Conscientious Objector

Back in 1966 a very well known boxer by the name of Cassius Clay was drafted into military service.  It was also at that exact time that he converted to the Muslim Faith.  With that religion change came a name change, thus Mohammed Ali.  He also became a Conscientious Objector, saying he had nothing against the Viet Cong and would not fight against them.  While other American Men and Women risked their lives and gave their lives in the Vietnam War, Ali declined.  He was sentenced to five years in jail and pardoned after three.  Ali went on with his earlier career in boxing and made millions.  He rejected the stand of our country in Vietnam and refused to fight for his country and the rest is history.  

In  1 Peter 2:1-8, Peter brings out a very important point for all who claim the name of Jesus.  He characterized us a "living stones" that have tasted the kindness of the Lord.  

That kindness is best characterized by the Salvation made possible for us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When we repented and believed in Christ and gave Him our lives we took on the same "living" sacrifice that was exampled by Christ.  That immediately brought on a change in our lives that put aside things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. (verse1)  It also brought in a new desire.  A desire for the things of God and new life were part of that new desire.   Also, our growth was guaranteed  if we would seek after the Lord's wisdom found in the Word of God.   The diet we had before Christ was going to be replaced with a new, more healthy diet, that included the pure milk of the Word.  A natural reaction to this new diet is a life that wants to honor God with sacrificial service.  That is service that is prompted out of love and gratitude for the love Jesus has given us through our salvation.  In other words, we are now on His team, which makes us all on the same team.  As He goes, so we go.  As He calls, so we listen.  As He shows, so we see.  We are connected to this Precious, Living Stone who is Jesus Christ.  When we are connected to Christ our life has true value and that value is increased because of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  What we could have done before Christ can be great, but what we can do with Christ is awesome!!  When we receive Him and let this connection get stronger and stronger Peter shares that we will not be disappointed. 

I remember getting ready to go on a roller coaster when we lived in California.  The waiting time on the line was 55 minutes.  We were close to the exit and someone came out who had just ridden the coaster and I yelled to them, "How was it?"  The guy said, "it was great and you won't be disappointed."  That encouraged me to believe that the wait in line was worth it, so we waited it out.  By the way, it WAS worth it.   Glad I stayed in line.

We want to know that what we give our time and talent to will not be a waste and Peter shares in verses 4-6 that it is definitely worth the wait.   There is another group of people mentioned here though.  In verse 7 and 8 he talks about this group, "this precious stone is for those who believe, but for those who disbelieve becomes a stone to cause them to stumble and the end result is doom!  This is all laid out clearly for each of us to see, you are either with Him, which means you are like Him.  Or, you are not with Him, which means you are not like Him.  I guess it comes back to your conscience.  I have gotten to serve with some great people through the years, and I have also served with some "knot heads."  They are people that are obstinate and hateful. You say, "the room is blue, they call it red."  You say, "Let's go."  They say, "who are you to tell me what to do?"  The meaning of obstinate is "stubbornly unwilling to change one's opinion or course of action despite attempts to persuade one to do so."  In other words, Conscientious Objectors."  They don't mind talking about the war or living in the freedom, but when it comes to fighting, they say no.  When everyone else says, "charge" they say "why charge?"  In reality this kind of person is not attached to the "living stone" or they would resemble a "living stone" instead of a dead rock. The last thing Peter says about this kind of person is they are appointed for doom.  It's inevitable and it's sad, because they have the option on draft day to go fight.  It's their decision to change who they are so they can get what they want and that is just their way.

Don't be one of those people, and for sure don't hang around with those people because they will rub off on you and ruin your direction.  The church has all the neigh sayers it needs who are consciously objecting to the call of Jesus.  Be a living stone that answers His call every time.  Join hands with other believers and let the life of Christ in you be your passion for living your life.  Who can object consciously to that?  You'd be surprised!!!  I'm just saying...

