Links & Quotes

2 Peter 1:3 tells us that the divine power of Jesus has given us everything we need to live a God-honoring life. Jesus did the work so that we could do the work! Without His work, we are unable to do anything for ourselves.

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“A rule of thumb for organizing your work strategy: Work where you are strongest 80% of the time, work where you are learning 15% of the time, work where you are weak 5% of the time.” —John Maxwell 

“A July 2026 study of immune cells found that cell function depends not only on genes and proteins, but also on how those parts are linked.” Check out new findings that continue to point to the genius of our Creator God! 

Then looking at how our blood vessels grow is another astounding discovery of the mind-blowing engineering of God’s design. “For a new blood vessel to grow in a useful direction, several steps must stay coordinated. The cell must detect force, pass that signal inward, change its activity, and remodel nearby tissue. At the same time, the growing vessel must keep its structure and function. The study shows these linked steps working together as one controlled response.” All of these intricacies point to an all-wise Creator!

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the first printed version of the Bible in English: the Tyndale Bible. Here is a remarkable historical account of William Tyndale and what the British Library called “the most important printed book in the English language.”

“Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.” —Augustine 

“The Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909) in Los Angeles and the African-American pastor of the Azusa Street Mission, William Seymour, have become iconic symbols of the Pentecostal movement. However, historians and participants in the revival point to a lesser-known Baptist pastor and graduate of Spurgeon’s College, Joseph Smale, who helped prepare Los Angeles for the revival.” Read more about Pastor Smale and the revival he ushered in. 

“Pilate hoped Jesus would defend Himself. Justice could be served and the whole matter put to rest if only the accused would speak, if only He would answer Pilate’s questions and, you know, help him a little bit. But the just outcome Jesus was seeking in silence before Pilate was of a much higher order than what the governor had in mind. And He knew that, for divine justice to be served in His situation, all human injustice must have its way.” —T.M. Moore 

“I do not perceive that John says, ‘Blessed are they that understand this Book,’ for, surely, they would be very few. I do not doubt that there are portions of Scripture which are not meant to be understood as yet—things concerning the future which are wrapped up in a phraseology which will be plain enough when that future arrives, but which for the present are not intended so much to gratify our curiosity as to stimulate our watchfulness. To keep us constantly on the look out, is the main object of every revelation concerning the future.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Revelation 1:3 

Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace uses three “chapter ones” from Scripture to make the case that Jesus really is God. And then check out this video where Wallace explains how we can trust the veracity of accounts of the virgin birth of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels. 

Links & Quotes

Jesus wants us to experience all of His blessings, so He has gotten this amazing cycle of power started on our behalf. Don’t try to take this out of His hands, but keeping doing what He has empowered you to do.

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“An indifference of spirit between truth and error, good and evil, may be called charity and meekness, but it is not pleasing to Christ.” —Matthew Henry, commenting on the Nicolaitians in Revelation 2:6 

J. Warner Wallace correctly says, “One non‑negotiable was this: if Jesus is anything less than God, Christianity collapses in all the places that matter most.” He then points to several places in the Bible that unravel if Jesus isn’t God.

“Stand your ground like an anvil under the hammer.” —Ignatius, writing to Polycarp 

“Arguments about Scripture achieve nothing but a stomachache and a headache.” —Tertullian 

T.M. Moore notes, “In this…question regarding taxes, Jesus laid down a fundamental principle concerning the relationship of human institutions—in this case, government—to the divine economy. He made two important points.” Read more about how Christians are to use the things of culture to glorify God.

Ryan Dembeck reminds us that Christians should have an impeccable work ethic. In this post he says, “Over the years, after hundreds of interviews and conversations, I’ve observed three qualities of people who glorify God in their everyday vocation: resolve in the calling, grit because of joy, and dedication to others’ flourishing.”

Melvin Hodges studied religious revivals throughout history. Even looking at the religious fervor at the dawn of the New Testament church. He said, “The New Testament Church gradually lost the purity and power that characterized her apostolic beginnings, and became adulterated by worldliness, greed and paganism as she increased in numbers and influence. … We dare not ignore the lessons of history.” He identified three characteristics of a declining revival movement: 1) a diminishing hunger for God; 2) a lack of concern for holiness; and 3) the loss of the sense of mission and destiny.

Ever since encountering honeybees as a kid on my grandparents’ farm, I have always been fascinated by these amazing creatures. This new finding adds more reasons to stand appreciate the genius of our Creator! For further proof of the genius of honeybees, check out the mathematical and engineering genius God has given them—

8 Quotes From “The 15 Invaluable Laws Of Growth”

The 15 Invaluable Laws Of Growth is yet another powerful leadership book from John Maxwell. If you haven’t already, you can check out my full book review here. These are some quotes from John that especially caught my attention. My Patreon supporters have access to all of the quotes I highlighted in this book.  

