Links & Quotes

When a teammate seems to choke in a pressure-packed situation, good coaches help them learn from their mistake and get right back into the game. This is how leaders help their teammates go from choke to clutch. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about this.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“Most of us who aspire to be tops in our fields don’t really consider the amount of work required to stay tops.” —Althea Gibson, tennis great

“There is only one way forward when vindication is delayed: total forgiveness. And I can give you a motivation to forgive totally greater than any other that could be conceived: you do it for an audience of One. Yes. That’s it. That is how you do it! Total forgiveness comes easily when you realize you are doing it for God and the glory of Jesus Christ!” —R.T. Kendall

More archeological evidence supporting the historicity of the Bible. Here are the top ten discoveries related to the Book of Jeremiah.

ICR reports: “Millions of years of erosion should have toppled all the beautiful sandstone arches out West, yet many hundreds remain.” But following the biblical timeline of Creation and the Flood makes it unsurprising that the arches are still standing.

Dr. Glenn Sunshine offers a beautiful, biblically-centric prayer for our nation, especially during this current election cycle.

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” —John Wooden

October is the month Protestants remember the start of the Reformation. The folks at Desiring God have a wonderful resource available by email every day during October called Here We Stand. Each day you will receive an email with a mini-biography of a key character in the Reformation. I am thoroughly enjoying these each day. Sign up here.

None of us are self-made. God created us on purpose and for a purpose. He gave us the gifts we need to accomplish that purpose. We will only find our fulfillment in life in stewarding those God-given gifts and opportunities in ways that glorify God. Not only fulfillment here, but then eternal satisfaction when we hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into your Master’s happiness!”

16 Insightful Quotes From “Intentional Living”

Intentional LivingJohn Maxwell’s books always contain so many great quotes from other wise men and women. Here are a few that caught my highlighter in Intentional Living.

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.” —Soren Kierkegaard

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” —T.S. Eliot

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently…. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” —Steve Jobs

“One of the best places to start to turn your life around is by doing whatever appears on your mental ‘I should’ list.” —Jim Rohn

“You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of a referee.” —Napoleon Hill

“Most people don’t aim too high and miss. They aim too low and hit.” —Bob Moawad

“Anybody can do their best. God helps us do better than our best.” —Catherine Bramwell-Booth

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it makes some difference that you have lived and lived well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.” —Rabbi Harold Kushner

“People who matter most are aware that everyone else does, too.” —Malcolm Forbes

“Selfishness is the greatest challenge for a coach. Most players are more concerned with making themselves better than the team.” —John Wooden

“There is a direct relationship between your own level of self-esteem and the health of your personality. The more you like and respect yourself, the more you like and respect other people. The more you consider yourself to be a valuable and worthwhile person, the more you consider others to be valuable and worthwhile as well. The more you accept yourself just as you are, the more you accept others just as they are.” —Brian Tracy

“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.” —Mother Teresa

“Choose the way of life. Choose the way of love. Choose the way of caring. Choose the way of hope. Choose the way of belief in tomorrow. Choose the way of trusting. Choose the way of goodness. It’s up to you.” —Leo Buscaglia

“We’re concerned with how things turn out; God seems more concerned with how we turn out.” —Philip Yancey

“Most hockey players follow the puck on the ice. I never skate to where the puck is. I skate to where it is going.” —Wayne Gretzky

John Maxwell has a lot of great quotes himself! Here is the first batch of quotes I shared from Intentional Living. And be sure to check out my review of this outstanding book.

Links & Quotes

link quote

“The thing required is not to add to the good actions we have already done, but only to do that out of love to God which men of reputation and virtuous lives due from a principle of honor and regard of themselves. …  Let us do all the same honest and virtuous actions, but let us do them for the sake of Him Who made us and to Whom we owe our all.” —Françoise Fenelon

“If, when no one is watching us, we are building ourselves up in the Word of God, then, when a crisis comes, we shall stand; but if we are not building on the Word of God, when a crisis comes we shall go down, no matter what our wills are like.” —Oswald Chambers

“So the issue for us is: Do we eagerly long for the coming of Christ? Or do we want Him to wait while our love affair with the world runs its course?” —John Piper

For all of my pastor friends who have kids, this post from Pastor Dave Barringer is an important read.

