Francis Chan quotes:

Our God listens to us. Our God is a living God. He's not a block of wood you made up that's not going to answer you. My God listens to me. He answers me.

It's easy to write for God and about God, because what a thrill to remind the church that the Holy Spirit of God is in you. What a rush! What an amazing blessing!

Due to our consumer mindset, people are prone to jump from church to church, which weakens the church overall.

When you read the New Testament, you see the Holy Spirit was supposed to change everything so that this gathering of people who call themselves Christians had this supernatural element about them.

Being around a church culture, even leading a gathering of believers, I've gotten pretty good at predicting what's going to happen in a church service.

I want to help people understand how to study the Scriptures with other people, to give them an overview of Scripture and assume that by understanding the Scriptures better, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the right stories, the right teachings.

Our culture is all about shallow relationships. But that doesn't mean we should stop looking each other in the eye and having deep conversations.

Even in my own church I heard the words, 'Francis Chan' more than I heard the words, 'Holy Spirit.'

Every year in my life, I trust fewer and fewer people.

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.

Truth is, I think, if God just gave us our daily bread, many of us would be angry. 'That's all you're going to give me? You're just going to give me enough to sustain me for today? What about tomorrow or next year or 10, 20, 30 years from now? I want to know that I'm set up.' And yet Jesus says just pray for your daily provisions.

As a culture, we're so worried about what's going to happen to us 30 years from now that we are not taking care of our brothers and sisters who need help today.

Churches we build only by our own efforts and not in the strength of the Spirit will quickly collapse when we don't push and prod people along.

When I read the statements of Christ, there seems to be this urgency and intensity. I guess that's what I get out of it when I read the tone of the Scriptures, which is very different from the tone of our culture.

I want the joy of knowing that I am doing something with my life, the joy of battle.

there is still a need for those of us nestled deep within the Christian bubble to look beyond the status quo and critically assess the degree to which we are really living biblically.

It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day (attributed to Matthew Henry)

We are a culture that relies on technology over community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by, and excessive. Our culture says anything goes; fear of God is almost unheard of. We are slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry.

One of my biggest fears - maybe my biggest weakness as a Christian - is that I have a hard time going up to a stranger and talking to them about Jesus.

God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that's not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards.

It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.

...no worship is better than apathetic worship.

A key to everything is surrender - to really come before the Lord and say, 'I will literally stay here as long as you want me to stay' or 'God, I will really go anywhere on the earth.'

For a person to be truly discipled and growing in their faith, they need more than one person discipling them.

I could be wrong about salvation. I could be wrong about a lot of things.

As much as we want God to explain Himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us.

You must determine your goal. What matters most? Winning arguments? Or resembling Christ? Even in the heat of an argument we should be asking ourselves if we are acting like Christ.

More than any other attribute of Jesus, his humility is the key to a healthy marriage. If two people make it their goal to imitate the humility of Christ, everything else will take care of itself.

Arguments escalate when we want to be right more than we want to be CHRIST. It's easy to get blinded in the heat of disagreement. Soon, all we want is to win. Even if victory requires sin. The one who wins the argument is usually the one who acts LESS like Christ.

God is compassionate and just, loving and holy, wrathful and forgiving. WE can't sideline His more difficult attributes to make room for the palatable ones."

We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.

We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God. You've probably heard the expression 'I believe in God, just not organized religion'. I don't think people would say that if the church truly lived like we are called to live.

The best things in life are gifts from the One who steadfastly loves us. But an important question to ask ourselves is this: are we in love with God or just His stuff?

Has your relationship with God changed the way you live your life?

I want to see people do more than simply raise their hand when they come to Christ. Where are the totally changed lives?

Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.

Tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.

When we become overly concerned about our appearance, our spiritual reputation, our coolness, and our acceptance, we are living as citizens of this world rather than as ambassadors.

Frankly, you need to get over yourself. It might sound harsh, but that's seriously what it means [1 Corinthians 10:31].

I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a daily basis. Christ said its better for us that the Spirit came and I want to live like that is true. I don't want to keep crawling when I have the ability to fly.

What are you doing right now that requires faith?

God is love, but He also defines what love is. We don't have the license to define love according to our standards.

Jesus evidently hates it when we tear into our brothers or sisters with demeaning words, words that fail to honor the people around us as the beautiful image-bearing creatures that they are.

The concept of downsizing so that others might upgrade is biblical, beautiful...and nearly unheard of. We either close the gap or don't take the words of the Bible literally.

My existence was not random, nor was it an accident. God knew who He was creating, and He designed met for a specific work. [Ephesians 2:10]

Hell is the backdrop that reveals the profound and unbelievable grace of the cross. It brings to light the enormity of our sin and therefore portrays the undeserved favor of God in full color.

A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled up on top of it.

Which is more messed up- that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day, we might flippantly call ourselves 'broke' or 'poor?' We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich.

I don't want Him to return and find me sitting in a theater.

You find that the things you let go of while following Jesus were the things that were going to destroy you in the end.