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

I Love You But! The Goonies Treasure

Every year we do our taxes and the government takes more and more of our money for them to use.  The harder we work and the more we make penalizes us and withholds from us.  What does it mean to withhold?  Withhold means to suppress or hold back.  Suppress means to prevent the development of an action.  Do you see where this is all going.  To withhold on anything means to keep it from reaching where it is supposed to go.  You have probably seen the movie Goonies (edited version) where they find One Eyed Jack's treasure and they pack their pockets with jewels. Well, the other thieves who are looking for the treasure stop the kids and have them give up all the jewels.  One kid empties his pockets, his hands, and everything else that can hold jewels.  The crusty old woman who is the leader of the thieves notices that the kid isn't saying so much and that she remembered him being a real talker.  She figures it out and has him open his mouth and there it is, a huge jewel.  He was wanting to withhold some of the jewels at all costs, but when discovered he had to give that last jewel up.  He was withholding or suppressing the treasure so the thieves wouldn't get it.  His trick didn't work and he had to give it all up.  We do withholding during the year so it doesn't kill us all at once at tax time.  Many people get back taxes, so their withholding pays back.  In reality you are still paying the massive tax burden, but you feel better about it when you get to keep some of it.  The government in turn withholds what we all deserve to run their inept system.  When the system doesn't work good it causes us to regret getting anything withheld because we feel like we aren't getting our money's worth...and we aren't.

One of the main withholding problems we have as Christians is withholding love.  We get plenty of love from a Savior who died for us and a God who cares for us, but we withhold that kind of love and care from each other.  This love is withheld for various reasons: selfishness, evil intentions, guilt, etc.  Withholding the love God gives us has very drastic consequences.  First it pollutes our system with ungodliness.  Purity is just that, pure, and when a foreign substance is injected in that purity it becomes compromised and not fit for anything.  We as humans get to thinking we have reasons to pollute the wonderful pure things God has given us and then pretty soon you can't even recognize some of them.

Peter in 1 Peter 1:22-25 addresses this problem by reminding those he was writing to of the imperishable love that we received when we received Christ.  That love "takes over" our whole system and everything we do is to be run out of that love relationship. But it isn't.  Churches today have lost the desire and ability to love the world like we should, and now it has digressed to the point of us hating each other.  What does this mean?  There is no purity in many of our churches and our desires have taken over God's desire to establish loving fellowships to minister to the world we live in.  In verse 22 Peter says, "since you have purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart."  Is that what you see in churches today?  Hopefully, but probably not.  You see, it's hard to love each other when it is our desire to hurt each other.  They just don't mix.  Why does this type of attitude prevail many times in churches?  It is because many are church members, but not saved or regenerated believers.  The seed in their lives is a poisoned seed that hates, not loves and the end result is confusion for those who are looking to the church for purity...Especially purity in love.   In verse 23 Peter says, "for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word  of God.  Woh!  That is an answer to the whole thing.  It's what seed we are carrying is the difference.  A perishable seed is one that is built on who we are.  Am imperishable seed is one that is built on whose we are.  So a person who has a bad seed will bear bad fruit and vice versa.  That bad seed is best seen in one significant area, withholding love. We withhold it to see if we will get it, and if we do, then we will maybe give it back.  Jesus said to give it and not expect anything back.  You do remember the cross don't you?  He did not receive any love back for the love He gave.  We are sitting on a mountain of treasure and that treasure is love, but we are withholding it for the wrong reasons.  It's time to give it away and stop hoarding it for us.  Verses 24 and 25 put the final nail in the bad seed coffin where Peter says, "Our bodies will wither and fade away (perishable) but the Word of God endures forever(imperishable).  Then he caps it off with "this is the Word which was preached to you."  No excuses for lack of information for withholding love.  The bad seed is exposed.  It is best heard in the statement "I Love you, But!"  Which literally means, "I  don't love you at all" which means "I hate you."  Oh the joy of having God's Word to help us live in the reality of the truth.  Oh the bliss of knowing when what you are doing is wrong.  Oh, the conviction of the Word of God when we realize what seed is in our heart.  Or is it just, OH!

