Friends!

I love good friends! You know the kind I'm talking about? They are unpretentious around you and they love you for you! You can be yourself around your friends and there's no need to impress. You don't have to! And good friends have your back. They know you so they can vouch for you and will take a bullet for you because they love you! Tonight, we were out with good friends. They know who they are. There was good conversation and laughter, funny moments and serious, thoughtful moments and the time to just be yourself. These friends are safe because everything we say stays there. There's no need to worry that something you said will be shared because friends don't share. And you're known and accepted for who you are and all that goes with that instead of known for what you do! When I'm in a conversation with someone I've just met, I try not to ask what they do until I've gotten to know them. And then, as the conversation dies down, I may ask what they do for a living just to keep the conversation going and to get to know them better! Sometimes I don't ask at all because I don't wont that to make me size them up financially or socially. You see, we are all more than the title we wear, whether it be pastor or manager or vice president of marketing or administrative assistant! The job is not who I am but something I do! With good friends, it doesn't matter what you do! You're accepted and loved for who you are, warts and all! May we all learn to accept each other and the friends and neighbors we love just for who they are, not for what they do or for what they can give! Jesus said to "love your neighbor as you love yourself!" That means fully, without reservation, through and through! It's at the heart of what it means to be Christian!

The Highs and Lows of Ministry

This past week, I rode a roller coaster of emotions as I was involved in several personal encounters with very good friends that typifies the highs and lows of ministry! On one hand, I visited a former student of my youth ministry days who is battling a brain tumor now for almost four years. His wife and parents moved him here to their home so that he could finish out his days among family and friends. I was able to spend two great hours with them and recall fond memories of youth ministry days! My heart aches for them as they walk this path. You aren't supposed to outlive your students! But it was so refreshing to see their spirit and courage of faith and hope in the midst of suffering!
The day before this visit, another former student who attends our church gave birth to her second child! There's always such great joy at the birth of a baby! It's fun to watch former students experience life in this way!
Then, finally, on Saturday of this week, I was invited to baptize an entire family of very good friends in the backyard pool of their parents. There were some twenty plus family members and friends there to witness the baptism and testimony of this family! They wanted everyone to know of their faith in Christ and their desire to live for Him! What a thrill to be able to participate with them in this blessed day!
As I reflected on this past week and the highs and lows of the events I was fortunate enough to share in, I thought of how life is surely a journey of trust and faith in the midst of joy and pain! But through it all, the same God is present in every situation with each person, no matter where the journey leads them. I'm grateful to be a pastor and to be able to share in these moments with friends, as hard as they may be sometimes. Thankfully, He is there every step of the way!