Whatever it is you're
aiming for, Jesus is better.
God's answer to all our questions about where He wants us to
go in life is simple: "With Me."
Aim to be stunningly inefficient with your love.
God intended us to travel through life in community. Think
bus, not unicycle.
We won't be like Jesus if
it's more important to us to be like each other.
If we allow originality to become more important than
authenticity, we'll lose ourselves. Honor God; just be you.
Quit doing what you're
able to do; figure out what you were made to do, then do a lot of that.
No book is a chapter, no chapter tells the whole story, no
mistake defines who we are. Hope makes our lives page turners.
No one leads people to
Jesus; He leads people to Himself. All the pressure's off; just love everybody.
No agenda.
God didn't say that loving our neighbors would be easy; He
just said it would work.
There's no school to learn
how to love your neighbor, just the house next door.
We ought to be fighting to get the worst parking spots at our
churches.
Courageously follow where
God's leading. You've got a guide you can trust; you don't have to worry about
the path you're on.
People don't grow where they're planted, they thrive where
they're known.
When Jesus rose from the
dead He didn't make a speech to the world, He made breakfast for His friends.
The hidden cost of pride
is isolation; humility and joy's payoff is community.
When we care more about what our faith looks like than what
it is, it's time to take a walk around the block.
God doesn't look for typos
in our lives; He's a creator, not an editor. We're all rough drafts of who
we're becoming.
Until we figure out what
we’d give our lives for, we won’t know what to give our time to.
God didn't give us anything to join, so we wouldn't try to
figure out who qualifies; He just gave us Himself.
If we take credit for things God's doing, we'll be pride's
debtor; if we take pride in what God's doing, we'll be grateful.
The past points a boney
finger at us and says "You can't change"; grace holds up a mirror and
says "You already did."
We can live in shame or in celebration; it'll depend on what
we decide to give the most air-time to.
When we love people but don't make it about us, we're
exchanging currency we can use for a while for currency we can use forever.
It'll be hard to keep our
eyes fixed on Jesus if they're on each other. Who we watch shapes what we'll
become.
Women with contagious courage and unbendable resolve. When
one gets ahead, we all advance.
Fear and failure make
things that are temporary look like they're permanent; grace and hope keep
resetting the clock to zero. God's
greatest cathedrals have no addresses.
The disciples weren't on a missions trip; love already had a
name.
If love isn't the defining
characteristic of our faith, we need to find our way back to where we started.
Every unselfish act of love whispers God's name.
Grace means tomorrow's
always a friend. Yesterday isn't an enemy, it just doesn't matter anymore.
Following Jesus costs everything; it just costs each of us
something different.
It's never been about our status, title and association;
lasting influence has always been about our love.
The more generous we are
with our words, the richer we all become.
God doesn't enjoy seeing us fail; He loves watching us grow.
Love does great things
without expecting great attention; bright lights don't need spot lights.
A demonstration of restraint will have more lasting power
than a show of force.
God never compares what He
creates.
The first decision we make each day is who's in charge. Who
we pick will determine a lot about where we'll end up.
God delights in answering our impossible prayers.
No tomb could contain what
love was about to release.
God doesn't throw rocks at our windows to get our attention,
He usually brings people who need help.
We won't look back over our lives; we'll look back over our
love. All the rest will end up on the editing room floor.
Darkness fell, His friends
scattered, hope seemed lost - But heaven just started counting to three.
If I had one last meal, I wouldn’t spend it with the person I
knew would betray me - Love does.
Jesus always pointed His
friends towards a better version of themselves - particularly when they had
failed.
Love doesn't obey the rules we try to give it.
The words we use with each
other not only have shelf life but have the ability to shape life. Be picky
about what you say.
Our plans work or they don't; love always works.
Anticipate difficulties; bank on grace.
We spend a lot of time
remembering failures God spent a lot of love saying we could forget.
God doesn't trade love for good conduct.
God's more interested in
our hearts than our plans.
We don't need to see the whole mountain to know it's there.
God's most memorable times with us are when we're speechless
before Him.
What we do in love will
last; all the rest will blow by like it never even happened.
Love one another. We don't
need more instructions; we need more examples.
If we play our cards right, no one will ever know about some
of most loving things we've done.
