Quotes of Note

Hat tip to Kathy at “the carnival in my head.” In a recent post, she had this idea of sharing the more memorable quotes that had happened in her life. I thought it was a cool idea, so I’m stealing it. (Actually, more like “borrowing” it.)

Here are some of the more memorable quotes in my life, in no particular order…

“Good people do bad things.”
–A chaplain at ORU, trying to explain to me the politics behind the firing of our campus worship leader, for whom I had played the piano during my freshman year.

“The teacher has surpassed the student.”
— A compliment from that same worship leader who had gotten fired–spoken years later, when we were worship leaders for different churches in the same town.

“You need to grow up. Now.”
–A pastor’s advice to me when counseling me early in our marriage. He was right.

“Don’t you ever come back here again.”
–An unnamed family member kicking me out of her house. (I was invited back to the house for Thanksgiving Dinner a couple of months later.)

“NO.”
–My wife, when I casually suggested that I ought to shave my head, keep the gotee, have my ear pierced, and get a tattoo on the back of my neck that said, “JESUS RRRROCKS.”

“You need to send in a written page explaining why you want to meet with the pastor.”
–The secretary of another pastor in Tulsa, whom I already knew on a first-name basis, relating the pastor’s response to my invitation for lunch.

“There comes a time when you have to decide to jump in and do what you’re meant to do.”
–A prominent Christian businessman encouraging me to stick it out during a challenging season in ministry. (A good story behind that quote–I might tell it here sometime.)

“You have a good word. You just have to be patient. You’ll be alright.”
–Another pastor encouraging me during the same challenging season.

“Find the right song. When you find the right song…it will happen.”
–A pastor’s “interpretation” of his own message in tongues, spoken to me while I was leading worship for his special “anointing service”–essentially suggesting that that reason the Spirit wasn’t flowing was I hadn’t picked the right backdrop of music. (Read the whole story here.)

“Listen to your wife.”
–My best man’s advice on my wedding day–and some of the best advice I’ve ever been given.

So…do you have any quotes of note?