Words in this blog won't change your heart, but the Word of God changes everything.  Are you into logic?  How about God's logic?  Just be glad Jesus didn't say, "I love you, but!" when He was going to the cross.  Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily and that means we will have some things we will need to decide in the area of love.  Is your reply "I love you, but" or just "I love you."  Time to decide because time is fleeting and we need true revival in God's Church and it will not come through those who are half hearted and withholding.  Which are you?  Don't be a Goonie, give it away.  It's not ours to withhold!!

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

Awestruck and Awesome....

I was at a church years ago and the pastor of the church used to "wear me out" by making fun of me saying the words "cool" and "awesome."  Those words had become such a part of my speech and usually on a daily basis I heard it, "Why do you still use those words?"  I would usually laugh it off and go on thinking, "I don't need to use those words around him." Warp ahead one hour and there it is.....awesome!  I said it and didn't really even think about it.  I was trying to remember when I started saying those words and it was surely a long time ago, but whenever it was...they stuck.  For me the word "cool" is an agreeable term of wanting to be an encourager or positive.  Someone might say, "We are going over here to get something to eat" and I would reply by saying "cool."  Some people think it came out of a time where hippies were setting language styles, but I can only trace it back to the eighties where I distinctly remember saying "cool" one night to a friend who told me something about.......Are you kidding?  How could I remember the first time I said something?  I can't, and to say I could would be stretching the truth, otherwise known as lying.  It just happened and now it is a word that continues to be "who I am."  Of course, I prefer it to the alternative some use...Hot!  Not gonna happen....

Another word that has invaded my speech and my thinking is the word "awesome."  It comes from the root word "awe" and is used quite often in the Bible to describe God.  Peter alluded to the word awesome and the attitude that goes with it.  In 1 Peter 1:17 he writes, "If you  address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear (awe)during the time of your stay on earth."  It's amazing how un-awesome God has become to a lost world and to many Christians.  It's all God can do to get our attention, much less change our lives to conform to His image.  We need a healthy fear of the God who saved us and keep in mind that we were not redeemed by perishable things, but with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ (verses 18,19).  We don't draw our strength from the things around us here on this earth, but from the God who formed the seas, gives us breath, makes the sun shine and rain fall when we need it, and touches the innermost parts of our heart.  Verse 20 says, "He has appeared in these last times for the sake of YOU."  AWESOME!  Oooops, see it just comes out doesn't it!!  Who are the you?  Verse 21 goes on to finish the sentence...."You who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave HIm glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."  Why is God awesome?  It takes too many words to answer that but from my heart I must say I am awestruck by His glory and I have to proclaim He is Awesome.  This awesome God enables us to not only live life, but control it with strength and power.  Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:7  "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."  Our response to who He is should be one of fear and honor.  Fear as in awe and honor as in obedience.  If the result of you knowing Christ is nothing more than an intellectual exercise of knowledge, then you might not even know Christ.  If you cannot proclaim "He is awesome and worthy of my praise" then you might not be attached to the fountain of grace that makes our life worth living.  That fountain cleanses, replenishes, and radically changes who we are and how we look at the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,.  Our faith and our hope are in God almighty and He is so cool and so awesome!  Write that on your heart and your lips will never cease to give Him praise.  

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Yesterday's News

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil Connors, gets caught in a time loop.  In that loop he relives every moment of an earlier time, doing over and over again the same mistakes and stupid lifestyles choices.  This time loop causes him to evaluate his life and the direction he needs to take to make every day count.  Yesterday's news becomes today's problem over and over again.  That's kind of how it is for us as Christians isn't it?  We tend to live everything out of our past over and over again and the successes or failures of our past snuff out the prospects for the present and the future.  I guess you could say we are "backwards."  In the area of sinning, we could be called "backsliders."  Repeating anything from the past is a dangerous lifestyle to follow, because the Lord says that every day is a new day in Him.  That new day applies to everything we do.  If you committed a sin, God's forgiveness kicks in immediately and the freshness of that experience of grace totally changes how we live "today."  If God moved in a great way in an event from the past, praise God, but today is another day and He will move even different "today!"  If you had a conflict with a brother or sister in Christ in the past, that is to be dropped and made right and that will change how we view them "today."  There are so many examples in the Bible of how God is a today God.  That's why we start the day with Christ in prayer.  That's why we don't let the sun go down on our wrath.  That's why the sins of our past life no longer control our life today.  That's why we don't go back to a lifeless existence without Christ once we have given our life to Him.  It's all yesterday's news!!

