Old Friends

In my last post I said I like to read.  Books to me our old friends, you can visit them again and again.   A book you read for the first time has the potential to be a friend, and if you like it you can revisit it as often as you want.  The book can becomes an old friend.

I have an e-reader, a Nook not a Kindle, but I still like an actual book to hold.  It is a lot easier to introduce someone else to the book, you can give or loan them the book.  At CrossPoint we have an excellent library.  Thank to all the people who help keep it up.  May 20th we had a book fair at church.  Thanks to Linel for organizing it, selecting many really good titles.  I bought three books, when I got home I found I already had one of them, surprise.  I just finished the second book, a really good one.  "When Life Comes Undone" by T. J. Addington.  By the he works at the EFCA office.  The book is now in the library.  Addington's book tells how God drew close to him when his life came undone.  He uses three examples from his life, two of them were when he should have died.  If it had not been for the prayers of a lot of devoted Christians he would now be with the Lord.  His survival was a miracle.

In his book he calls us be bold in our prayers.  He quotes a commencement speech by Winston Churchill "Never give up!  Never, Never, Never, Never, Never"  Also we are called to share our faith.  To strangers?  No, we have to start with people we have a connection to, a relationship.  The church cannot isolate itself, we are all broken.  Only in Jesus will we find healing.

One of my dearest friends is my Bible.  I read from it daily, not to say I am virtuous, I need it.  As I was reading in Deuteronomy I encountered a perfect description of our country.  In chapter 8, verses 11-20 Moses tells the people to beware as they enter and live in the Promise Land.  They will be tempted to turn their back on God and believe they have earned the good life on their own.   Doesn't this sound familiar?  So many of us believe we  have earned all of our toys through our own efforts.  The truth is, the toys of this world have no real  meaning.  We have forgotten God.  How are we going to change this?  By building His church, one person a time.

Lee Saffell