Andy Stanley

“Author has developed a routine of daily emotional debriefing with his kids as he tucks them in at night. To encourage the habit of keeping uncluttered, open heart, he starts with basic questions asking whether anyone has hurt them or made them angry to help them process at an age-appropriate depth. As they mature, he will add questions.”

“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.”

“The issue is: how do you engage the audience? And one of the things I talk to our communicators about is: The outline is great; the stories are great. But how do you engage them? How do you make it feel like we are on a journey, not you are just up there giving me information.”

“A principle is a principle, and God created all the principles.”

“As you give to fund God's needs, are you forced to trust Him to provide for yours? That's what a growing faith is about. And over the long haul, it's not enough just to commit to a percentage. Growth means reviewing your giving goals and occasionally increasing the percentage you give.”

“Leadership is all about taking people on a journey. The challenge is that most of the time, we are asking people to follow us to places we ourselves have never been.”

“Most of us wake up every day and make decision that will make us happy, and generally decisions that will make us happy right then in the moment or that day. We are not really on a truth quest.”

“Here's a scary thought: What if God called you to give beyond your comfort level? Would you be afraid? Would you try to explain it away or dismiss it as impractical? And in the process, would you miss out on a harvest opportunity for which God had explicitly prospered you in the first place?”

“People pray in one direction but they walk in a different direction, and direction always determines where we end up.”

“The church wasn't an organization in the first century. They weren't writing checks or buying property. The church has matured and developed over the years. But for some reason, the last thing to change is the structure of leadership.”

“The root of anger is the perception that something has been taken. Something is owed you, and now a debt to debtor relationship has been established.”

“What people pray for will tell you more than anything else whether they are locked into the vision and priorities of the church.”

“Somehow, what's in our hearts, good or bad is eventually translated into words and deeds.”

“If you're a preacher's kid, you see the church differently.”

“As a pastor, I've spent 30 years talking to people and heard every kind of story imaginable.”

“We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.”

“Your talent and giftedness as a leader have the potential to take you farther than your character can sustain you. That ought to scare you.”

“Success means your options multiply. Size increases complexity, and complexity can confuse vision.”

“It takes a habit to break a habit. You can pray every day for a generous heart, but until you start acting in that direction, nothing's going to change.”

“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.”