All In Quotes

“...one good decision can totally change the trajectory of our lives. And that one good decision will lead to better decisions. But it starts by making the right decision when no one is looking.

There is a past cause and future effect to every decision that goes way beyond what is discernible in the here and now. Decisions have long and often complex genealogies. And every decision is a genesis moment that has the potential to radically alter not just our destiny but the course of human history as well.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“We live in a culture that celebrates talent more than integrity, but we've got it backward. Talent depreciates over time. So do intellect and appearance. You will eventually lose your strength and lose your looks. You may even lose your mind. But you don't have to lose your integrity. Integrity is the only thing that doesn't depreciate over time. Nothing takes longer to build than a godly reputation. And nothing is destroyed more quickly by one stroke of sin. That's why it must be celebrated and protected above all else.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“When we violate our conscience by compromising our integrity, we put our reputation at risk. We also become our own advocate because we step outside the boundaries of God's good, pleasing, and perfect will. But when we obey God, we come under the umbrella of His protective authority. He is our Advocate. And it's His reputation that is at stake. If we don't give the Enemy a foothold, God won't let him touch a hair on our head.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“When you are tempted to compromise your integrity, remember than an opportunity isn't an opportunity if you have to compromise your integrity.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Throwing down your staff is letting go and letting God. And that's counterintuitive for those of us who are control freaks. As our executive pastor Joel Schmidgall likes to say, "You can have faith or you can have control, but you cannot have both." If you want God to do something off the chart, you have to take your hands off the controls.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The blessings of God will complicate your life, but unlike sin, they will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“If you let fear dictate your decisions, you will live defensively, reactively, cautiously. Living by faith is playing offense with your life.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“True spirituality is "the place where desperation meets Jesus.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“God will never tempt you. It's not in His nature. In fact, He promises to provide an escape route for every tempting situation. But I can promise you this: God will test your faith. And those tests won't get easier. They will get progressively harder as the stakes get higher. And those tests will undoubtedly revolve around what is most important to you...

God will test you to make sure your identity and your security are found in the cross of Jesus Christ. And God will go after anything you trust in more than Him until you put it on the altar.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“If you aren't hungry for God, you are full of yourself. That's why God cannot fill you with His Spirit. But if you will empty yourself, if you will die to self, you'll be a different person by the time you reach the last page of this book.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard believed that boredom was the root of all evil. In other words, boredom isn’t just boring. It’s wrong. You cannot be in the presence of God and be bored at the same time. For that matter, you cannot be in the will of God and be bored at the same time. If you follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it will be anything but boring.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Jesus loved, praised, and rewarded one thing: desperation for God that superseded decorum.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The betrayal of Jesus by Judas wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment mistake. He betrayed Jesus each and every time he pilfered the money pot. And while most of us can’t imagine pickpocketing Jesus, we shortchange Him in a thousand different ways. We rob God of the glory He demands and deserves by not living up to our full, God-given potential.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The path of least resistance never gets us where we want to go. Shortcuts always end up being cul-de-sacs. The key to spiritual growth is the willingness to go out of your way for God. You will find God in uncomfortable places at inconvenient times. But if you go out of your way for God, God will go out of His way for you. Crash the party!”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“When we take matters into our own hands, we take God out of the equation.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“But remember this: without a crucifixion there can be no resurrection!”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The church was never meant to be a noun. And when it turns into a noun, it becomes a turn-off. The church was meant to be a verb, an action verb.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“The distance between your head and your heart is only twelve inches, but it's the difference between information and transformation. It's not enough to invite Jesus into your mind. You have to open the door to your heart of hearts. No door can remain locked. Even the door to your hidden room.

Nothing entangles the emotions like sin. And if you sin long enough, it feels like a Gordian knot that seems impossible to untangle. But Jesus Christ went to the cross to undo what you have done. He broke the curse of sin so you can break the cycle of sin.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“If your deepest feelings are reserved for something other than Almighty God, then that something other is an emotional idol... if you get more excited about material things than the simple yet profound fact that your sin was nailed to the cross by the sinless Son of God, then you're bowing down to Tammuz.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Death is a mirror that gives us a glimpse of who we really are.

Death is a rearview mirror that puts the past into perspective.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Never underestimate the ripple effect of one act of obedience.

It will never be all for nothing.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“If you go all in and all out for the cause of Christ, there will be setbacks along the way. But remember this: without a crucifixion there can be no resurrection! And when you have a setback, you do not take a step back, because God is already preparing your comeback.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“...there is nothing you possess that wasn't given to you by God. It's His prerogative to give. And it's His prerogative to take away. But there is one thing that can never be taken from you, and that is Jesus Christ. And if you have Jesus, then you have everything you will ever need for all of eternity.

Everything - Jesus = Nothing
Jesus + Nothing = Everything

It's that simple.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“You can be saved without suffering, but you cannot be sanctified without suffering. That doesn't mean you seek it out, but it does mean you see it for what it is. It's an opportunity to glorify God.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“It's not about success and failure. It's not about good days and bad days. It's not about wealth or poverty. It's not about health or sickness. It's not even about life or death. It's about glorifying God in whatever circumstance you find yourself in.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Dreams without deadlines are dead in the water. Deadlines are really lifelines to achieving our goals.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“When God stirs our spirit or breaks our heart, we cannot sit back. We've got to step up and step in. We've got to go all in by going all out. But if we have the courage to make the choice or take the risk, it will become the defining moment of our lives.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“In God's kingdom, calling trumps credentials every time! God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. And the litmus test isn't experience or expertise. It's availability and teachability. If you are willing to go when God gives you a green light, He will take you to inaccessible places to do impossible things.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“...opportunities typically come disguised as impossible problems. And while most people run away from their problems, Shamgars run at them with their oxgoads.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

“Courage doesn't wait until situational factors turn in one's favor. It doesn't wait until a plan is perfectly formed. It doesn't wait until the tide of popular opinion is turned. Courage only waits for one thing: a green light from God. And when God gives the go, it's full steam ahead, no questions asked.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life