Love picked us so love could use us.
Extravagant love always
leaves an aftertaste of lasting hope.
Knowing who we're dependent on adds depth to celebrating what
we're independent of. Courageous people; gracious God.
It's Thursday. Quit what
you need to and make room for what you were meant for.
One of the by-products of a secure faith is radical
acceptance.
The battle for our love is
fought on the pages of our calendars; we'll become in our lives what we plan
for our days.
Live a life of conspicuous grace and couragous resolve.
God won't love us more if we stop making mistakes; He'll know
us more if we stop faking it.
Cynicism is fear posing as
confidence. Don't give it any air time.
Cultivate hope; grow it by the acre.
The One who has called us is much more powerful than any of
the impediments we're facing.
Sometimes God leads us
into failure so we'll experience more of His grace, not less of His love.
Have your story flop open to the part where grace busted in.
Memorize that chapter and the other ones will make more sense.
Jesus won't try to speak over the noise in our lives. The
more we shout, the more He whispers.
I used to think that God
wouldn't talk to me when I was confused, but now I think He was just listening.
The more inexplicable our lives are, the less ambiguity there
will be about who's in charge.
Fear only has two goals:
To get us to either ignore grace or forget joy. It's Thursday, quit being
afraid.
We want what we think we deserve; God gives us what He knows
we need.
A rainy writing day at the Lodge. "Come away to a quiet
place and rest"
Love God; leak Jesus
Gratitude is a state of thankful awareness.
Courageous people feel the
same fear everyone else does, they just decide not to live like they're afraid
anymore.
Who we admire is what we want; what we do is who we are.
Grace isn't a line we stand in, it's a path we follow. Don't
pitch a tent in your last failure. Lace up your boots; let's go.
God's hoping we'll be as brave as heaven's betting we'll be.
Fear only has the power we give it.
God is so confident about His love for us, He's willing to
let the other things that don't matter as much remain ambiguous.
Take all the love you've
received and give it away like you weren't trying to save it for later. We're
rivers, not reservoirs.
What we get when he past isn't calling the shots anymore is a
future.
It's easy to be humble
when we're wrong; it's how we act when we're right that'll tell us where we're
at with our faith.
An act of extravagant love is the best teacher; most of us
already have all the information we'll need.
Someone doesn't always
need to lose when we disagree. Just love one another. We're dust, not umpires.
Fix your eyes of Jesus; it's okay to stare.
You can never satisfy a
spiritual thirst at a worldly fountain. Leave the old watering hole behind.
Drink in the love of God and move on.
Everyone makes mistakes;
everyone isn't defined by them. God sees us for who we're becoming, not who we
were.
We don't need to run away with the circus every time we're
disappointed. Life will confuse us; but God won't leave us.
Love each other with abandon.
Faith is about deciding
what to hold on to, what to let go of and whose all of it is.
Home is the place we return to with the ones we love.
When we won't receive forgiveness, we make it look like grace
was a mistake.
Give away a breathtaking
amount of grace.
Heaven's leaning over the rails, wondering who we'll be today.
Faith is about what we hang on to, what we let go of and the
reasons why.
The first thing cynicism will try to get you to question are
people's motives. Don't take the bait.
Loving people the way
Jesus did means constantly taking cuts to the back of the line.
Jesus doesn't need our help; He lets us participate so we'll
know more about Him.
If we're giving people answers like we don't have any
questions ourselves, no one's going to
Don't be enticed by
success or scared by failure, be captivated with purpose. believe
us.
Love, joy and authenticity are what we'll be remembered for.
Nothing else will make the highlight reel.
A grain of sand isn't the
whole shore; God delights when we realize we're a small part of something much
bigger than us.
Humble people dazzle heaven.
No one can take what we'd be willing to lay down without
regret. Our lives are borrowed; love is all we really have to give.
Lost people won't get found by getting a bunch of directions
from us; they just need a couple friends who will love them.
Don't make up explanations
for God when He does something you don't understand yet. He is good; He doesn’t
need to look good.
Many of us are one job behind who God's turned us into. You
can quit anything on a Thursday. I'm not kidding.
God didn't give you
influence so you could lead people; He gave it to you so you could love people.