In 1 Peter 1:13-15, Peter writes about the need to prepare for action.  What kind of action?  The action you get when you take a stand for Christ.  That action will come from Christians and non- Christians alike.  Christians that are not really wanting to serve Christ will try to slow you down to keep them feeling good about their lack of commitment.  Non-Christians are basically confused and their interaction with vibrant Christians causes them to question why you would be so committed to something.  Whatever the case, our eyes need to be fixed on this hope we carry around in us.  Hope in Christ.  In verse 13 Peter says, "prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."  When Christ comes all this will fade into obscurity, but while we are here we are called to serve and be active.  If we don't look at life with a "big picture" vision, then the small things in life will bog us down and our "action" will be minimal at best.  That is a slippery slope than can lead to a life of compromise and confusion.  In other words, we have slid backwards!!  Peter speaks to that in verse 14 when he says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts, which WERE yours in your ignorance."  Did he just call me ignorant?  I believe he did!  I'm only ignorant when I allow the old way of living to control me today.  The past life is gone and the new you is what you live out of today.  That's called today's news and that story is being written as I speak.  I mean, what did you think the abundant life was?  Living like you have always lived?  No way!  Today is new and fresh and exciting and abundant with God's mercies that are new EVERY DAY! (Lamentations 3:22-23)

The end result of us living a life centered on God's holiness is a life that is starting to be more holy in every area. Things that used to affect us in a negative way don't drag us down anymore and the prospects of a day for Christ starts to become our way of life.  We begin to grasp just a little bit more of the holiness of God and all that means, and then we take on that way of life and the rest is history?  Nope.  Then we begin making great history on a daily basis as we become more and more like Christ.   More like Christ means we are lining up with what God wanted in the first place.  Verse 16 says,"It is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Don't get caught in a time loop by living your life out of your past.  Don't worry about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  Live for today.  Take that breath that God just gave you and use it to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and that His salvation is in YOU!!  That will make an impact on today and eternity.  That will be tomorrow's headline, not yesterday's news...

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

Gold Versus Faith

I was watching the commercial where William Devane is on his horse out on his (supposed) ranch and he is talking about our economy going south.  He states that we need to be investing in gold because it has never gone down in value.  He gives the impression that when everything falls apart, gold will stand.  In our present American world structure that could be true and if you are going to rely on something for wealth, I guess gold would be your best bet.  If that's what you are relying on.  The only problem is all of that is still only temporal and when the Lord comes it won't mean ANYTHING.  Don't get me wrong, I could use some more money and if that's what God sees fit to give me, I will take it.  But my life is not built on how much money or position I have right now.  If it was built on that then my outlook on the future would be seasoned with things like having the largest house, or the most expensive car, or the richest friends, or the top position at my company.  That is a foundation that will fail every time in the process of real life.  The foundation has been compromised by allowing our own desires to distract us from the real source of hope and happiness.  We allow the lack of vibrancy in the evangelical churches in our area to compromise and dowse the fire that burns in all believers who know Jesus.  Our hearing becomes deaf to God trying to turn us around and turn to him.  Our eyes begin to see people in a new way; judgmental and harsh.  The soft, compassionate heart that used to be a result of a person who follows Christ, becomes hard and indifferent to the world around them.  Our ears start to filter out the call of God to change and lets other things take the place of God's Call.  Our mouth starts to spout hatefulness and hurt and cause people all around us to avoid us.  Our hands quit serving and start pulling everything we have back to us and we take no opportunity to help others.  Our feet quit running to Godliness and start running to the temporal things of life.  This is what happens when we take our eyes off of Christ and start trusting ourselves for hope.  We begin to think that we can make it without God and if we will just work a little harder everything will be fine.  That's a lie!!  Where is the person who says, "I am nothing without Christ?"  Where is the repentant heart that accepts instruction and correction from God?   Where is that welcoming heart that quickly responds to the Holy Spirit's leading?

