If God...

If God - Mark Batterson from NCC-Sermons on Vimeo.


Mark Batterson shares the message of his newest book - If: Trading Your If Only Regrets For God's What If Posibilities

Becoming.By Praying

Irreplaceable

"There never has been and never will be anyone like you, but that isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to  the God who created you. And that means no one can worship God like you or for you. You are absolutely irreplaceable in God's grand scheme. And God is jealous for you - all of you."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, pages 161 (italics in the original)

Holy Anticipation

"When you go all in with God, you never know how or when He might show up. But you can live in holy anticipation, knowing that God can invade the reality of your life at any given moment and change everything for eternity. And when He does, you need to mark the moment, mark the spot."

  -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 130

The Fertilizer of Failure

"Going all in for God isn't something you do once. In fact, you'll probably have a few failures before you get it right. But someday you'll celebrate the failure as much as the success. Failure is the fertilizer that grows character. And character sustains success so it doesn't backfire. Anyone without nay failure is like a plant without any roots or a building without any foundation. Failure is the substructure that supports the superstructure of success."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, pages 126-127

Singing Atoms

"Arnold Summerfield, the German physicist and pianist, observed that a single hydrogen atom, which emits one hundred frequencies, is more musical than a grand piano, which only emits eighty-eight frequencies.

Every single atom is a unique expression of God's creative genius. And that means every atom is a unique expression of worship."



-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 118

Soli Deo Gloria

"It's not about what you do.

It's about why you do what you do.

Ultimately, it's about who you do it for.

In God's kingdom, it's our motivations that matter most. If you do the right thing for the wrong reasons, it doesn't even count. God judges the motives or the heart, and He only rewards those who do the right things for the right reason, To be perfectly honest, i think much of my reward has been forfeited because I did things for me, not for Him.

SDG [Soli Deo Gloria] is living for an audience of one. It's doing the right thing for the right reason. It's living for the applause of the nail-scarred hands. You go all in and all out because Jesus is your All in All.

Just Jesus.

Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else."


    -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 118       (Italics in the original)

100 Percent

"You don't have to make one hundred changes. all that does is divide your energy by one hundred and results in a 1 percent chance of success. You have to be 100 percent committed to one change.It will take and all-out effort.  And it will probably be the hardest thing you've ever done. But that one change has the potential to make a 100 percent difference in your life."

  -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 104

Create the Future

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse to you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and the last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails."

   -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 85

Out With the Old, In With the New

"One of our fundamental spiritual problems is this: we want God to do something new while we keep doing the same old thing. We want God to change our circumstances without us having to change at all. But if we are asking God for new wine, we will need a new wineskin.

Change is a two-sided coin

Out with the old is one side.

In with the new is the other side.

Most of us get stuck spiritually because we keep doing the same thing while expecting different results...."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 55 (italics in the original)

Burn the Ships

"There are moments in life when we need to burn the ships to or past.We do so by making a defining decision that will eliminate the possibility of sailing back to the old world we left behind. You burn the ships named Past Failure and Past Success. You burn the ship named Bad Habit. You burn the ship named Regret. You burn the ship named Guilt. You burn the ship named My Old Way of Life."

 -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 52 (italics in the original)

Terms of Engagement

"We want God on our terms, but we don't get God that way. That's how we get false religion. It's pick and choose. It's cut and paste. The end result is a false god we've created in our image.

You only get a relationship with God on His terms. You can take it or leave it, but you cannot change the rules of engagement. and you don't want to!"

  -Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 25

That Simple...and That Difficult

"The longer I follow Jesus, the more convinced I am of this simple truth. God doesn't do what God does because of us. God does what God does in spite of us. All you have to do is stay out of the way.

It's that simple. It's that difficult.

Stay humble. Stay hungry.

If you aren't hungry for God, you are full of yourself. That's why God cannot fill you with His Spirit. But if you will empty yourself, if you will die to self, you'll be a different person by the time you reach the last page of this book...."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 21, (Italics in the original)

Who's Following Who

"Most people in most churches think they are following Jesus, but I'm not so sure. they may think they are following Jesus, but the reality is this: they have invited Jesus to follow them. They call Him Savior, but they have never surrendered to Him as Lord. And I was one of them. trust me, I didn't want to go anywhere without Jesus right there behind me. But I wanted Jesus to follow me, to serve my purposes, to do my will."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 16 (Italics in the original)

All In and All Out

"The word consecrate means to set yourself apart. By definition, consecration demands full devotion. It's dethroning yourself and enthroning Jesus Christ. It's the complete divestiture of all self interest. It's giving God veto power. It's surrendering all of you to all of Him. It's a simple recognition that every second of time, every ounce of energy, and every penny of money is a gift from God and for God. Consecration is an ever-deepening love for Jesus, a childlike trust in the heavenly Father, and a blind obedience to the Holy Spirit. Consecration is all that and a thousand things more. But for the sake of simplicity, let me give you my personal definition of consecration.

Consecration is going all in and all out for the All in All."

-Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From A Totally Different Life, page 19 (Italics in the original)

What I'm Reading

Just Finished: One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World by Tullian Tchvidjian

As are all of Tullian's books, this is very good. His writing on grace is powerful, enlightening, and balanced. I've quoted it a lot on this blog so far, and will be posting more.Highly recommend it!

Reading Now: All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life by Mark Batterson

After reading The Circle Maker and following Batterson on Twitter, I've really come to appreciate him as a writer and leader. This book is as good as Circle Maker- maybe even better.

Also Reading Now: George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade

Yes, I'm the kind of guy that reads multiple books at the same time! Heard about this a lot on TV, since author is one of the hosts of Fox and Friends, and was interested in reading it since I am an American history buff and love reading about the Revolution in general and Washington in particular. . Received it as a Christmas gift, and was glad to get it.  Good read so far.

Up next: Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome by Owen Strachan

Also a Christmas gift. Looking forward to it.

Encouragement to Chase Lions

From Mark Batterson:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith. Chase the lion!

Finishing The Circle

Hope everyone has enjoyed and benefited from the quotes I've posted from Mark Batterson's The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. I got a lot out of it and look forward to reading some of Batterson's other books, including: 

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars 

Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God

Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny

This is a great book, and I highly recommend it. And, as I said before, if I still lived in the Washington DC area, I'd certainly visit his church.

Every Prayer, Every Promise

"Drawing prayer circles isn't about proving yourself to God; it's about giving God an opportunity to prove Himself to you. Just in case you have forgotten - and to ensure you always remember - God is for you. I can't promise that God will always give you the answer you want. I can't promise He'll answer on your timeline. But I can promise this: He answers every prayer, and He keeps every promise. That is who He is.That is what He does. And if you have the faith to dream big, pray hard, and think long, there is nothing God loves more than proving His faithfulness."

                  - Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, page 195
         

Breaking the Spiritual Sound Barrier

"Just like the sound barrier, there is a faith barrier. And breaking the faith barrier in the spiritual realm is much like breaking the sound barrier in the physical realm. If you want to experience a supernatural breakthrough, you have to pray through. But as you get closer to the breakthrough, it often feels like you're about to lose control, about to fall apart. That is when you need to press in and pray through. If you allow them to, your disappointments will create drag. If you allow them to, your doubts will nosedive your dreams. But if you pray through, God will come through and you'll experience a supernatural breakthrough."

                                                                   - Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, page 162