Quotes from Bill Hybels

In Paul's day, instead of giving gold medals for winning first place in an Olympic event, a crown of olive or laurel leaves was placed on the winner's head. By the time the athlete went home that night, the wreath would already be wilting and falling apart. Think of that. All that energy expended for a wreath that didn't last beyond a day.

True friends love one another, even though we're all a little quirky. We

who love God but spend more than what God has chosen to provide. They incur large amounts of debt and experience the shame and pressure that accompanies it. And they wind up feeling overwhelmed.

My selection process is based on "three Cs": first character, then competence, and finally chemistry with me and with the rest of the team. Character. Competence. Chemistry.

leaders are at their very best when they are raising up leaders around them.

If you're too chicken to repent, then please don't ever say Christianity is for weak people.

a leadership development plan has to address these three phases: Identifying emerging leaders Investing in the development of emerging leaders Entrusting responsibility to emerging leaders

Wise leaders understand that the single greatest determinant of whether followers will ever own a vision deeply is the extent to which whose followers believe the leader will own it.

More than anything, people want the reality of the discussion at hand. If what is going on in that building is the real thing, if the transforming love and power of Jesus Christ is being experienced, you can sit on a metal folding chair or in a plush theater seat.

I hate thinking about it, teaching about it, and writing about it. But the plain truth is that hell is real and real people go there for eternity.

True friends love one another, even though we're all a little quirky.

When your heart is filled every day by the kindness of the Father, you have enough of His grace overflowing that you can extend His grace to others.

Courageous people are ordinary people like you and me who began at some point to face their fears rather than run from them. When

Simplified living is about more than doing less. It's being who God called us to be, with a wholehearted, single-minded focus. It's walking away from innumerable lesser opportunities in favor of the few to which we've been called and for which we've been created. It's a lifestyle that allows us, when our heads hit the pillow at night, to reflect with gratitude that our day was well invested and the varied responsibilities of our lives are in order.

It's heartbreaking to see how some people go through their entire lives held captive by debilitating fears. When you peel back all the layers of self-protection that cover up these destructive fears, you'll often find one or two significant events at the core. These events may not even seem all that terrifying to the casual observer, but they were just scary enough to start tripping the dominoes, causing the person to erect walls of avoidance.

vision is the God-given ability to see possible solutions to the everyday problems of life.

he said we would not have to do this alone.

we will probably have to pay a price for devoting our lives to building the kingdom of God. Jesus did.

Debt comes from wanting more than God's current provision for your life and arranging other ways to get it.

When we fritter away our one and only life doing things that don't really matter, we sacrifice the things that do matter.

The Holy Spirit lives inside you and repeatedly whispers, "Have confidence—you're part of God's family now.

Every church, every team, every organization demands and deserves a "vision embodier," someone whose life values and commitments personify the vision. Cut them and they bleed the vision.

Not only do you not do your best work in the "dangerously over-challenged" range, but if you stay in this range for very long, something in your life will break. I don't care how resilient you are, how much energy you naturally possess, or how much mental toughness you think you have; something will break. You will not be exempt from this law. Your health, marriage, connection with your kids, relationship with God, emotional well-being—something is going to crack.

Nothing neutralizes the redemptive potential of a church faster than trying to be all things to all people. It is impossible for any one church to do it all.