In 1 Peter 1:1-7 Peter shares that we are blessed to have this salvation we live in and that God's eyes are on us to keep us obedient.   He individually cares for each of us and offers His peace and direction.  He says, "may everything good from God be yours."  Peter also helps bring everything into focus when he says that  we have so much good to look forward to in the future, and that future begins now.  Our looking to the coming King is not something that exists in the future, but Peter says, "it begins now!"  Peter assures that what we are looking for here on earth will come some day in heaven.  That is our hope and assurance.  William Devane says that monetary wealth that is built on gold will always stand, but he is sadly wrong.  It will also fade away and lose it's value.  In a common sense argument we need to keep in mind that gold is a rock.  A pretty rock, but just a rock.  It has value because a majority of people who value wealth have given it value.   That can all fall apart in a moment.  Just ask me and all who lost thousands of dollars on property that was worth one thing one day and worth something much less the next day.

That's why our foundation in life must be built on the eternal things because the temporal things are just that, temporary.  Peter shares that pure gold when refined by the fire of suffering brings forth a pure and genuine faith.  A genuine faith is one that is built on the promises of God and hope of eternal life in heaven.  Peter is quick to say it's not literally gold we are relying on though, it is an illustration that uses gold to emphasize the point.  He says that it is our faith, not our gold that Jesus will have as evidence of who we are and what we have done.  Let your faith shine as gold, but don't let your faith be built on gold. The result of that faith will be victory!!   That victory begins today, not tomorrow.  We are to live in victory and our faith will enable us to do just that. When choosing what to build your life on don't choose gold, choose faith.  Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please God."  If you know Christ, it is your desire to please God.  Your faith is all it takes and that is a foundation you can build  your life on.   The news is out: FAITH WINS!!!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Crossing the Bridge...

We lived in the Bay Area of Northern California and served at First Baptist Pleasanton, California. We moved there from Missouri and the culture shock was quite substantial, but the sight shock was even more!!  Not bad shock, but good shock.  We lived where so many of the TV shows and movies we loved were filmed.  We would be in San Francisco and would come upon them filming a movie scene and act like a bunch of little kids.  It was awesome.  And the bridges....Oh the bridges.  We would cross the double decker Bay Bridge, go through the city and then exit to the north on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Then for the icing on the cake we would look off to the right and there it was, Alcatraz.  It was like one new event every day the whole time we lived there,even the earthquakes amazed us....in a scary way.

There was one bridge, beside the Golden Gate, that just floored me every time we drove over it.  It was the San Mateo Bridge.  This bridge started out relatively level, but all of a sudden it went what felt like "straight up to the sky."  The first time we went on the bridge our whole family held their breath in fear.  It was an awesome bridge.  One of our youth workers lived in San Mateo and he was working on his house.  I told him I would help him and went over to his house to scope it out and of course, travelled on the San Mateo Bridge.  By this time, I was an old pro and didn't even (act) get scared like I was from there or something.  We looked over the remodel part of the house and made a decision on how much wood and materials we needed.  Neither of us had a truck, so we borrowed one from another church member who owned a concrete finishing business.  Our plans were to get the lumber and take it to his house and get to work.  He had something come up and asked me to get the lumber and drive it to his house.  I agreed and went to the lumber shed, loaded up, and proceeded down the Nimitz Highway to the bay.  I noticed the load was really heavy on this truck and the steering was weak, so I took it real easy.  I had my son Ty with me and we approached the San Mateo Bridge and I said, "here we go big guy."  We started on the level part and everything was fine, but then we started up the steep slope and that's when it happened.  The front of the truck came off the ground, caused by too much weight on the back.  I was steering, but I wasn't steering!  My tires weren't touching the road and the worst part was we were at the top of the "San Mateo Bridge."  Ty looked at me and I tried to remain calm but we were veering toward the rail.  All of a sudden the front end came down and we started down the other side.  We breathed a sigh of relief and unloaded the lumber, and that was that.  I will never forget it.  Going on two wheels up the San Mateo Bridge.