Dr. Tim Elmore uses John Wooden as a great example to ask the question: Are You A Coach Or A Teacher?

Have you heard that there are fewer Christians in America? Check out John Stonestreet’s analysis of the latest reports.

[VIDEO] John Maxwell talks about the consistency and perseverance of the professional—

Book Reviews From 2014

BookshelfHere are the books I read and reviewed in 2014. Click a title to read the review…

12 Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid

A Call To Prayer

Beyond IQ

Bible Reading

C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War

Create

David Wilkerson

Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?

Discipleship In Crisis

Finding God In Hidden Places

Finding The Love Of Your Life

From This Day Forward

God’s Pursuit Of Man

High Adventure In Tibet

Holy Fire

How Do You Kill 11 Million People?

How High Will You Climb?

Humility

I Like Giving

Impertinent Poems

In His Steps

Inspire To Be Great

Jesus Daily

Keeping The Ten Commandments

Lincoln’s Battle With God

Mansfield’s Book Of Manly Men

Miracles

Pentecost

Pilgrim’s Progress

Pleasure & Profit In Bible Study

Sidelined

Smith Wigglesworth On Prayer, Power & Miracles

Stand Strong

Tactics

Taste And See

The Cell’s Design

The Christian’s Secret Of A Happy Life

The Facts On World Religions

The Furious Longing Of God

The Global War On Christians

The Greatest Words Ever Spoken

The Illustrated Guide To The Authors Of The Bible

The Love Of God

The Ministry Of God’s Word

The Moral Foundations Of Life

The Quick-Start Guide To The Whole Bible

The Solomon Seduction

There Is A God

This Day In Christian History

Transforming Grace

Winning With Principle

Yawning At Tigers

Here are my book reviews for 2011.

Here are my book reviews for 2012.

Here are my book reviews for 2013.

John Wooden On Marriage

Winning With PrincipleJohn Wooden wasn’t just a successful basketball coach, he was successful off the court as well. His courtship, marriage, and ongoing love for his bride years after her death is a sweet story. Check out what Coach had to say about marriage—

“Folks think Nellie and I had a perfect marriage, but it was because we worked at it. There are rough patches in any marriage. Very early, we understood that there would be times when we disagreed, but there would never be times when we had to be disagreeable.” 

“I had a successful basketball career, but I believe I had an even more successful marriage.”

I have more quotes from Coach Wooden posted here. And you can read my review of the book Winning With Principle, a book of quotes from Wooden, but clicking here.

Poetry Saturday—Don’t Look Back

John WoodenThe years have left their imprint
On my hands and on my face.
Erect no longer is my walk
And slower is my pace.

But there is no fear within my heart
Because I’m growing old
I only wish I had more time
To better serve my Lord.

When I’ve gone to Him in prayer
He has brought me inner peace
And soon my cares and worries
And other problems cease.

He has helped in so many ways,
He has never let me down,
Why should I fear the future
When soon I could be near His crown.

Though I know down here my time is short
There is endless time up there
And He will forgive and keep me
Forever in His loving care.

May I not waste an hour
That’s left to glorify the Name
Of the One Who died, that we might live
And for our sins, took all the blame. —John Wooden

 

17 Quotes From “Winning With Principle”

Winning With PrincipleJohn Wooden won the right way: with principle and integrity. And his wins were not short-lived, but they can last a lifetime. Check out a few quotes from Winning With Principle, a collection of quotes from Coach. You can read my full book review by clicking here.

“You learn as much from those under your supervision as they do from you.”

“Truth will always stand the test of scrutiny.”

“There is no substitute for hard work. If you are looking for the easy way, the shortcut … you’ll not be developing your talents.”

“The best competition I have is against myself to become better.”

“Time spent getting even would be better spent getting ahead.”

“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of the self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

“There is nothing stronger than gentleness.”

“You can do more good by being good than any other way.”

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”

“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”

“Players with fight never lose a game; they just run out of time.”

“The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow’s game.”

“Always try to be better today than you were yesterday.”

“Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”

“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

“Consider the rights of others before your own feelings and the feelings of others before your own rights.”

Winning With Principle (book review)

Winning With PrincipleNot only did John Wooden win, and win, and win on the basketball court, he won off the basketball court too. Literally decades after he stopped coaching, his players still traced their off-the-court success to the principles Coach taught them, and they continued to seek out his wise counsel. Winning With Principle is a collection of quotes from this legendary coach.

Coach Wooden was a lifelong learner. He relied on lessons his father taught him, he continued to read and memorize other wise people, and he continually learned how to adapt with the changing times. Some people have called Wooden’s maxims “homespun wisdom,” but I call it down-to-earth practical wisdom.

There are dozens of books that Wooden’s former players have written on the life lessons they leaned from Coach, but it’s best to hear from the man himself. This book of quotes is the perfect introduction to this amazing man’s wisdom.

Waiting For Your Dream

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible.

Some time ago, when my wife Betsy and I were waiting for God to bring about something we believed He had promised us, Betsy taped this verse to our bathroom mirror—

At the time I have decided, My words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting—it will happen! (Habakkuk 2:3)

Keep on waiting.

You might be able to relate to that statement. Perhaps you say, “I am waiting. And waiting, and waiting, and WAITING…!”

But let me ask you something: What are you doing while you’re waiting?

Did you know that the Hebrew word for “waiting” here can also mean to ambush? That means you need to be doing everything you can do now to capture God’s promised dream when it arrives. As John Wooden used to say, “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.”

What do you need to do to ambush and capture your dream?

  • Learn a skill?
  • Take a class?
  • Get a degree?
  • Forgive someone?
  • Get out of debt?
  • Find a partner?
  • Volunteer your time?
  • Improve your waiting skills?

How do you improve your waiting skills? Check out this well-known verse—

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…. (Isaiah 40:31)

Wait upon the Lord.

This is not a passive activity. This doesn’t mean to put your feet up, take it easy, and just lounge around until God finally decides to show up.

This word for “wait” has a different definition.

Have you ever dined at a really nice restaurant? In those high-priced restaurants, one of the things that makes the dining experience so nice is the staff who serves you. They anticipate your every need, they seem to be there just when you need them. They’re not late in arriving, nor are they rushing you along. They are WAITING on you!

This is what Isaiah is saying: When we wait on the Lord we are actively serving Him. We are trying to anticipate what He wants us to do. We’re not late and we’re not rushing Him along. We just want to give Him our very best service.

So if you are waiting (and waiting, and waiting!), make sure you’re making good use of your waiting time. Serve God with all you’ve got, and then make sure you’re ready to ambush your dream when God brings it to you in His perfect timing. God said it:

“Keep on waiting—it will happen!” 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Smarter Work

I met this morning with my teaching team. These are some great leaders-in-training who are helping me both think through what we need to talk about with our students in our youth group, and they help teach some of these points as well. This morning we refined the next series that we want to deliver. I had a pretty good idea going in, but my teaching team made it so much better!

I love leadership teams. The New Testament frequently uses the phrase one another to show that “all of us” is a lot better than “one of us.”

  • My team helps me think of things I may have missed on my own
  • My team challenges me to clarify my words
  • My team gives me perspectives that I wouldn’t have caught
  • My team makes my good ideas better
  • My team gives me a chance to invest in and train up the next generation of leaders

Do you have a good team around you? Do you have people challenging you to think in new ways? Do you have people who can sharpen you? Do you have people around you that pour into your life, and allow you to invest in them too?

Two great team quotes from some coaches who knew what they were talking about:

“The freedom to do your own thing ends when you have obligations and responsibilities. If you want to fail yourself, you can, but you cannot do your own thing if you want to have responsibilities to your team members.” —Lou Holtz

“The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team.” —John Wooden

I promise you “all of us” makes you look a whole lot smarter than just “one of us”! If you’re not already, start developing a team—you’ll be glad you did.