God wants what? Where on earth would we get the idea that God might want to be our friend? Well, first and foremost, that is what Jesus said he wants. "I call you no longer my servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. Rather, I call you my friends..." John 15:15 God wants my FRIENDSHIP? It's pretty stunning, isn't it? Maybe even too good to be true! When we think of sitting in front of the fireplace with a glass and a good friend God isn't the first one that comes to mind, is he?

And certainly we, small creatures that we are, could not demand such a thing of the creator of the universe. Nor do I suppose we would ever think to do so. God is too big, God is too powerful, God is too just, holy, so completely "other" that he doesn't strike one as being "my type, exactly."

I call you my friends..." The statement is stunning all by itself. But taken in context, well, I simply do not understand why it does not break every heart that reads it. Let's take a look at the circumstances surrounding this incredible statement as recorded in John, chapters 13 through 17...

Is God a cruel tyrant? The scriptural record might seem to confirm this indictment. The Bible records that God kicked a third of his angels out of heaven for questioning his leadership. The biblical record is widely believed to teach that God demands perfect obedience of his subjects on pain of death. And there is the not so vague indication that God arranged to have his only son murdered on trumped up charges.

In the book of Isaiah Jesus is referred to in these words, “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted… it pleased God to bruise him, he has put him to grief, to make him an offering for sin.”1 What sort of a parent would consent to such a cruel arrangement? God would seem to make the worst despot look tame. Religious teaching would have you believe that He is a benign potentate, merely interested in upholding the righteous standrds of his government. The theory taught is that God destroys only grudgingly and that the death of his son was a legal maneuver to avoid the necessity of condemning all of mankind to the horrors of hell fire...

In light of Haiti's plight, many people long to help out by giving monetarily however, there are countless scams that make giving difficult. Who can you trust?  If you want to give but don't know where to begin aside from the Red Cross, check out  Three Angel's Children's Relief.  Three Angel's Children's Relief operates a children's orphanage that happens to be  located 11 miles from the recent earthquake. The good news is the children are safe!  The bad news is they are in dire need of supplies.

As Christians, we take the words of Isaiah seriously - chapter 61 reads,"the Lord has anointed me to...proclaim the year of the Lord's favor... and provide for those who grieve in Zion—They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities." We take God at his word when he says that we are his hands and his feet that will rebuild when chaos hits.  Right now, Haiti is a far cry from resembling Zion; the land is broken and the people are dying by the thousands. Let us pray that those who are experienced in disaster relief be strengthened for the work ahead. Let us pray that the medical personell be fortified with wisdom and courage it takes to restore the wounded back to good health.  May God's presence  refresh and "bind up the brokenhearted" and may we continue this prayer without ceasing.

My mother-in-law sent us an email this morning that blew my socks off. Well, actually, I'm wearing flip-flops but you get my point.  She said, "The fruit of the Spirit is not to make us look good, but to make the Father look good." You mean its not about us?  But wait a minute, I go to church and prayer meeting and eat tofu... Doesn't that count?

So often we get wrapped up in our human-DOing instead of  human-BEing, that we forget the essentials to abundant living.  After Elijah got busy on Mt. Carmel, God visited his zealous friend in a cave. God did not come in the wind, earthquake or fire but in a still small voice. This gentle approach astonished the prophet for after all, he had just hacked 450 heathens to death for idolatry. No wonder he was depressed.  Fighting fire with fire has never worked but sharing the fruit at God's table certainly does. When do you think this truth hit Elijah like a ton of bricks and  wouldn't you  have loved to have been there to share in his joy?

When we demonstrate  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we cannot but help make an impact on those around us.  We can get pretty puffed up, even to the point of thinking its our hand that ultimately made the difference. Newsflash! The fruits  of the Spirit are not about dolling us up or creating super-fly-sugarcoated personalities - no way. God wants us to be real - like Him.  Jesus addressed this authenticity in Matthew 5:48, "Therefore you shall be perfect as my father in heaven is perfect."  God himself invented this natural principle we call the fruits of the Spirit  and he knows that we must first be true  (perfect) to ourselves in order to be true to Him and others. We are loving,kind and compassionate because he was loving, kind and compassionate with us first (1 John 4:19).