Leadership Thought: You Can't Have Enough Good Friends Living in Your Home.

Dear Friends,

Tucked away in the Apostle Paul’s closing remarks to Timothy is a verse that is easy to miss. Paul writes, “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments (2 Timothy 4:13). Scholars suggest that the parchments may have been part of the Old Testament. In any event, this got me to thinking about the importance of good books and what friends they have been to me over the years of my ministry.

Some of my friends have been sitting on my shelves for over 50 years, but like the Word, there some things that never grow old.

There has always been a battle brewing in the Crenshaw household over the number of friends I have brought home. I remember as we were leaving Fort Lauderdale to retire 14 years ago, I found an old cardboard box Jean had dumped in the corner of my office with a note that said, “Sort out the most important 100 books and put them in the box and give the rest away.” Those words struck terror in my heart. Get rid of my friends. Send them packing. “No, no, no, I can’t do it,” I cried.

The retirement part didn’t work out any better than her efforts to ditch my friends. Most all of them traveled north with me and found residence on a new set of shelves that take up most of my office.

Only a lover of books can understand and appreciate how difficult it is to give your books away. Maybe I am just  selfish for I know my library takes up considerable space in my office, and in my apartment, but you can’t just walk away from your friends.

Years ago, I copied down a quote that has stayed with me to this day. It was Mark Twain who said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read at all.” 

Abraham Lincoln said, "My best friend is a person who will give me a book," and Thomas Jefferson said, "I cannot live without books. "Leaders are readers." They are always searching for new ideas and looking to discover new information.

One of the best sharing questions I know is, “What books have had the greatest impact on your life and why? When I think about this question, I find myself hard pressed to limit my answers for there have been so many books that I  am not sure where to begin or where to stop.

I acknowledge that if there is any wisdom that comes from my mouth, it has probably come from someone I have read, and while I may not remember his or her name, their wisdom has permeated my mind and left its imprint on my thinking.

Books are wonderful friends, and you can't have too many.  But if you could choose but one friend, let that friend be the Bible, for contained within it is all the wisdom, truth, and knowledge one needs to possess to live in victory today, tomorrow and for all eternity. The Bible is your greatest friend and your dearest companion!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom