Andy Stanley

What you fear most will determine whether you merely save for the future or give for the future.

Any fear associated with giving to God's kingdom is irrational. It's on par with a farmer who, out of fear of losing his seed, refuses to plant his fields.

[God] wants you to go home, look at your bucket of seed, and determine in your heart how much you'd like to sow. He wants you to consider thoughtfully your current circumstances, your life, your potential, and your finances. He wants you to involve your family. He wants you to pray about it. And then He wants you to come up with a plan.

Loyalty publicly results in leverage privately.

None of us plan--or intend--to get into trouble. The problem is, we don't plan not to.

We rob ourselves when we make decisions in the moment with no thought of how those decisions will impact our futures.

The health of your marriage tomorrow will be determined by the decisions you make today.

But in the areas that matter most, a burst of energy and activity cannot reverse the consequences that accompany a season of neglect.

Theology isn't what drove them to their...theology." author writes on dealing with the embittering experience of those who protect a wounded place with abstract arguments.

Whenever pastors assume people in their congregation know certain things, they miss opportunities to teach. If a pastor makes assumptions year after year, then a whole generation has never heard [that truth] for the first time. If we assume too much, we communicate too little.

...often, stepping outside your comfort zone is not careless irresponsibility, but a necessary act of obedience.

If you decide that what God is asking you to do with your life is just too much on you and is just a little too inconvenient, then you will never see the miracles he has for you.

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit, not the byproduct of accumulated wealth.

Greed is supported by an endless cast of what-ifs. Greedy people can never have enough to satisfy the need they feel in light of every conceivable eventuality.

As a leader it is your job to protect the missional integrity of the Jesus gathering to which you have been called. It is your responsibility to see to it that the church under your care continues as a gathering of people in process; a place where the curious,the unconvinced, the sceptical, the used-to-believe and the broken, as well as the committed, informed and sold-out come together around Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

..the best strategy for giving is a two-fold approach: a basic plan combined with a willingness to consider spontaneous giving when unique opportunities arise.

Likewise, most of the world goes to bed at night under the assumption that if they were to die in their sleep, they would find themselves standing at the pearly gates. After all, good people go to heaven. And just about everybody thinks they are good.

Every arena of life intersects with what's going on in our hearts. Everything passes through on its way to wherever it's going. Everything.