Batterson Highlight Reel

Last night I finished reading Mark Batterson's book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It is full of quotable stuff and I thought I'd share some of them with you. The book is based on the brief story of Benaiah found in 2 Samuel 23:20-21.

• Sometimes God won't intervene until something is humanly impossible.


• Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small.


• God is great not just because nothing is too big for him. God is great because nothing is too small for him.


• Don't accumulate possessions. Accumulate experiences!


• Opportunities often look like insurmountable obstacles.


• Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God.


• Sometimes you have to run away from security and chase uncertainty.


• If life is infinitely uncertain and God is infinitely complex, then all we can do is accept our finitude and embrace uncertainty. Faith doesn't reduce uncertainty. Faith embraces uncertainty.


• Maybe faith has less to do with gaining knowledge and more to do with causing wonder.


• We want a 3 act play but Jesus takes us to the Improv instead. If the script was already written up front for us, it would undermine our dependence on the Holy Spirit.


• 20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. (Mark Twain)


• Maybe righteousness has less to do with not doing anything wrong and more to do with doing things right.


• When everything is said and done, I think our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained risks we didn't take.


• Some of us approach our relationship with Christ like we're called to play a "prevent defense" when we ought to be in a "2 minute drill."


• Why is it that the Church is known more for what we're against than what we're for?


• The Aramaic word for prayer means to set a trap. Prayer helps us catch opportunities God throws our way.


• Faith is the willingness to look foolish.


• We serve an unlimited God with unlimited resources. A God who looked at a few loaves and fish and saw a banquet for 5000 people.