend of past experiences, current circumstances, and future hopes and dreams. Wisdom allows you to customize the decision-making process to your specific professional, financial, and relational dimensions. Don't miss this opportunity.

Whatever the case, Paul could not stand by while church leaders became self-righteous reflections of a priesthood that was disappearing. He refused to do nothing as the dual covenant model laid the groundwork for the very hypocrisy his encounter with Jesus liberated him from.

Churches for churched people obsess over the most frivolous, inconsequential things. It's why you dread your board meetings, your elder meetings, and your committee meetings. You rarely talk about anything important. You're managing found people. I know you care about un-found people in your heart. But do you care in your schedule, your programming, your preaching style, or your budget?

So, leveraging Jesus' teaching on love, Paul gives us the grown-up version of what love really is. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Cor 13:4 — 8)

One of the primary reasons we don't seek counsel from the wise people around us is that we already know what we are going to hear—and we just don't want to hear it.