“You cannot change your life until you change something you do every day.” 

“If you focus on goals, you may hit goals—but that doesn’t guarantee growth. If you focus on growth, you will grow and always hit goals.” 

“People are never able to outperform their self-image. … If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured the world will not raise the price. If you want to become the person you have the potential to be, you must believe you can!” 

“Every time you make a mistake, don’t bring up everything that’s wrong with yourself; tell yourself that you’re paying the price for growth and that you will learn to do better next time.” 

“Here’s the truth when it comes to personal growth: Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.” 

“If you think about it, you can see that discipline and motivation are two sides of the same coin. If you have the motivation you need, discipline is no problem. If you lack motivation, discipline is always a problem.” 

“What kinds of ‘larger’ people should we spend our time with? People with integrity. People who are positive. People who are ahead of us professionally. People who lift us up instead of knocking us down. People who take the high road, never the low. And above all, people who are growing. They should be like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, whose question for each other whenever they met was, ‘What have your learned since we last met?’” 

“It comes as little surprise that people want to follow leaders of good character. No one likes to work with unreliable people. But before you or I work with any other person or follow any other leader, who do we have to rely on every day? Ourselves! That’s why character is so important. If you cannot trust yourself, you won’t ever be able to grow. Good character, with honesty and integrity at its core, is essential to success in any area of life. Without it, a person is building on shifting sand. … Most people focus too much on competence and too little on character.” 

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Friending Like Jesus

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here. 

The words we use are important and can be quite revealing of what’s going on in our heart and mind. I often find it quite funny listening to some of our students and their choice of words. For instance, I heard this exchange the other day between some guys: 

“Do you like her?” 

“Yeah, I like her.” 

“But do you like her like her?” 

“No way! I like her as a friend. I don’t like her that way!” 

This may be both cute and confusing for adults relating to young men and women. But I have learned that these young people are setting some clear boundaries about what their relationship with that other person entails. They’re really saying, “I don’t dislike her, but I’m not ready to say that I love her yet either.” 

However, this kind of language and this kind of mindset should never be said about Christians! We are coming to the pinnacle of this progression of virtues that Peter is listing for saints, so let me remind you of what built up to this point (see 2 Peter 1:1-7).

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.) 

I read the words brotherly kindness in v. 7 because nearly every English translation has it rendered that way, and it’s probably the closest to the Greek word philadelphia. 

  • The root word (adelphos) is used over 300 times in the New Testament. 
  • Adelphos can be literally translated as a biological sibling (Matthew 1:2), but it is most often used in the NT as a spiritual brother or sister (2 Peter 3:15, 1:10). The first Christians recognized that their faith in Jesus—a faith as precious as ours—adopted us all into the same family of God. 
  • The prefix philos means the most straightforward, uncomplicated definition of “friend” that come readily to your mind. 

So when we are talking about the precious faith of precious friends, we are talking about something distinctively Christian. 

Last week we saw how Jesus taught us the importance of abiding in Him (see John 15:4-11). Our abiding produces a fruitful harvest. In the next verses, Jesus goes on tell us what this harvest looks like (John 15:12-17).

Notice the word command (v. 12, 17) is singular. Jesus said the same thing in John 13:34-35, and John again highlights this in 1 John 3:23. 

The word for love is agape, which Peter uses in 2 Peter 1:7. He says philos grows into agape. But now Jesus says, when we are abiding in His agape, something amazing happens: We are called friends (philos) of Jesus (John 15:13-15). Unlike my young friends, it appears that Jesus sees no difference between liking (philos) and loving (agape) for those who are called His saints. Lovers of Jesus will love their friends so much that they will like their friends too! 

Solomon describes friendship like this:

  • Always loving—Proverbs 17:17, 18:24 
  • Speaking truthful, loving words—Proverbs 27:6 
  • Giving helpful counsel—Proverbs 27:9 

This growth of philadelphia to agape, which then demonstrates itself by looking like philadephia has some powerful benefits. 

  1. It sharpens all of us (Proverbs 27:17). 
  2. It adds power to our prayers, which also benefits everyone (John 15:7, 16; James 5:16). D.L. Moody expressed it the opposite way: “If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.” 
  3. It enhances our witness (John 13:35, 17:21). 

My friend T.M. Moore wrote this about a healthy, growing family of saints—

“Oh look: ‘the Lord added to the church daily…’ [Acts 2:42-47]. Now we’re talking. Let’s get those numbers up, shall we? Let’s do, but let’s remember that adding people to our church is the Lord’s work, and He does it His way. And His way is to cause people to respond to the lived and spoken witness of a body of believers who love one another, encourage one another, build one another up, share with one another, and present a united voice, speaking truth in love to their community. When they see our oneness, Jesus insisted, they will believe the Father has sent Him.” 

