Welcome to our collection of quotes (with shareable picture quotes) by Francis Chan. We hope you enjoy pondering them and that you will share them widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Francis Chan
Francis Chan [藩] (born August 31, 1967), is an American Protestant author, teacher, and preacher. He is the former teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, an Evangelical church in Simi Valley, California founded by Chan in 1994. He also founded Eternity Bible College in 2004, and served as its early chancellor until 2010.
Chan has been a board member of several Christian and social justice organizations, including Children's Hunger Fund and Gospel for Asia. He has authored and co-authored numerous books including Crazy Love, a New York Times bestseller. Chan has also served as an ambassador for Care for Children.
Only the Holy Spirit can give you the power to not think about yourself, to set you free from yourself.
Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better.
Longer Version:
Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly.
We are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.
With my natural communication abilities, I could probably gather a crowd even without the Spirit.
If I have a script, I tend to stick to it even if God may be leading me elsewhere in the moment.
As a culture, we're so worried about what's going to happen to us 30 years from now that we are not taking care of our brothers and sisters who need help today.
I really believe it's time for some of us to stop apologizing for God and start apologizing to Him for being embarrassed by the ways He has chosen to reveal Himself.
The disciples obey because that's what people do when someone rises from the dead and gives instructions.
The church becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human creation. We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.
My biggest concern for this generation is your inability to focus, especially in prayer.
My pride and immaturity caused me to make things more of a struggle than they had to be. I can always blame others or circumstances, but the truth was that my own sinful pride led to more stress than anything else.
Some people say I would love to take a selfie with Moses. Do you understand the gap between Moses and God?
Yes, it is God who works in you. And, yes, there is work for you to do.
Yes, the Spirit empowers you to do the work. And, yes, you do the work.
God interrupt whatever we are doing so that we can join You in what You're doing.
The Christian life is a process of better understanding what Jesus taught, learning to apply that teaching in our everyday lives, and then teaching others -- people directly around us and people on the other side of the globe -- to do the same.
God is compassionate and just, loving and holy, wrathful and forgiving. WE can't sideline His more difficult attributes to make room for the palatable ones.
God is so clear in spelling out His attributes in scripture in order that others would know what He is really like.
I love being in the ocean. I love the unpredictability of it- size of wave, animals you see, etc.
Jesus said go and make disciples, but so often we just sit and make excuses.
If you want to see the big stuff that God has, you've got to take some risk and trust only in the Gospel.
Jesus evidently hates it when we tear into our brothers or sisters with demeaning words, words that fail to honor the people around us as the beautiful image-bearing creatures that they are.
Why is it that we believe God's promises of blessing but not his promises of punishment?
The best things in life are gifts from the One who steadfastly loves us. But an important question to ask ourselves is this: are we in love with God or just His stuff?
I want to see people do more than simply raise their hand when they come to Christ. Where are the totally changed lives?
The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His.
Tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.
A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.
God is love, but He also defines what love is. We don't have the license to define love according to our standards.
In reality, not one of us will ever be worthy. It is useless to attempt earning it; you'll never feel ready. It is unknown and uncomfortable. But there really is a God who forgives everything and loves endlessly.
Which is more messed up- that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day, we might flippantly call ourselves 'broke' or 'poor?' We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich.
Hell is the backdrop that reveals the profound and unbelievable grace of the cross. It brings to light the enormity of our sin and therefore portrays the undeserved favor of God in full color.
You find that the things you let go of while following Jesus were the things that were going to destroy you in the end.
Jesus didn't say that if you wanted to follow Him you could do it in a lukewarm manner. He said, 'Take up your cross and follow Me.'
The world says love yourself, grab all you can, follow your heart. Jesus says deny yourself, grab your cross and follow me.
God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept.
We should be so joyful from God's grace that others would respond by saying, 'I wish I had your God.
Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence with words. That's what fools do. And often, that's what we do.
God delights in showing up when His people are in desperate need of Him, because that means no one else can steal His glory.
