John Battelle's Quotes

Google is a global Rorschach test. We see in it what we want to see. Google has built an infrastructure that makes a lot of dreams closer to reality.

The only thing Google has failed to do, so far, is fail.

A broken heart is what makes life so wonderful five years later, when you see the guy in an elevator and he is fat and smoking a cigar and saying long-time-no-see.

For her fifth wedding, the bride wore black and carried a scotch and soda.

If you haven't had at least a slight poetic crack in the heart, you have been cheated by nature.

A reporter discovers, in the course of many years of interviewing celebrities, that most actors are more attractive behind a spotlight than over a spot of tea.

Routines are normal, natural, healthy things. Most of us take a shower and brush our teeth every day. That is a good routine. Spiritual disciplines are routines. That is a good thing. But once routines become routine you need to change your routine.

Too often the word 'prayer' induces guilt because we don't do enough of it. After all, I've never met anyone who said they pray too much! All of us fall short. And we often feel like our prayers fall flat.

In my experience, take the Holy Spirit out of the equation of your life and it spells boring. Add it into the equation of your life and you never know where you are going to go, what you are going to do, or who you are going to meet.

Don't seek opportunity. Seek God and opportunity will seek you.

Email helps me keep in touch with my family. I wouldn't know what my extended family was doing every day if we weren't emailing each other.

I am a pastor so I eat and breathe the Church.

I think twenty-somethings are very cause-oriented.

I'm a lifelong Vikings and Packers fan because I lived in both Minnesota and Wisconsin as a kid.

I'm pretty intentional about being highly invested in my kids' lives.

If Jesus were living in our culture, he would probably hang out in coffeehouses.

If you really believe in the message you're preaching, you want as many people as possible to listen.

In an urban environment, a church building is a thing of the past.

It's hard for me to imagine why a church that has younger members wouldn't have a blog component.

Jesus on Twitter would have been a pretty amazing thing.

New media is like a megaphone. It amplifies your ability to reach more people.

Part of my driving desire as a pastor is to remove every obstacle except the cross that would keep people from coming to faith in Christ.

Prayer is not about letting God know your will; it's about completely submitting to him. You die to yourself.