“I suppose there are two views about everything,” said Mark. “Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there’s never more than one. But it’s no affair of mine. Good night.”
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
for his education had had the curious effect of making things that he read and wrote more real to him than things he saw.
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
There may have been a time in the world’s history when such moments fully revealed their gravity, with witches prophesying on a blasted heath or visible Rubicons to be crossed. But, for him, it all slipped past in a chatter of laughter, of that intimate laughter between fellow professionals, which of all earthly powers is strongest to make men do very bad things before they are yet, individually, very bad men.
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
Those who are enjoying something, or suffering something together, are companions. Those who enjoy or suffer one another, are not.
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
But the truth is that his toughness was only of the will, not of the nerves,
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
Despair of objective truth had been increasingly insinuated into the scientists; indifference to it, and a concentration upon mere power, had been the result.
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
What should they find incredible, since they believed no longer in a rational universe? What should they regard as too obscene, since they held that all morality was a mere subjective by-product of the physical and economic situations of men?
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
Good is always getting better and bad is always getting worse: the possibilities of even apparent neutrality are always diminishing.
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
How if this invasion of her own being in marriage from which she had recoiled, often in the very teeth of instinct, were not, as she had supposed, merely a relic of animal life or patriarchal barbarism, but rather the lowest, the first, and the easiest form of some shocking contact with reality which would have to be repeated—but in ever larger and more disturbing modes—on the highest levels of all?
That Hideous Strength: (Space Trilogy, Book Three) (The Space Trilogy 3)
C. S. Lewis
18. All warfare is based on deception.
The Art of War
Sunzi
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. 20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
The Art of War
Sunzi
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
The Art of War
Sunzi
"The skillful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death."]
The Art of War
Sunzi
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
The Art of War
Sunzi
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
The Art of War
Sunzi
"Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack."
The Art of War
Sunzi
To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
The Art of War
Sunzi
In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack - the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
The Art of War
Sunzi
We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few.
The Art of War
Sunzi
Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.
The Art of War
Sunzi
if all doubts and scruples are discarded, your men will never falter in their resolution until they die."]
The Art of War
Sunzi
"The only chance of life lies in giving up all hope of it."
The Art of War
Sunzi
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.
The Art of War
Sunzi
the true object of war is peace,
The Art of War
Sunzi
“It’s becoming clearer and clearer to me that this is materialistic philosophy masquerading as empirical science. The attitude is that life had to have developed this way because there’s no other materialistic explanation. And if you try to invoke another explanation—for instance, intelligent design—then the evolutionists claim you’re not a scientist.”
The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God (Strobel, Lee)
Lee Strobel
It highlights how many people, including myself, became adherents of Darwinism through fossils or other evidence that later discoveries have either undermined or disproved.
The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God (Strobel, Lee)
Lee Strobel
But Christians were basing their religion on the alleged teachings and miracles of someone they claim is an actual historical person—Jesus Christ—who, they say, is God.
The Case for Christ Student Edition: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Case for … Series for Students)
Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel
I know only one sure-fire way to determine whether a leader is really in my corner: Is he willing to take a bullet that was meant for me?
The Case for Christ Student Edition: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Case for … Series for Students)
Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel
Other religions are based on people doing something to earn the favor of God. They must perform good deeds, chant the right words, use a Tibetan prayer wheel, go through a series of reincarnations, or faithfully follow other religious drills. By contrast, Christianity is based on what, according to the Bible, Christ has already done on the cross. According to the Bible, nobody can do anything to earn God’s favor; rather, Jesus offers forgiveness and eternal life as a gift.
