Mark Batterson's Blog, page 12

The Overview Effect

Craving Favor

The longer I live, the more I crave the favor of God.  The greatest moments in life are the moments when God intervenes on our behalf and blesses us way beyond what we expect or deserve. These are humble reminders of His sovereignty. And these favor moments can become our favor-ite memories. One of these…

Law of Measures

While it’s not recorded in Scripture, I promise you that Moses prayed. Isn’t that what we do when we cannot figure things out ourselves? When we find ourselves in situations that are beyond our control or beyond our comprehension, we pray. Moses must have felt like he was running off a cliff, but that is…

The Greatest Risk

Variant Spellings

As window-shoppers strolled up and down the promenade, I scribbled down a personal definition of success on a napkin. That napkin may as well have been a stone tablet inscribed by the finger of God on Mount Sinai. God redefined success for me and spelled it out on that napkin. Like definitions in the dictionary…

Idiosyncrasies

Like everyone else, I have my fair share of idiosyncrasies. I don’t know why, but I always set my alarm clock to an even number. An odd number would totally mess me up. I always start shaving on the right side of my face. I never drive off after pumping gas without checking my left-hand…

Offend Pharisees

Who are you going to offend? That is one of the most important questions a man has to ask and answer. This I promise you: you’re going to offend someone! So who will it be? If you’re afraid of offending people, you’ll offend God. If you’re afraid of offending God, you’ll offend people. It’s one…

Wonder

One of my goals as a father is to infect my children with childlike wonder. Arthur Gordon is one of my role models when it comes to wonder. I read his incredible book, Wonder, on our fifteenth anniversary trip to Italy—making it all the more meaningful. In fact, we saw one of the natural wonders…

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

If nothing is tougher for men than baring their souls and revealing their true feelings, then a true tough guy is someone who does just that. Real men cry. In twenty years of leading National Community Church, I’ve tried to be strong and courageous. And that often means putting on a brave face and soldiering…

Do Hard Things

When you hike the Grand Canyon or build a mud hut, you discover muscles you didn’t know you had. And that’s precisely the point. You’ve got to put yourself in positions that will push you past your previous limits. That’s how you grow. “That which doesn’t kill us,” said Friedrich Nietzsche, “makes us stronger.” Or…