I love to read. I have loved to read for as long as I can remember (some teachers and professors might take issue with this statement). Much of the credit for my love of reading goes to my parents. An enduring memory from childhood is seeing my parents reading and seeing books all around the house. When I began as a pastor my Dad encouraged me even more to be a reader. I remember a conversation with him during my first or second year as a Senior Pastor. I was reading a lot and loving it, but some other pastors criticized me for reading so much, they felt I must be slighting other areas of ministry because of my reading volume. I shared this with my Dad asking him what he thought. (For the record I wasn’t whining to him, I knew that wouldn’t fly, I desired his opinion) He told me to keep reading and added that these other pastors probably never make any references to anything they have read in their sermons. He told me that reading would challenge me and stretch me, then he asked me what I was reading. Did I mention that my Dad was a great pastor for 44 years?

In my reading now, I not only read books but I also read a lot online and in my reading I love to collect quotes. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from my reading this week:

“There are two kinds of success. One is the very rare kind that comes to the many who has the power to do what no one else has the power to do. That is genius. But the average man who wins what we call success is not a genius. He is a man who has merely the ordinary qualities that he shares with his fellows, but who has developed those ordinary qualities to a more than ordinary degree.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” – John F. Kennedy

“… we make it sound like it’s someone else’s fault, when in reality, we’ve made our own lunch.” – Kyle Idleman (from his book “AHA”)

“We worry far too much about outcomes instead of focusing on inputs. We cannot make things grow. Period. All we can do is plant and water.” – Mark Batterson (from his book “Draw the Circle”)

“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.” – Jackie Mason (can anybody else’s bank account relate?)

“My fitness coach told me to bend down and touch my toes. I told him, “I don’t

have that kind of relationship with my feet. May I just wave?” – from Mikey’s Funnies

“If you ate pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?” – from Mikey’s Funnies

“In your relationships, seek to add value above seeking to win the argument.”

So what are some of your favorite quotes from your recent reading?

Dennis