I will have to tell you that for me that's what doing these blogs is like.  Scary territory.  I know that our world is not getting any better, and that the Word of God has already been compromised so much it's almost unbearable to rock the boat (or tip the pickup truck) but it must be done.  I say all of that to transition to the next book I will be writing from in this blog.  I will be going through 1st and 2nd Peter in the days ahead and we need a bridge like the San Mateo for this transition.  Why?  Because the great truths Paul wrote to Timothy are pressed on more and more in Peter's letters.  He was in the last decade of his life and it was time for God to use him to deal seriously with things like: heresies of false teachers, the inspiration of Scripture, and the certainty of the second coming of Jesus Christ.  Paul was like the San Mateo, moving up from level ground to a new viewpoint in life and Peter is the quick upslope that can scare you if you are scared of heights.  Peter in his real way of looking at truth, writes with no holding back.  This blog is the bridge or transition to this wonderful, challenging book of the Faith. 1 Peter begins tomorrow.  Make sure you are ready and I will do the same.  Let's cross this bridge together, God's Way.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Friends are Friends Forever

Many years ago a Michael W. Smith song revolutionized the idea of "friends" when he trumped it with the presence of the Lord.  If you add God to something it doesn't immediately make it "holy", but when God's Word is the stimulus for it, it does.  Friendship is an amazing thing.  I have counted many people friends through the years and have seen some of those friendships wain because of distance, different interests, or whatever.  In remembering some of my friends from past years, I remember people who have contributed to the ministry of the Lord in my life.  They are friends that have shown generosity as friends in the Lord.  Those friendships were all different, but all beneficial to the work of the Lord.  A person who doesn't understand that giving that comes from Godly friendships would say, "well, you sure benefited from their gifts!"  That's true, but not in a selfish way, but as one who is receiving a generous gift as from God.  2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  In other words, if I've got to talk you into to it, you probably shouldn't do it. My friendships have helped me be the benefactor and receiver of gifts that could only come from true friends.  I have just a few examples of those who have felt the compulsion to give to the ministry of God through my life listed below.  They gave out of what they had.....Running to give, to be a contributor to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Generous Ministry Friendships

They are people who when they find out you have a need,  take it upon themselves to help.  I remember Ward Franz, who was helping with our youth ministry  (he is now a congressman in the state of Missouri) who knew I needed a certain keyboard to further the opportunity for ministry in the church I was serving.  I had been leading youth in worship and leading youth to lead in worship and the keyboard I had was very inadequate.  Ward came up to me expecting no pats on the back and said, "buy that keyboard."  It surprised me, but it didn't shock me.   Ward was the type of guy who loved to give and was capable of it.  I bought that keyboard and used it until it wore out many years later.  Most people don't know this, but almost every time anyone accepted Christ when I led in worship, I would touch that keyboard and thank God for Ward's generosity.  A gift given by a "friend."

Generous Lasting Friendships

It has been a calling on my life for years to minister in a bigger way to students and adults through music and the word.  I have tried many times to fund and start this ministry but could never get it off the ground.  While I was in North Carolina Andra met a lady on the beach one day and that friendship started another dear friendship between two couples that I know still exists today.  Kent and Mary Ann Phillips came into our lives and showed a quick conviction for ministry that astounded me.  They immediately became very interested in helping me continue to move toward the  ministry God had laid on my heart, and they barely knew us.  They openly pursued contributing to the formation of that ministry and took us a step further toward it by helping us purchase some equipment for it.  The keyboard I lead worship with today and the guitar my daughter leads worship with in her church are because of their generosity.  I remember them almost every day as I continue to serve our Lord.  Wow!  Quick friends, good friends.  Friends who give out of what they have because they believe, really believe that God's hand is on my life and that I am impacting souls for the kingdom.  I will never forget their generosity and their belief showed through their help.  Great Friends..

