Quotes from Mark Batterson

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

In every dream journey, there comes a moment when you have to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Part of my driving desire as a pastor is to remove every obstacle except the cross that would keep people from coming to faith in Christ.

Prayer turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destinies of their children, grandchildren, and every generation that follows.

Instead of dissecting Scripture, we need to let Scripture dissect us our thoughts and attitudes, our dreams and desires, our fears and hopes.

GOALS are dreams with deadlines, and without those deadlines, our dreams are dead in the water.

In my experience, it's much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anyone can put on an act. But your reactions reveal what is really in your heart.

Verse by verse, the Bible becomes more than theory. It becomes my firsthand experience.

Faith is the willingness to look foolish.

Faith doesn't reduce uncertainty. Faith embraces uncertainty.

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.

Uniqueness isn't a virtue. It's a responsibility.

We pray as if God's chief objective is our personal comfort. It's not. God's chief objective is His glory.

Many people never see God part the Jordan River in their lives because their feet are firmly planted on dry ground. We're waiting for God to make a move while God is waiting for us to make a move. We say to God, "Why don't you part this river?" And God says to us, "Why don't you get your feet wet?" But if you make a move, you'll see God move. And He can move heaven and earth.

You cannot build God's reputation if you aren't willing to risk yours.

Why do we act as though our sin disqualifies us from the grace of God? That is the only thing that qualifies us! Anything else is a self-righteous attempt to earn God's grace. You cannot trust God's grace 99 percent. It's all or nothing. The problem, as I pointed out earlier, is that we want partial credit for our salvation. We want to be 1 percent of the equation. But if we try to save ourselves, we forfeit the salvation that comes from Jesus Christ alone, by grace through faith.

When Christianity turns into a noun, it becomes a turnoff. Christianity was always intended to be a verb. And, more specifically, an action verb. The title of the book of Acts says it all, doesn't it? It's not the book of Ideas or Theories or Words. It's the book of Acts. If the twenty-first-century church said less and did more, maybe we would have the same kind of impact the first-century church did.

Most God-ordained dreams die because we are not willing to do something that seems illogical

Grace is the catalyst that turns guilt into gratitude. One act of grace can turn the worst moment into the defining moment of someone's life. You can be that agent of grace.

I just don't think pastors should turn their pulpits into public policy platforms. It cheapens the gospel. Our congregation doesn't need another political opinion. They need spiritual revelation. They don't need to think about politics on the weekend. They need to be reminded to seek first the kingdom of God.

Even choosing to do nothing is still making a choice.

Sometimes the power of prayer is the power to carry on. It doesn't always change your circumstances, but it gives you the strength to walk through them. When you pray through, the burden is taken off of your shoulders and put on the shoulders of Him who carried the cross to Calvary.

Society's goal is to make us less foolish. From the cradle to grave the pressure is on: "Be normal!" Our inner fool may be shackled and caged by a world made to suppress it, but Jesus came to free the fool.

The only God-ordained fear is the fear of God, and if we fear Him, we don't have to fear anyone or anything else.