Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God (p. 137). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) There are some people around us who always seem to have something to say, whether it is good or bad.   Mark says, “So here’s a good rule of thumb: consider the source. An insult from a fool might be a compliment, and a compliment from a fool might be an insult. Either way, you have to consider the character of the person saying it.” He goes on, “In my experience, God speaks to us through friends more frequently than strangers. I’m not saying God can’t use someone you don’t know to say something you need to hear. He most certainly can, and He most certainly has in my life. But speaking the truth in love is an earned right, and it’s the by-product of relationship. The stronger the relationship, the more weight those words carry.” He then says, “I know far too many people...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God (p. 101). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We limit ourselves and even God in our lives when we are afraid to look foolish. Mark says, “By definition, a God-sized dream is always beyond our abilities, beyond our logic, and beyond our resources. In other words, we can’t do it without God’s help. In my experience, God ideas often seem like crazy ideas. That’s how I felt when God originally gave us a vision for a coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Frankly, we had no business going into the coffeehouse business. But it was just crazy enough to be God.” He goes on, “I don’t know what God’s will is for your life, and you certainly need to do your homework. But faith is the willingness to look foolish. Noah looked a little crazy building a boat. Sarah looked a little crazy shopping for maternity clothes at age ninety. The wise men...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God (p. 98). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Maybe this will help you in something you are going through. Mark says, “Our first attempt at church planting was a failure, and I’ve shared some of those hard lessons in other books, but let me fill in a few of the blanks. In the wake of that failure, I was reading a ministry magazine when I came across an advertisement for a parachurch ministry in Washington, DC. I have no idea why I stopped flipping pages, but that ad arrested my attention. The door to DC opened just a crack. I made a phone call, which led to a visit, which led to a 595-mile leap of faith from Chicago to DC, which led to the past twenty years of ministry in the nation’s capital. “That sounds neat and clean, but it was an agonizing decision. Lora and I both grew up in the Chicago area, so it was all we had ev...