Last night, I returned from the 2008 National H2H conference in Dallas. This was the third straight year that I’ve been invited to this event. I’m both humbled and honored by that. This year was especially fun as I shared ministry with Wolfgang Simpson, Paul Young, Tony and Felicity Dale, and John White – all personal friends who I respect in the Lord.
This year’s conference was sold out. It drew in more than 400 people. The Saturday morning sessions were so packed out that people were standing in the back of the room, some of them through open doors.
A good number of friends of mine who I’ve not seen in years came to the conference this year. I counted them this morning and there were well over a dozen. It was such a blessing to see them, give them a hug, and spend time catching up.
This morning I woke up quite thankful for the friends that I have in my life. The people who put on the conference each year have been very good friends of mine for years. I was also encouraged to forge new friendships with some folks that I’ve never met before, and that was a huge blessing.
I’ve known a few Christians in my lifetime who degraded friendship, thinking it unspiritual and dangerous. Not surprisingly, these people had few long-standing friends in their lives due to emotional detachment issues they never resolved.
The New Testament knows no such thing. Jesus called Lazarus his “friend.” He honored His disciples by calling them, not servants, but “friends.” Abraham was a “friend of God.” In his last epistle, John sends greetings from “friends.”
Friendship in Christ is a precious thing.
So today, I’m thankful for the many friends that God has put in my life. I was especially blessed by those friends who came to the conference just to support their fellow friend. This, to my mind, touches on what friendship is all about.
On another note, some of you wanted the audio of the message I brought at the conference. You can download it here. If you know someone who would be touched by it, feel free to pass it on to them.
Now for a most important announcement:
Breaking News from the Blog Manager: You will not want to miss the blog for this Friday (Sept. 5th). Tell all your friends to visit this blog on that day. Announce it on your own blog. Pass out flyers to strangers on the street even. Why? Because we are giving away – not small prizes like we did this week – but huge prizes to everyone who participates! Plus, what we will be doing this Friday has never been done or tried before in the history of the blogosphere. So don’t miss it. You will definitely want to be one of those people who participates so that you can tell your grandchildren that “you were there” when it went live for the first time. You don’t want to be one of those people who only “heard” about it after-the-fact. So mark it down on your calendar. Friday, September 5th, 2008.
