Community of Holy Friends

People often ask me why I love mission trips so much. The same reason I loved taking my lovely wife "out for dinner" tonight two days before her birthday...to Father Bill's place. I love serving alongside of my sisters and brothers in Christ, especially that one God gave me to spend my life with. After we fed 120+ people at this homeless shelter in Quincy, the 8 of us had a pot pie and a salad.

Paul says to those who he's been with for three years, "Now I'm turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends."

The Word can...
1. Make you into what God wants you to be.
2. Give you everything you could possibly need: a community of holy friends.

God wants us to be salt and light in the world he created. Church should not be a holy huddle, but like training camp for a team that wins and gives God all the glory for any and every victory. I can feel God winning a victory in me this Lent. I can feel God winning a victory in our community through my new community of holy friends.

Let me share a Facebook post from one of my "old" holy friends. Roddy is the most selfless man next to Jesus that I know (with the possible exception of my best friend, Alex). Rodrick and I have missioned together with TeenServe (www.teenserve.org) every summer for almost a decade. It seems like know him forever. Here's what he posted, "My 5 senses went on over load as I walked down the toxic dirt roads that run through the slums of North Eastern Nairobi. Tears filled my eyes as our little team handed out Beanie Baby's to street kids and prayed for a lady named Perpetual who has TB. My heart cry's out for mercy. Oh that justice would soon visit this city! Pray for those who live in the slums throughout the world."

It didn't surprise me at all the Roddy was there. He's a modern day Mother Teresa. Since she just came to mind, I'll close tonight with one of her quotes I recently heard, "I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love". Please pray for Roddy and the people who will come to know God's love through him.