Generous Quick Friendships

I have been able to experience this quick friendship giving myself.  We had a band in at a church where I was serving and I had a certain keyboard that was fairly dear to my heart in my office.  The keyboard player for that band saw it and commented on it, saying "he had been wanting that same keyboard for awhile."  They stayed at our home and we hit it off and I could tell he was really trying to serve the Lord with his talents.  When it came time for them to leave he commented about that keyboard again.  I felt like God was saying, "give it to him because he needs it."  As they were backing out of our drive I went back in and got the keyboard and took it to him. He was shocked and said, "I can't afford that keyboard."  I said, "you don't have to, it's your's."  A quick friendship and a ministry encouragement for the giver and the receiver.  It felt better to give than to receive....really.  Anyone that knows me, knows I like to get things that I need. It's even better to put those things in someone else's hands that have a need.  Some of these I have mentioned have made a much bigger impact than they can ever understand, but I consider them "friends in the Lord."  Not because they gave, but because I got to be a part of their obedience to the Lord.

God calls all of us to give to others out of the manifold grace of God  1 Peter 4:10 says, "as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."  You probably remember that scripture.  It follows the verse that says, "he who sows sparingly, will reap sparingly."  Now that's a lesson on giving in one verse.

Generous Life Friendships

The last one I want to mention is my close friend Michael O'Brien.  I had Michael at a youth event one summer and we became close friends for life.  I have since had him come and share his talent in every church I have served in.  Sometimes more than once at a church.  Why?  I know his heart for serving.  Also, it contributes to the ministry of the Lord through His life. That connection made us even closer friends.  He doesn't even live around me, but we keep in contact, and to this day have a very current friendship that both of us rely on.  Michael is a wonderful Christian Man, a great singer, and a very talented writer, but his greatest attribute is his love of the Lord and the desire to be a true friend.  That part comes from God.  When you have a friend like Michael, you want to check on them, and pray for them, and do anything you can to help them.  That is the kind of friend Michael is to me.  He is my closest friend at this point in my life and we share deep hurts and joys that I know I would not share easily with others.  He is someone I can depend on.  He will not judge.  He will not fade away. He will not hold back advice I need to hear. (even when it's tough) He is a true friend.  I try to be the same to him.  This is a LIfe Friendship.

Family Friendships

Of course, family is another tier up from friends for me.  Family, my kids and their spouses hold an interest for me that goes way beyond friendship.  I confide in my children and they have learned that dad is pretty transparent when it comes to them.  I want them to be the same with me.  Even though we are family, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.  How much more so should be our desire to help each other.  I just don't get the family idea that "when they're gone, they're gone."  Our American impression of what family is cannot supersede the Biblical standard for family.  I mean, they are family...  Paul didn't have the luxury of family as we know it today. He didn't get the Father's Day thing. Why?  They didn't have Father's Day!!  He didn't get to lead worship with his children like I am able to do from time to time. He didn't get to call on a cell phone or facetime with family or friends.  Not the same technology.  When he spent time with his friends, it was special.  May it be our desire to guard our friendships and family relationships and keep them special as well. I need to always realize how fortunate I am to have family in such close contact as I minister.  A result of this type of family is the fact  that all of my children and their spouses have hearts to serve the Lord.  That is another prayer answered for me as a parent.

Friends are friends forever.  Michael W. Smith penned those words to his wife, but the message applies to all friendships.  I hope I never take these relationships for granted and if I can ever be able to give in their times of need, I will do it.  Why?  That's just what friends do!

In 2 Timothy 4:9-18 Paul is reflecting on past relationships and he is remembering those who weren't very good friends and those who were good friends.  Even though they had some disagreements in the past, he still asked Timothy to pick up Mark.  Paul said, "he is useful to me for service."  Everything Paul did came back to the ministry.  Everything he received, he used it for the ministry.  Why?  Because he was CALLED.  His friends knew this and contributed gladly because they knew his heart.  HE contributed greatly to them by equipping them for "every good work."  He cheerfully gave of himself as a living example of the Christ he served.  May that be our heart's cry my friend!!  Friends for eternity...

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren