Quotes from Larry Osborne

Life is too short and hell is too hot to just play church.

Fortunately, there's a way to lessen the impact of spiritual amnesia. It's found in practicing the discipline of gratitude, the habit of regularly giving thanks for all God has done. It's such a powerful preventive that God actually commands us to give thanks in every circumstance.4 It's not that God needs the praise. It's that we need the reminder.

Winning or losing is not the right scorecard. Obedience is. When we do the right thing, we're being faithful. Even if we get the wrong results.

It's no different in the spiritual realm. Our failures don't have to define us. It all depends on how we respond. If we curse our luck, blame others, and fail to take responsibility, we'll continue to fail. But if we face the facts, accept responsibility, and humbly get back on the right path, our failures can lay the groundwork for future success.

But success and failure reveal nothing about our spirituality.

When we offer forgiveness to those who have no excuse—and for things most of the world would consider unforgivable—we become most like Jesus.

In the school of life, Trials, Hardship, and Suffering are three classes no one wants to take.

It's not illegal to pray. We can own a Bible. We can utter Jesus's name without fear of being tossed into jail or killed. When we refuse to bow down to the idols of our culture we may lose our job. We may lose some friends. But we won't be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Trying to follow all the best practices of all best Christians won't make you a better Christian. It might make you a nervous wreck.

Fear and pessimism make no sense when victory is guaranteed.

Before Nancy and I had children of our own, I would have titled a sermon on raising children something like "Ten Rules for Raising Godly Kids." But birth by birth, the titles changed. The progression went something like this: "Ten Rules for Raising Godly Kids" "Ten Guidelines for Raising Good Kids" "Five Principles for Raising Kids" "Three Suggestions for Surviving Parenthood

The tell-tale mark of religion is easy to spot. It's a one-size-fits-all approach to spirituality: "Follow our rules, fulfill our rituals, and God (or the gods) will be pleased and placated.

Their faith and trust in God wasn't shown in a buoyant confidence that God would come through. It was shown in the trusting act of obedience—gathering to pray even though they were sure it was a lost cause.

Empowerment without a platform is like responsibility without authority. In too many of our churches, we offer discipleship training and leadership training without providing any significant platform for people to do the things they've been trained to do. This is especially true in our larger churches.

Granted, those of us who take Scripture seriously are often written off as ignorant or narrow-minded bigots in America today. And it's becoming increasingly common to be discriminated against for simply articulating biblical values. But let's be real. We've got it easy compared to many who are attempting to live their lives for Jesus in other parts of the world. We have nothing to whine about.

Our spiritual comparisons are also incredibly biased. We have an amazing ability to compare things in a way that causes us to come out on top. And when we come out on top, it's hard not to look down on people who don't measure up.

Inevitably, being right will become more important than being kind, gracious, or loving. Thinning the herd will become more important than expanding the kingdom. Unity will take a back seat to uniformity.3

We can't earn our way into God's favor by meticulously following a moral code — even a biblical one. Our deeds will never be righteous enough. God's standard of holiness is way beyond our best efforts.

The ultimate goal of a sermon-based small group is simply to velcro people to the two things they will need most when faced with a need-to-know or need-to-grow situation: the Bible and other Christians.

Unfortunately, for most of us, when we think of having overzealous faith and being a jerk for Jesus, we picture someone with bad breath, bad theology, and no people skills. So it never dawns on us that we could be included.

IS IT A SIN TO BE AVERAGE?

We're called to live a life of hope, humility, and wisdom.

The first question I ask is, "Who are you trying to reach?" By that I mean, "Specifically who do you imagine being in your small groups? Who is likely to opt out? Who are you willing to leave out?

What Are You Planning to Do? The second question I ask is, "What do you plan to do in your meetings?" The options are endless. But once I know what happens in a small group, I can predict with uncanny accuracy who will come and who won't.