If we want to reach the people that no one else is reaching, we've got to do things that no one else is doing.

People do not plan to mess up their lives. They just don't plan not to.

Many years from now, what would you like people to line up and thank you for?

On day one, the Church wasn't for church people because there weren't any church people.

It's OK to offend people with the Gospel, but, good grief- let's don't offend them with something else.

People are far more interested in what works than what's true.

Greed is supported by an endless cast of what-ifs. Greedy people can never have enough to satisfy the need they feel in light of every conceivable eventuality.

It's ok for people to feel bad about the wrong things they've done.

You can't influence people you refuse to associate with.

The love of Christ comes from simple people who love simple people. Never be fooled by the spiritual leader who knows a lot but doesn't love a lot.

Leadership is not always about getting things done 'right.' Leadership is about getting things done through other people.

Success is an intoxicant, and intoxicated people seldom have a firm grasp on reality.

80% of your problems are not PEOPLE problems ... they are SYSTEM problems, because systems create the behaviors of people.

Rich people have the potential to reach a point where they see money as the source of their safety and security.

There are some rich people who, no matter how much God sends their way, never seem to put their hope in their riches.

You cannot communicate complicated information to large groups of people. As you increase the number of people, you have to decrease the complexity of the information.

Communicators need to figure out how well do they engage people, and they should not talk one word longer than people are engaged.

People are not on a truth quest; they are on a happiness quest. They will continue to attend your church - even if they don't share your beliefs - as long as they find the content engaging and helpful.

Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible - that is just cheating. It's cheating because that would be easy, first of all. That isn't how you grow people. No one in the Scripture modeled that.

People pray in one direction but they walk in a different direction, and direction always determines where we end up.

When a plan or strategy fails, people are tempted to assume it was the wrong vision. Plans and strategies can always be changed and improved. But vision doesn't change. Visions are simply refined with time.

As a pastor, I've spent 30 years talking to people and heard every kind of story imaginable.

What people pray for will tell you more than anything else whether they are locked into the vision and priorities of the church.

When people are convinced you want something FOR them rather than something FROM them, they are less likely to be offended when you challenge them.