The Case for Christ Student Edition: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Case for … Series for Students)
Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel
Sir William Ramsay
The Case for Christ Student Edition: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (Case for … Series for Students)
Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel
“At last the Holy Spirit freed me to say it. ‘Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.’ ”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Well, yes. Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus. Yes . . . yes. And tough! Just look at Jesus. He castigated people. He was angry. People don’t think of him that way, but they don’t read the Bible. He had a righteous anger. He cared for the oppressed and exploited. There’s no question that he had the highest moral standard, the least duplicity, the greatest compassion, of any human being in history. There have been many other wonderful people, but Jesus is Jesus.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
The apostle Paul preserved a creed of the early church that was based on eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ return from the dead—and which various scholars have dated to as early as twenty-four to thirty-six months after Jesus’ death.4
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist. I don’t have faith in two plus two equals four or in the noonday sun. Those are beyond question. But Scripture describes God as a hidden God. You have to make an effort of faith to find him. There are clues you can follow.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
God gives us just enough evidence so that those who want him can have him. Those who want to follow the clues will. “The Bible says, ‘Seek and you shall find.’9 It doesn’t say everybody will find him; it doesn’t say nobody will find him. Some will find. Who? Those who seek. Those whose hearts are set on finding him and who follow the clues.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“However, my prejudice is a reasonable prejudice because it’s based on the evidence I’ve gathered in my very real experience. So someone who knows God has evidence—and therefore prejudices based on that evidence—which someone who does not know God does not have.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
my point is this: if there is no God, where did we get the standard of goodness by which we judge evil as evil?
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“So atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches—look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
The source of evil is not God’s power but mankind’s freedom.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
The point of our lives in this world isn’t comfort, but training and preparation for eternity. Scripture tells us that even Jesus ‘learned obedience through suffering14—and if that was true for him, why wouldn’t it be even more true for us?”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“God’s answer to the problem of suffering is that he came right down into it. Many Christians try to get God off the hook for suffering; God put himself on the hook, so to speak—on the cross. And therefore the practical conclusion is that if we want to be with God, we have to be with suffering, we have to not avoid the cross, either in thought or in fact. We must go where he is and the cross is one of the places where he is. And when he sends us the sunrises, we thank him for the sunrises; when he sends us sunsets and deaths and sufferings and crosses, we thank him for that.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
‘Sometimes I’d like to ask why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it.’ The other turtle says, ‘I’m afraid God might ask me the same question.’
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
That’s an improper understanding of miracles,” he said. “You see, natural laws have implicit ceteris paribus conditions—that’s Latin meaning, ‘all other things being equal.’ In other words, natural laws assume that no other natural or supernatural factors are interfering with the operation that the law describes.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Ultimately, the way a Christian really knows that Christianity is true is through the self-authenticating witness of God’s Spirit,” he said. “The Holy Spirit whispers to our spirit that we belong to God.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Many people, including many important and well-respected scientists, just don’t want there to be anything beyond nature.16
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Then Louis Pasteur showed that air contains microorganisms that can multiply in water, giving the illusion of the spontaneous generation of life. He announced at the Sorbonne in Paris that ‘never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple experiment.’ ”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
But the truth is that a one-cell organism is more complicated than anything we’ve been able to recreate through supercomputers.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
‘When a scientist of Crick’s caliber feels he has to invoke undetectable spacemen, it is time to consider whether the field of prebiological evolution has come to a dead end.’41 “The biggest flaw in this theory is that it doesn’t solve the origin-of-life problem,” Bradley explained. “Think about this: if you say life emerged somewhere else, that just moves the problem to another location! The same obstacles exist.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
I think people who believe that life emerged naturalistically need to have a great deal more faith than people who reasonably infer that there’s an Intelligent Designer.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Many have reached that conclusion. But for some, their philosophy gets in the way. If they’re persuaded ahead of time that there isn’t a God, then no matter how compelling the evidence, they’ll always say, ‘Wait and we’ll find something better in the future.’ But that’s a metaphysical argument. Scientists aren’t more objective than anybody else. They all come to questions like this with their preconceived ideas.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
‘The receipt of a single message from space’ would be enough to know there’s an intelligence out there.59 That’s reasoning by analogy—we know that where there’s intelligent communication, there’s an intelligent cause.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Each cell in the human body contains more information than in all thirty volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. It’s certainly reasonable to make the inference that this isn’t the random product of unguided nature, but it’s the unmistakable sign of an Intelligent Designer.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Only a rookie who knows nothing about science would say science takes away from faith. If you really study science, it will bring you closer to God.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Isaiah 7:16 talks about an age before a child is morally accountable, before the child ‘knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.’ King David spoke of going to be with his son who died at birth. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,’ which indicates they will go to heaven.11 There’s a considerable amount of other scriptural support for this position as well.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
While early Islam was spread by the sword, early Christianity spread by the Spirit, even while Christians were being killed by Roman swords.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History,
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“The Bible is the only book in the world that has precise, specific predictions that were made hundreds of years in advance and that were literally fulfilled.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
But like Christ, the Bible is totally human, yet without error.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
And I like what mathematical physicist Robert Griffiths said: ‘If we need an atheist for a debate, I go to the philosophy department. The physics department isn’t much use.’
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“On the contrary, the evidence is there if people will be willing to see it. It’s not for a lack of evidence that people turn from God; it’s from their pride or their will. God is not going to force anyone into the fold. Love never works coercively. It only works persuasively. And there’s plenty of persuasive evidence there.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“For me, I say the same thing that the apostle Peter said: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’45 He’s the only one who not only claimed to be God but proved to be God. When I compare this to all other claimants of all other religions, it’s like the poet who said the night has a thousand eyes and the day has but one; the light of the whole world dies with the setting of the sun.’ ”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘I like their Christ, I don’t like their Christians.’
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Billy Graham once told of meeting Konrad Adenauer, the mayor of Cologne who was imprisoned by Hitler for opposing the Nazi regime and who later became the highly regarded chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. Adenauer looked Graham in the eyes and asked, ‘Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?’ Graham said, ‘Of course I do.’ To which Adenauer replied: ‘Mr. Graham, outside of the resurrection of Jesus, I do not know of any other hope for this world.’
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“How a person lives and how he treats his neighbor is very important,” came his reply. “But it is not more important than what he believes, because the way he lives is reflective of what he believes. Regardless of whether he has ever signed a doctrinal statement, what he really and truly believes is what he will ultimately live out. But this question makes the assumption that morality is what life is all about.” “If life isn’t about being moral,” I said, “then what is it about?” “Jesus Christ didn’t come into this world to make bad people good,” he said. “He came into this world to make dead people live. He came so that those who are dead to God can come alive to God. If this life were only about morality, then how you live would be the most important thing, although it would still be connected to what you believe. But that misunderstands the Christian concept, which is no matter how well we live, we cannot live up to the standard and character of God.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Second, Abraham asked God in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah whether he was going to let the righteous die with the unrighteous, and it was wonderful how Abraham answered his own question. He said, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’17 This means we can be absolutely confident that whatever God does in the case of Gandhi or any other person, he will do what is right.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“The pattern in Exodus is threefold: God brought the people out of Egypt, he gave them the moral law, and then he gave them the tabernacle. In other words, redemption, righteousness, worship.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
landlord.19 One of the most staggering truths of the Scriptures is to understand that we do not earn our way to heaven.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
regardless of where a person lives in the world, regardless of the culture in which they live, anyone who responds to the understanding that they do have and sincerely seeks God will in some way be given an opportunity to respond to him?”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“The child that King David conceived in an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba died, and David says in Second Samuel 12:23: ‘I will go to him, but he will not return to me.’
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Yes, I do, and I’d like to say something about that. Whenever you’re trying to start a friendship with any person, you don’t understand everything about him and you don’t necessarily agree or feel good about every view he holds. But you have to ask, on balance, do you trust this person enough to want to enter a friendship with him? “The same is true with Jesus. Every single issue isn’t going to be resolved before we enter into a relationship with him. But the question is, on balance, can you trust him?
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Here was the point I was making: the measure of her love wasn’t that she felt good about changing the diapers, but that she was willing to do it even when she wasn’t feeling particularly happy about it. And I think we need to learn that about faith. Faith is not always about having positive emotional feelings toward God or life.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Doubts could have helped them develop a more substantial and realistic faith—to trust God in the face of death and not just in the face of healing.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“a faith that’s challenged by adversity or tough questions or contemplation is often a stronger faith in the end.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“When you scratch below the surface, there’s either a will to believe or there’s a will not to believe. That’s the core of it.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
But listen—Abraham never gave up on his will to follow God. He said, ‘I’m going to trust him—will not the king of all the earth do right?’ He wouldn’t give up on God. And one definition of faith is that it’s the will to believe. It’s the decision to follow the best light you have about God and not quit.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“I’m telling you it’s true, but you haven’t seen it. That’s faith. Hebrews says faith is the evidence of things not seen.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
“Sometimes people think that faith is knowing something is true beyond any doubt whatsoever, and so they try to prove faith through empirical evidence,” he said. “But that’s the wrong approach.”
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Every time I discover a new insight, every time Jesus speaks to me personally in ways I can’t even articulate, every time I practice his teachings and experience the results—well, after a while I don’t care how many intellectual questions you have about why this can’t be true. I know it’s true.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Faith is action; it’s never just mental assent. It’s a direction of life.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
As [Blaise] Pascal said, we have nothing to lose and infinity to gain.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
William Neal Moore,
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
44. Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd, Letters From a Skeptic, 189.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
Lee Strobel
Miracles were such a distant memory that they seemed like a false memory.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
And even if the people could no longer hear God, he believed that God could still hear them.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
It had been difficult to believe the day before the day. The day after the day, it was impossible not to believe.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Drawing prayer circles isn’t some magic trick to get what you want from God. God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not His command. His command better be your wish. If it’s not, you won’t be drawing prayer circles; you’ll end up walking in circles. Drawing prayer circles starts with discerning what God wants, what God wills. And until His sovereign will becomes your sanctified wish, your prayer life will be unplugged from its power supply. Sure, you can apply some of the principles you learn in The Circle Maker, and they may help you get what you want, but getting what you want isn’t the goal; the goal is glorifying God by drawing circles around the promises, miracles, and dreams He wants for you.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
I felt underqualified and overwhelmed, but that is when God has you right where He wants you. That is how you learn to live in raw dependence — and raw dependence is the raw material out of which God performs His greatest miracles.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Miracles are the by-product of prayers that were prayed by you or for you. And that should be all the motivation you need to pray. God has determined that certain expressions of His power will only be exercised in response to prayer. Simply put, God won’t do it unless you pray for it. We have not because we ask not, or maybe I should say, we have not because we circle not. The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
We pray out of our ignorance, but God answers out of His omniscience. We pray out of our impotence, but God answers out of His omnipotence. God has the ability to answer the prayers we should have prayed but lacked the knowledge or ability to even ask.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Drawing prayer circles starts with identifying your Jericho. You’ve got to define the promises God wants you to stake claim to, the miracles God wants you to believe for, and the dreams God wants you to pursue. Then you need to keep circling until God gives you what He wants and He wills. That’s the goal. Now here’s the problem: Most of us don’t get what we want simply because we don’t know what we want. We’ve never circled any of God’s promises. We’ve never written down a list of life goals. We’ve never defined success for ourselves.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Jesus forced them to define exactly what they wanted from Him. Jesus made them verbalize their desire. He made them spell it out, but it wasn’t because Jesus didn’t know what they wanted; He wanted to make sure they knew what they wanted.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
“God does not answer vague prayers.” When I read that statement, I was immediately convicted by how vague my prayers were. Some of them were so vague that there was no way of knowing whether God had answered them or not.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
What seemed like the wrong answer turned out to be the best answer.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
The more faith you have, the more specific your prayers will be. And the more specific your prayers are, the more glory God receives.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t want to be successful, but very few people have actually spelled out success for themselves.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Success is not circumstantial. We usually focus on what we’re doing or where we’re going, but God’s primary concern is who we’re becoming in the process. We talk about “doing” the will of God, but the will of God has much more to do with “being” than “doing.” It’s not about being in the right place at the right time; it’s about being the right person, even if you find yourself in the wrong circumstances.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson
Success is spelled stewardship, and stewardship is spelled success.
The Circle Maker (Enhanced Edition): Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
Mark Batterson