It's easy to say people are invited; what happens when they
come is what defines us. Put a leaf in the table. Everybody's welcome.
Lasting impact involves
constant risk. Quit playing it safe - grab your knees and do a cannonball with
your love.
Insecurity will tell you
any lie you'd fall for to keep you stuck.
The most beautiful scenery
in the world is when our friends come into view.
Grace won't try to speak
over the noise of our excuses; it waits until we're all done shouting before it
whispers to us.
God is our Refuge
Fire your casting director if you believe the lie that you’re
still who you used to be.
God's never looked in
your mirror and wished He saw someone else.
Don't allow someone's
negative reactions toward you to diminish the power of your love. Dig deep.
Love anyway.
Be picky about what you
make most important in your life. There's a lot of second best available.
We can have faith without proof, but not love without sacrifice.
God made mountains to dazzle us so we'd understand how
creative love can be in expressing itself.
Dig deep in family soil. Protect the people, toss the rocks,
let love grow.
No one in history had more
titles than Jesus, or cared less. It’s Thursday - quit collecting status;
accumulate love.
When we ask for certainty, God often gives us clarity instead
- so we'll understand how much we still need to depend on Him.
Some of the best chapters of our lives are left untitled.
What happens with our love matters more than the heading we give it.
We're more comfortable
asking for favors than Grace; God's more interested in giving grace than
keeping score.
Love is the cause; community is the consequence.
Gods more interested in whether our lives work than if our
ideas do.
The thing about being stuck is we can get unstuck. It just
takes a push or a tug from someone who isn't.
Don't be the same this
week. Sometimes the best ideas are the simple ones.
Live in constant anticipation; no one was created to be
ordinary.
Quit only picking fights you can win; pick a couple only God
could win. We were born to be brave.
We won't know what we really want until we figure out what
we'd give up to get it. Want the most what lasts the longest.
Let grace and acceptance
slip through your fingers like it was meant for everybody.
God loves you unfailingly
BEFORE you begin your self-improvement program. Totally accepting that
increases your motivation to change.
Jesus didn't hold people
accountable, He just held them close - because it works better.
Fear calls out our
doubts; God calls out our names. Be picky about who you listen to.
God's love isn't as
complicated as our discussions about It are. Keep it simple - Love everybody.
No matter what.
If we're satisfied doing what we're used to, it'll be easy to
miss what we've been made for.
You need to laugh more
and think less. Laughter is an instant vacation.
I'd rather be the least
knowledgeable person who's doing something than the most knowledgeable person
who isn't.
We can't tell people to
come as they are, but insist they change before they get there. Nobody's just
invited; everybody's welcome.
Sometimes we ask God for
help and He gives us hope instead; not because it's different, but because it's
the same.
Very few people are on different paths; they're just in
different places. Love doesn't kick them off; it helps them along.
"He
who fears The LORD has a secure fortress
We keep asking for
answers, God keeps sending us people.
"It's not about the
the stand we take, but the grace we give; It's not about the name we make, but
the life we live."
Incredibly thankful to serve with leadership who have
contagious joy, are patient with our questions, and above all else, point us to
Jesus.
Jesus died for people, not doctrine. If you make the Gospel
all about doctrine, you'll spend your life loving doctrine more than people.
When you think you need to
choose between being "right" and being humble ... go for humble -
you'll get both.
We'll become what we accumulate the most of. Gather love.
Laughter is a free gift that can radically change the
momentum in someone's day. Share it often.
God can't change who we're
becoming until we let go of who we were. Put who you were down and just walk
away slowly.
We're not on a path towards God, He's been on a path towards
us. He can't be met half way, He's arrived.
Jesus didn't tell Mary what she wanted; He asked what she was
looking for. A few questions are better than all the answers.
Discouragement is a virus; hope is strong medicine.
Jesus didn't correct Mary when she thought He was the
gardener; He just spoke her name and she knew it was Him.
The way we love each other
is the best evidence that Jesus is still alive.
It's impossible to over-hope.
Every time we believe the
lie that we're who we used to be, we roll the stone back into place like
nothing happened.
Grace will hide us where fear won't even think to look.
Most of prides prisoners think they're the guards.
