he who never made a mistake never made anything

[People] are afraid they would fail if they attempted to do anything, so they refuse to try. “If I can’t do it well, I won’t do it at all!” We believed – and still do – that people should be encouraged to recognize that those who do something well do so because someone allowed them to start by doing in badly. This is not a plea for mediocrity, but rather a cry for people to be allowed to “learn by making mistakes.” We believe that “he who never made a mistake never made anything.” But if mistakes are going to be made, they must be done at a time and place where damage control minimizes the destructive possibilities and the mistake maker is supported and encouraged to learn from the mistake and not to make it again.

Stuart Briscoe, Flowing Streams, p. 122

the answer is yes

But while I was still in the banking business [John Ward] had told me in the simple, straightforward manner of a typical North countryman, “Stuart, preaching isn’t difficult. You study your Bible; then you stand up and tell them what it says. That’s it.” Then almost as an afterthought, he added, “And if you’re any good at it, people will ask you to do it. If they ask you, and you’re free, the answer is yes.”

Stuart Briscoe, Flowing Streams, p. 70

rise to the challenge

The dozens of youngsters on board [Operation Mobilization’s ship Logos II] often slept rough, got seasick, ventured onto risk’s edge in foreign places, and worked day and night, pushing the limits of their spiritual experience. They showed us unmistakably that while many young people today get – and sometimes deserve – a bad rap, there are hundreds who, given the chance and a challenge, will grab one and rise to the other, show they have character and courage, and if “mobilized,” will join the army of those who publish good tidings anywhere on earth.

Stuart Briscoe, Flowing Streams, p. 178

offer your resources

Resources, however limited, willingly offered, divinely empowered, become more than adequate to do what God wants done.

Stuart Briscoe