We took a lot of pains when Ronny and I decided to name Friendship Church.  We wanted to make sure the name was just right because the name, in so many ways, communicates who we are and what we're about.  We like to think of ourselves as "friends pursuing Jesus together."  After all, in this life, we're not designed to be little islands - even Jesus had close friends.

This past week, I had the chance to hang out at the Creative Church Conference with FC's leadership team and couple of additional guys I took along for the ride - I consider them all good friends.  We ate way too much, slept way too little, got bombarded by one preacher after another at the conference and received challenge after challenge.  We laughed a lot - we talked for hours on end.  Just a group of guys that God has brought together and placed in strategic roles for his Kingdom's work.

And yet, these guys are more than work partners.  After all, we don't share cubicles - we share our lives.  We have the awesome responsibility and priviledge to do life together, and we get to impact God's Kingdom along the way. 

In the end, I'm glad we're named "Friendship."  In so many ways, that word really sums up what our lives should be about.

 

 When I was a kid, and even up to a young adult, I used to look at the adults around me - people I admired and looked up to, and I thought, "One day I'll have it all figured out like they do."  As I've grown more in my relationship with Christ over the years, the more I realize that no one has it all figured out.  Each day, each moment, we are dependent on the goodness and the grace of Jesus.  As the Scripture says in Lamentations, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!"

This week, as we announced FC's new Gainesville campus, I was very humbled.  I saw the faces of so many people of the church, who didn't really question this crazy idea.  They simply said, "If this is what God is leading you to do, then we'll do it."  It is humbling to lead a church and know how much people believe in your leadership.  That requires a lot of responsibility and a lot of grace from Jesus.

Concerning this new campus, the politically correct thing to say is, "Don't worry, I've got it all figured out."  But that is not true.  The reality is there many things I don't know how we'll manage, many problems will come up that I've not even considered, and I'll make plenty of mistakes along the way as I seek to take FC's ministry to a whole new group of people.

But... that is kind of the point, now isn't it?  Jesus never told me or anyone else to figure it all out and take control. Instead, he asks us to simply "stumble forward" - to walk after him, in spite of the difficulties, the misunderstandings, and sometimes the sheer fear of it.  We're all humans - all fallen creatures, and he knows that - and his compassion is new every morning.  I, for one, would rather stumble behind Jesus as he leads me through this life than anything else.  Church family, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for stumbling along with me.