How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore. (Psalm 133)
This weekend my thoughts have shifted away from issues such as the silliness of politics and the details of making a new home; and – instead – I’ve relaxed via a couple of my favorite recreational pastimes.
Friday evening, Rebekah and I enjoyed dinner with good friends. Stormy and Doug moved here from Brandon a year ago, and settled in North Raleigh. They have a beautiful home, and invited us to a dinner party along with their pastor and his wife (Craig and Donna Miller also moved here from Tampa recently, so we enjoyed a mini reunion).
After dinner we pulled out guitars and sang old Beatles songs, James Taylor tunes, gospel favorites, and Neil Diamond classics. It was a lot of fun, completely relaxing, and occasionally tuneful.
VIRGINIA! Then Saturday I drove just across the Virginia line to play golf with my friend Ray. Ray is the men’s ministry leader who has been instrumental in connecting me with the Disciples of Christ. We’ve become close friends over the past three years.
I appreciate and respect Ray’s commitment to the unique joys and challenges of encouraging men to practice lives of vibrant faith. Like me, Ray wants to see men “seize the day” when it comes to the opportunity to move beyond mere church membership and into life-charged discipleship.
The golf was simply a vehicle that allowed us to get together for a long, deep, conversation. What’s cool is how natural it is to talk about faith, and how encouraging it is to spend time with someone who is also committed to the idea of “Live like we mean it.”
Ray even brought along his video camera, and so we sat overlooking the golf course and completed an off-the-cuff interview for his video-blog series. Essentially, we had a conversation about what it means to be involved in “mission.” I pretty much said that mission is the same as salvation: it means being in partnership with God in the work that God is doing; it means getting on board with God’s initiatives in this world; it means living fully “gospeled” lives. I’ll share the link as soon as it makes it through production.
Misson means:
- being in partnership with God in the work that God is doing;
- getting on board with God’s initiatives in this world;
- living fully “gospeled” lives.
All the more reason to head in to church Sunday morning, to spend time in gratitude and devotion, and to be involved in a worshiping community that tries to live into the beautiful truth of the Gospel of Love.
Peace, blessings, and love – DEREK