God has not had an identity crisis. He knows that he is Great and deserves to be the center of our lives.
I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a daily basis. Christ said its better for us that the Spirit came and I want to live like that is true. I don't want to keep crawling when I have the ability to fly.
When we work for Christ out of obligation, it feels like work. But when we truly love Christ, our work is a manifestation of that love, and it feels like love.
Again, our marriage problems are not really marriage problems. They are heart problems. They are God problems. Our lack of intimacy with God causes a void that we try to fill with the frailest of substitutes. Like wealth or pleasure. Like fame or respect. Like people. Like marriage.
As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving Him and others becomes more natural. As long as we pursuing Him, we satisfied in Him. It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment.
When loving Him becomes obligation, one of the many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves.
Following Jesus is not about diligently keeping a set of rules or conjuring up the moral fortitude to lead good lives. It's about loving God and enjoying Him.
The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other, fault-filled humans.
We are so used to multi-tasking. 2014 was probably the most productive year of my life...But I noticed during the last couple of months when I would get alone with God it was hard to do one thing at a time.
Luke warm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.
It's pride, plain and simple, that keeps me from giving God all the glory and keeping some of it for myself. It is a battle we all fight in some form or another, some of us daily or even hourly.
If God cared only about religious activities, then the Pharisees would have been heroes of the faith.
Christ can come back at any time so the one thing you want to have in your life is a focused prayer time.
I've got this amazing relationship with God that is better than life, itself, so marvelous, so wonderful that everything else can fall apart and I'm okay.
People who are obsessed are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or their failures. Obsessed people don't put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace.
The Bible says that when we obey God's commands, we benefit. I think we naturally assume that if we look out for our own interests and concerns, we will be happy. But people who sacrifice for others will tell you that seasons of giving are the most rewarding of their lives.
Salvation is all about the grace of God. There is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourself or earn God's favor.
A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be humble enough, and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known (Mt 5:16).
A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled up on top of it.
Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe 'even if there is no God.' But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way.
A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort. Obsessed people know that true joy doesn't depend on circumstances or environment; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God (James 1:2-4).
The Bible teaches that true joy is formed in the midst of the difficult seasons of life.
My only prayer for my time with you is, God I just want these men and women to long for you.
If one person wastes away his day by spending hours connecting with God, and the other person believes he is too busy or has better things to do than worship the Creator and Sustainer, who is the crazy one?
We are each given different gifts and talents by our Master. The thing that matters most is how we use what we have been given, not how much we make or do compared to someone else. What matters is that we spend ourselves.
The God who loans you life sees your every move, hears each word you speak, knows your every thought. You are seen by God. Noticed. Known.
God specifically created us to be like Him. This is impossible to wrap our minds around, but God created us like Him in some respect and then set us in the midst of this world to represent Him!
Some of you could be worshipping God but you're playing with a video game.
God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard.
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your grace. Your forgiveness is SO good that I struggle with believing it at times. Thank You for rescuing me from myself and giving me Your Holy Spirit. Your love is better than life.
Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church....as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?
Longer Version:
Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church...so long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right. Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.
From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is is possible that we live as though it is about us?
Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?
A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.
God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. The answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts-it's falling in love with God.
Where it gets weird is that nowadays there are millions of people on this earth who call themselves followers of Jesus, but their lives look nothing like His, and they're not obeying the things that He called them to do.
Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo. A person who is obsessed with Jesus will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth.
Proclaiming the gospel to a lost world cannot be just another activity to add to the church's crowded agenda. It must be central to who we are. It forms our identity.
It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.
Sometimes we shrink from leadership because our pride makes us afraid of failure. That's not humility.
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.
True faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His Promises.
The concept of downsizing so that others might upgrade is biblical, beautiful...and nearly unheard of. We either close the gap or don't take the words of the Bible literally.
Be careful not to turn others' lives into the mold for your own...we have a God who is a Creator not a Duplicator .