Let the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be
acceptable in Your sight O Lord my rock and my Redeemer - Ps.19:14
"Everything we were went with Jesus on the cross;
everything that He is was raised from the tomb and given to us." - Chris
Tiegreen
Most people are more
afraid of losing their keys than losing their passion. Keep both where you can
find them.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with
all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Col. 1:28
Boldness is not found in ourselves; our identity resides
outside of our career. It's simple, "They had been with Jesus." #acts4:13
It's Thursday. Quit
believing the lie that God would like us more if we faked it.
Therefore, the spiritual authority of Jesus is an authority
not found in a position or a title, but in a towel. - R. Foster
Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a
prophet, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe. - Bernard of Clairvaux.
God takes our titles and accomplishments and makes confetti
out of them to celebrate His tremendous love for us.
If you want to love more,
fear less.
Most of our decisions are driven by either love or fear. Who
we toss the keys to will determine a lot about where we end up.
God doesn't try to punish
us with failure or entice us with success; He pursues us with love.
Grateful for the One who made all of this to dazzle us - just
because He could.
Exhaustion is the enemy
of creativity. "Come away to a quiet place and rest." – Jesus
The way we love people
we disagree with is the best evidence of what we really believe.
God doesn't trade His love
for our good conduct; He trades His grace for our failures.
Loving people
extravagantly means being constantly misunderstood. Go ahead and risk it.
Everybody wants to make a
difference in the world; only a few people want to be different than the world.
Quit waiting for a plan;
go love everybody.
Don't let anyone talk you into settling for a reasonable
faith.
Grace doesn't seem fair
until you need some.
Stand like a mountain,
love like an avalanche, give away forgiveness like you're made of it.
We can live in awe or apprehension; the one we pick will
shape how the people around us will see their lives.
We won't figure out what's sacred in life if we settle for
what's safe.
We're not what we say we
believe, we're the sum of everything we do about it.
Great day of writing here today. God creates beauty to wow us
and peaceful places to meet us.
We keep telling God about
our opinions; He keeps asking about our hearts.
Don't rake into piles in your life what God wants to blow
like leafs in the world. Love's a big wind; it's going to get messy.
Laying down our lives means standing up for someone else's
life. With each act of love, we rise to our feet.
Fear will give us a reason not to try; hope
will give us a reason not to listen.
We were picked; God's love isn't random.
When we say we're waiting
on God, oftentimes He's actually waiting on us.
When we're more concerned about looking bad than doing good
it's time to take a walk around the block.
Fear and doubt always seem
to find people who are looking for them; hope and courage do the same thing.
God pursues us
relentlessly when we fail - so we'll know how to pursue our friends when they
do.
Dear world wide family.
Can everyone please play nice with each other this week? Lift each other up.
It's who we really are.
The steps we take towards the poor will say a lot about
whether Jesus is guiding us, or just a Sherpa carrying our stuff.
We don't need to chose who
to love like we're placing a bet; go ahead, roll the dice and just love
everybody.
God didn't ask us to just
love some people; probably so we wouldn't spend our whole lives deciding who
was on the list.
It will be more love, not
more information which will change our hearts.
If you’re following God and haven’t lost much of what you’ve
been holding on to – follow a little closer.
Fear will do whatever it takes to convince you that you don't
have what it takes; grace won't try to talk you into anything.
The way we'll know the
difference between what we really believe and what we just know - is what we do.
Our pride keeps asking for parole; grace says we're pardoned.
We want to do time; God wants us to give love.
We're a lot more concerned
about our past than God is. Live in grace; walk in love.
The price of acceptance is
too high if it costs who God made you to be. Go be you.
When we ration our love,
everyone goes hungry; the more extravagant we are, the less it's wasted.
Sometimes God will use
people who are smart and connected; He'll always use people who are humble and
available.
Start from scratch with
Jesus each day - then be picky about what you add to your life.
Most of the things I was
afraid of never happened; most of what I hoped for did. Let your hopes trump
your fears.
Cynicism is fear posing as
confidence; joy is hope let off the leash.
While you're trying to
figure out the plan for your life, just love everybody - it's a pretty good
backup plan.
No map will take us where
God wants to lead us; we're following a person, not just a bunch of directions.
This is the part in the
movie where the music changes and you go live the big life you decided you were
going to live.