This whole progression we have seen in 2 Peter becomes a continually growing, continually God-glorifying, Christ-revealing, Spirit-led testimony! Your part in this is invaluable and indispensable! 

So we must ask ourselves: How would Jesus be a friend? Am I friending like Jesus? 

If you have missed any of the previous messages in this series, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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Links & Quotes

Pete Marra from Breakpoint shared this on a podcast: ”What we have at our disposal through business, the ability to organize, to solve problems, to create value, to deploy capital, to steward the things that God has given us, is something that’s very unique to enterprise itself. … I believe not only has God brought you to this place and called you to this space, but he’s equipped you for it.” My podcast cohost and I have co-authored a series of books called “Business by the Book.” They are designed to help equip you with God’s wisdom for each department of your organization. Check them out here.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“To say any man is a real Christian is undeniably the highest honor we can confer upon him.” —Wilfred Grenfell

“A friend of mine said, ‘We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it’s there for emergencies but he hopes he’ll never have to use it.’ Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as he leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call ‘our own life’ remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make ‘our own life’ less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false happiness?” —C.S. Lewis, in The Problem of Pain 

“Sometimes you fall apart on the inside while you look put together on the outside. Your private and public worlds don’t connect at all. Others cannot perceive the trauma you feel, the despair and loneliness. Only God knows that.

“The danger in success is dishonesty with self, others, or God. You will substitute eternal accomplishment for internal peace. What happens to you becomes more important than what happens in you. David alerts us to face this problem. Our successes may be happening despite God’s displeasure. Our concern must be more upon, ‘Is God pleased with me? than ‘Is God pleased with what I am doing?’” —Dr. George O. Wood, in A Psalm in My Heart, commenting on Psalm 60

Links & Quotes

Instead of trying to get out of the difficult place quickly, try to learn what you can get out of the difficult place.

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Fight The New Drug shares, “Young people don’t have to go looking for harmful content online anymore—it can find them through social media, gaming platforms, algorithms, or even someone they trust. And sometimes, what begins as an ordinary online interaction can escalate into something much more serious.”

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.” —C.S. Lewis, in A Grief Observed 

“Temptation feeds on curiosity. It tells me what I don’t have and what I should have by giving me comparisons. … Sin is so shortsighted. It only lives in the moment. It never bothers to ask if it’s worth it. Sin doesn’t think that far ahead. It makes you think only as far as forgiveness. Sin says, ‘Go ahead, God will forgive you,’ but it leaves out some very important facts: You can be forgiven and still pay the consequences of breaking trust, losing your marriage, and even devastating your children. You can be forgiven of sin, but not free of the consequences.” —Tim Dilena, in Chapter by Chapter on 2 Samuel 11 

Wow, is this a powerful and important message for anyone struggling with temptation. Succinctly put: we never sin alone. In this post, T.M. Moore writes, “The first step along the way of escape is to remember that we never sin alone. We might think we can ‘get away’ with some little secret sin, but we are part of a community of the faithful; we are members of the Body of Christ. If I introduce infection to one of my fingers, or poison to my tongue, sooner or later my whole body is going to feel the consequences. It’s the same thing with sin. Any time we rebel against the Lord we plant a seed of disobedience and corruption in our own souls. Like dandelions, the seeds of rebellion can waft through all our thoughts, feelings, priorities, words, and deeds and take root in ways we cannot predict, and may not be able to control. Sooner or later, someone will feel the impact of our sinfulness, whether by some sin of commission or omission on our part.”

“The nearer your communion with Christ is, the more will you be permitted to know of Him. Our perceptions of Christ, if they are true, will be spiritual; and in proportion as our spiritual life is in a right condition, shall we be able to know more and more of Him.” —Charles Spurgeon 

John Piper writes, “All of you have been wronged at one time or another. Most of you, probably, have been wronged seriously by someone who has never apologized or done anything sufficient to make it right.” Then he shares the encouraging truth in this posts: Justice will be done.

Links & Quotes

Here’s a good piece of advice for first-time vision-casters: Be prepared for a quiet initial response. Greg and I discuss this in a full length podcast AND in our book Business by the Book—What the Bible says about a CEO’s vision-casting.

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

T.M. Moore wrote, “The apostle Paul promised that, whenever we are faced with temptation, God will provide a way of escape, so that we can bear up and grow through temptation into greater maturity in the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:13). We are practicing self-control when we search for that way of escape and direct our steps toward it: ‘I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, I did not delay to keep Your commandments’ (Psalm 119:59, 60).” Read more about the necessity of self-control in this post.