Following Jesus is not about diligently keeping a set of rules or conjuring up the moral fortitude to lead good lives. It's about loving God and enjoying Him

There are periods that we forget that in the pursuit of fruit, that if we just abide in Him, then fruitfulness is a guarantee.

We have got to make disciples. Fun nights and pizza nights are not going to sustain us.

We are each given different gifts and talents by our Master. The thing that matters most is how we use what we have been given, not how much we make or do compared to someone else. What matters is that we spend ourselves.

God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept.

God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard.

The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing.

All my life I've heard people say, 'God loves you.' It's probably the most insane statement you could make to say that the eternal Creator of this universe is in love with me. There is a response that ought to take place in believers, a crazy reaction to that love. Do you really understand what God has done for you? If so, why is response so lukewarm?

...our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King.

Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that whole hearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter; unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?

I am just an earthly sinful father & I love my kids so much it hurts. How could I not trust a heavenly, perfect Father who loves me infinitely more than I will ever love my kids?

The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other, fault-filled humans.

God has not had an identity crisis. He knows that he is Great and deserves to be the center of our lives.

Again, our marriage problems are not really marriage problems. They are heart problems. They are God problems. Our lack of intimacy with God causes a void that we try to fill with the frailest of substitutes. Like wealth or pleasure. Like fame or respect. Like people. Like marriage.

God is not just one thing we add to the mix called life. He wants an invitation from us to permeate everything and every part of us.

In the craziness of our world, it takes tremendous effort to find a quiet place. It takes time to quiet your mind and your heart before the Lord.

The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.

The stress that some of us feel - it's a lack of faith, it really is.

God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.

He measures our lives by how we love.

The God who loans you life sees your every move, hears each word you speak, knows your every thought. You are seen by God. Noticed. Known.

Marriage is one of the most humbling, sanctifying journeys you will ever be a part of. It forces us to wrestle with our selfishness and pride. But it also gives us a platform to display love and commitment.

As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving Him and others becomes more natural. As long as we pursuing Him, we satisfied in Him. It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment

In the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us.

Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?

We are so used to multi-tasking. 2014 was probably the most productive year of my life...But I noticed during the last couple of months when I would get alone with God it was hard to do one thing at a time.

Multi-tasking is keeping me from whole-hearted worship.

Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo. A person who is obsessed with Jesus will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth.

God has given you this good stuff so that you can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God.

Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can't contain Him. Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?

A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.

People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.

If God cared only about religious activities, then the Pharisees would have been heroes of the faith.

We live in a relativistic culture, where people are more con- cerned with being liked than being truthful. In A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper does an outstanding job of bibli- cally defending key truths that the church often ignores. He gives us an example of how to take a bold and educated stand on issues of race, purity, and God's sovereignty.

...there is still a need for those of us nestled deep within the Christian bubble to look beyond the status quo and critically assess the degree to which we are really living biblically.

God's art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like.

Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable?

True faith manifests itself through our actions.

Honestly, when I read the Scriptures, I really believe the Lord puts a heart in us when we become believers.

But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.

In my desire to distance myself from sadistic Christians who revel in the idea of wrath and punishment, I may have crossed a line. Refusing to teach a passage of Scripture is just as wrong as abusing it.I really believe it's time for some of us to stop apologizing for God and start apologizing to Him for being embarrassed by the ways He has chosen to reveal Himself.

Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly.

When I am consumed by my problems-stressed out about my life, my family, and my job-I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice.

Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe 'even if there is no God.' But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way.

We don't get to decide who God is.

Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?

I could fill my whole time doing interviews, speaking to crowds, and there's this natural human tendency because of our culture to think that the more people I talk to, the bigger the impact I'll have, and yet Jesus didn't spend His time just speaking to the masses. He spent the bulk of his time with a small group of people.

Churchgoers in America are notorious for jumping into movements, even ideas that are hard to listen to. But when they actually have to change their lifestyle and do something about it, it rarely translates into action.

If you really want to experience God, go and make disciples.

With my natural communication abilities, I could probably gather a crowd even without the Spirit.

There are just certain times I sense the Lord is wanting me to write, and so I write.

Parents are supposed to instruct their kids. It doesn't mean they necessarily have that gift of teaching.

The world says love yourself, grab all you can, follow your heart. Jesus says deny yourself, grab your cross and follow me.

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.

When we work for Christ out of obligation, it feels like work. But when we truly love Christ, our work is a manifestation of that love, and it feels like love.

Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church...so long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right. Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.

Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy.

Don't fall into the trap of studying the Bible without doing what it says.

Trust whatever He has for you. It will be better than anything you can plan for yourself.

God didn't just give a little for us; He gave His best. He gave Himself.

I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know I couldn't be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed.

Jesus said go and make disciples, but so often we just sit and make excuses

Our lack of intimacy is due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communication from all others so we can be alone with Him.

If a guy were dating my daughter but didn't want to spend the gas money to come pick her up or refused to buy her dinner because it cost too much, I would question whether he were really in love with her In the same way, I question whether many American churchgoers are really in love with God because they are so hesitant to do anything for Him." Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

True love requires sacrifice.

The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time.

Life is about Jesus. We are not here to tell our story, but His.

We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving ourselves because we were made to do these things.