walking together

For those of you who wondered - I did not vanish from sight the past month! It has been a very active season in our lives. For our family, this has traditionally been our busy time of year.

Bev and I did have the opportunity this past weekend to spend time with some fellow travellers on our pursuit of God at our New York lakefront property. At one time our friends were on the road to destruction but more recently have begun the journey toward life. Our time with them refreshed us and reaffirmed the value of connecting relationally in a heart to heart manner with people.

While most people affirm the need for relationships, I am convinced that most people rarely experience deep, heart to heart relationships. I am not talking about the Sunday morning "I'm fine, how are you" kind of relationships. The relationships I am talking about result from life deeply shared. Struggles, joys, dreams, and encouragement are freely shared. Burdens are carried together, questions are explored in community. Facades are not necessary, and in fact, are discouraged. In the midst of our heart to heart relationships, God enters the dialogue, engaging in the give and take.

My hope for each of you reading this is that you will experience the love of true Christian community, not in manner that never goes beyond the surface to the heart, but in the way of Jesus and His disciples, in the way of first century church.