“Character doesn’t make you a leader; it protects you as a leader.” —John Maxwell 

“Hard words are an evidence of the weakness of the cause which they are used to support. Hard arguments softly put, are the really effective weapons, but it takes some of us a long time to learn this; and generally, in our younger days, we wear away our own strength by the violence with which we use it.” —Charles Spurgeon 

One of the leaders in my school shared this: “Numerous researchers have studied the use of wait time by teachers. Pausing for just 3-5 seconds after a question has been shown to produce higher-level thinking and answering. This is true both of classroom questioning and individual conversation. Slow down during conversation today and see what happens!” Previously, I shared an important lesson I learned about slowing down. 

Links & Quotes

Psalm 99 lists four different ways saints come to worship before God’s throne. The Old English spelling is “worthship” because God is worth all of the praise we can lift to Him—especially when we think about the sins He has forgiven 🙌🏻

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“True love hates that which is unlovely. It is inevitable that a man, who is full of love, should feel intense indignation against that which is contrary to love. Hence the apostle says, ‘If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.’” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on 1 John 4:18-20 

Christians aren’t supposed to be “lone rangers” but in community with other saints. T.M. Moore wrote, “Our Christian friends can be a very helpful resource for improving our conversational skills, if we will take the time to talk about spiritual things. As iron sharpens iron, we may expect that, by engaging often in conversations with other believers, over matters of the highest moment, our conversational skills will improve steadily over time. We might even have some fun.”

The social conditions that led up to the Prayer Revival of 1857, in many ways, mirror those in America today. Check out a short history lesson about spiritual revivals. 

“And, in yet another sense, handing everything over to Christ does not, of course, mean that you stop trying. To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity 

A young man in the middle school where I serve asked to read a copy of my book When Sheep Bite. Nearly every day on his lunch break, Nick would come into talk with me about what he read, and share some insights he had gleaned. He wrote the most sincere and straightforward endorsement that I have ever received.

6 Quotes From “Above The Line”

Even a Wolverine fan can acknowledge the quality leadership lessons that Urban Meyer (the coach of that football team to the south of us) provides in his book Above the Line. You can check out my book review by clicking here. 

Below are a few quotes that caught my attention. My Patreon supporters have access to all of the quotes from this book. 

“We teach our players, in response to any situation they face, to press pause and ask: What does this situation require of me? Pressing pause gives you time to think. It gets you off autopilot and helps you gain clarity about the outcome you are pursuing, the situation you are experiencing, and the Above the Line action you need to take to achieve the outcome.” 

“Under pressure, we do not rise to the occasion. We rise or fall to the level of our training. When contact is made, it is too late to train and build skill.” 

“Every team faces some kind of adversity. Mediocre teams are destroyed by it. Good teams survive it. Great teams get better because of it.” 

“Resilience is one of life’s most important attributes. Because nobody wants hardship or adversity, but everybody gets it. It’s inevitable. No one escapes pain, fear, or difficulty. In fact, a productive and successful life involves some amount of necessary pain. When it happens, don’t run from it. Learn from it.” 

“Performance cannot be declared. It must be led. Great results are initiated and sustained by great leadership. Not just leaders at the top, but leaders at every level.” 

“Culture is what leads when no one is watching.” 

My Patreon supporters have all of my notes from Above the Line, including the six “R” factors Urban Meyer unpacks in his formula E + R = O. 

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Links & Quote

You are the most effective evangelist in the areas where you already operate everyday. You can tell the story of Jesus better to your family members, coworkers, and friends than an outside can. Keep shining brightly for Jesus! 

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“They think that if you ask them to forgive someone who has cheated or bullied them you are trying to make out that there was really no cheating or no bullying. But if that were so, there would be nothing to forgive. They keep on replying, ‘But I tell you the man broke a most solemn promise.’ Exactly: that is precisely what you have to forgive. (This doesn’t mean that you must necessarily believe his next promise. It does mean that you must make every effort to kill every taste of resentment in your own heart—every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out.) The difference between this situation and the one in which you are asking God’s forgiveness is this. In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s we do not accept them easily enough.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory 

T.M. Moore tells us, “Conversations can build relationships; thus, Christians should be actively involved in seeking to start and maintain conversations with many people, especially those we encounter each week…. But the Christian conversationalist does not engage others merely for the sake of conversation, as though conversation were an end in itself.”

“Information never fights fear. Revelation does.” —Tim Dilena 

“Saints find themselves at home in the next life, not in this one.” —J. Stephen Lang 

“Do not imagine that there is any love to your souls in the heart of the preacher who preaches smooth things, and who flatters you with his ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. No, the highest, deepest, most heaven-inspired love is that which searches and tries the heart that there should be any deception there.” —Charles Spurgeon