God has already done everything He's going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you're going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.
There's pros and cons of a big church. Cons is I don't get to know everybody, I don't get to go to their ballgame, I don't get to marry everybody, but the pros are you get all this community, 800 ushers come in to serve, getting there at 7 in the morning on their day off and coming in on Saturday to make all those wafers.
My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that's where a lot of preachers' kids get off base sometimes. Because they don't see the same things at both places.
I think a big test we all face in life on a regular basis is that discouragement test. Life's not always fair, but I believe if you keep doing the right thing, God will get you to where you are.
I like sports, and I enjoy playing basketball and lifting weights.
I say, don't try to fight your own battles because God will do it.
I try to live what I teach. A lot of things come against us in life, but we should try to find something to be grateful for, and see each day as a gift.
Sometimes we look at gay being a bigger sin than being proud or not telling the truth. I don't think God categorizes sins.
I believe that God has put gifts and talents and ability on the inside of every one of us. When you develop that and you believe in yourself and you believe that you're a person of influence and a person of purpose, I believe you can rise up out of any situation.
I have always believed in God.
I really believed that fear is contagious.
I'm not a big believer in trying to jam stuff down somebody's throat: 'You're going to do it my way.' I'd rather show by example and live my life and have people say, 'You know what, I want to live like Joel has. He's got peace and joy, and he seems content.'
When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God, that He's the Christ, raised from the dead, that He's his savior - that's good enough for me.
In difficult times, we're not supposed to quit believing; we're not supposed to quit growing.
Why don't you start believing that no matter what you have or haven't done, that your best days are still out in front of you.
God puts people in our lives on purpose so we can help them succeed and help them become all He created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them.
When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending any time with you and me.
I think Bible principles are principles for life.
I don't think you should spend your life praying for things, but I do believe you should thank God for what He's given you... but I think the scripture teaches us that we can pray for our dreams, pray for the big things... he's not a small God; this God is incredible.
I just think that trusting God means we're going to have unanswered questions, and God is so much bigger than us, we're never going to understand them all.