A key to everything is surrender - to really come before the Lord and say, 'I will literally stay here as long as you want me to stay' or 'God, I will really go anywhere on the earth.'
There are periods that we forget that in the pursuit of fruit, that if we just abide in Him, then fruitfulness is a guarantee.
Truth is, I think, if God just gave us our daily bread, many of us would be angry. 'That's all you're going to give me? You're just going to give me enough to sustain me for today? What about tomorrow or next year or 10, 20, 30 years from now? I want to know that I'm set up.' And yet Jesus says just pray for your daily provisions.
I could fill my whole time doing interviews, speaking to crowds, and there's this natural human tendency because of our culture to think that the more people I talk to, the bigger the impact I'll have, and yet Jesus didn't spend His time just speaking to the masses. He spent the bulk of his time with a small group of people.
Our culture is all about shallow relationships. But that doesn't mean we should stop looking each other in the eye and having deep conversations.
One of my biggest fears - maybe my biggest weakness as a Christian - is that I have a hard time going up to a stranger and talking to them about Jesus.
It's easy to write for God and about God, because what a thrill to remind the church that the Holy Spirit of God is in you. What a rush! What an amazing blessing!
Honestly, when I read the Scriptures, I really believe the Lord puts a heart in us when we become believers.
When I don't think biblically, I go nuts. I just go, 'This is crazy.'
I want the joy of knowing that I am doing something with my life, the joy of battle.
Parents are supposed to instruct their kids. It doesn't mean they necessarily have that gift of teaching.
I want to help people understand how to study the Scriptures with other people, to give them an overview of Scripture and assume that by understanding the Scriptures better, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the right stories, the right teachings.
When I read the statements of Christ, there seems to be this urgency and intensity. I guess that's what I get out of it when I read the tone of the Scriptures, which is very different from the tone of our culture.
If you really want to experience God, go and make disciples.
Every year in my life, I trust fewer and fewer people.
Due to our consumer mindset, people are prone to jump from church to church, which weakens the church overall.
When you read the New Testament, you see the Holy Spirit was supposed to change everything so that this gathering of people who call themselves Christians had this supernatural element about them.
Being around a church culture, even leading a gathering of believers, I've gotten pretty good at predicting what's going to happen in a church service.
Our God listens to us. Our God is a living God. He's not a block of wood you made up that's not going to answer you. My God listens to me. He answers me.
Even in my own church I heard the words, 'Francis Chan' more than I heard the words, 'Holy Spirit.'
