Will You Be My Friend?

Dear Friends,

I recently heard a message on relationships by my friend David Williams. He pointed out that because of technology the term “friend” doesn’t have the same meaning that it used to have and how it is evolving mainly due to the technology that we didn’t have ten years ago. He said that we have the power to do friendship on our own terms and gave examples of how addicted we’ve become to needing immediate affirmation from our friends.

As I thought about this I realized that on my Facebook account I have hundreds of “friends”. With these friends I can text, Twitter, Snapchat, Skype, Instagram, etc. I can even “unfriend” them anytime I choose. I realized that indeed some of these people that are my friends I know very little about and with many of them I’ve never sat down and had a face-to-face conversation. So, for me this brings up two questions. The first being, “What does friend mean to you?” But even more important for me is, “What does it mean to be a friend of God”?

Believe it or not I actually had friends before Facebook that were truly my friends, not just my Facebook friends. During the late 1960’s I was living up in the San Francisco Bay area. This was during the height of the hippie movement. I remember vividly walking down Haight street late one evening when a young man approached and handed me a piece of paper titled, “What is a Friend”? After a brief glance I stuffed it in my pocket and forgot about it. Many years later while rifling through some paperwork I came across it, picked it up and read it. It was one of those “Aha!” moments for me. The entire piece is quoted on page 86 in my book, “Before You Get Here.” This piece defines for me clearly what it means to be a friend. The first couple of lines read, “What does it mean to be a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself!” That sums it all up for me. With those I count to truly be my friends I can be open knowing they will never reject me or judge me. To me that is friendship and that’s the kind of friendship I feel like I have with God. I have nothing to hide from Him. He knows everything there is to know about me and He still loves me and watches over me.

Thank you for your continued support of Wholeness Ministries. We continue to see God do exciting things and there is much on the horizon we will share with you in the coming months.

WHOLENESS RECEIVES 5% OF YOUR AMAZON PURCHASES
AmazonSmile is a program where Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to Wholeness Ministries. As many of you shop on Amazon this could amount to you giving a significant amount of money to us over a year’s time. There is no cost to charitable organizations or to AmazonSmile customers. The shopping experience is identical to Amazon.com with the added benefit that the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate to the charitable organizations selected by customers. Just go to AmazonSmile, search for Wholeness Ministries, and sign up. It’s that simple.

Thank you for your prayers and donations that help keep this ministry going. The last couple of months have been tight but God is always there and each of you has been wonderfully faithful to us. Keep our needs before the throne of God.

God bless,

Mike

My newest book BEFORE YOU GET HERE: Baggage To Drop On Your Way To Heaven, is a guide to assist you in discovering freedom from the invisible burdens that oppress and defeat many Christians today. Chapters include: The Importance of Forgiveness, The Traps of Unforgiveness, A Look in the Mirror, Harmful Words and Harmful Connections, Let Yourself Be Loved By God, The Recovery of Intimacy, and more. Copies are available at Wholeness.org and at Amazon.com. Check out the entire Wholeness Ministries Catalog right HERE.

BOOK AN IN-PERSON MINISTRY SESSION
We have found these ministry sessions with people to be invaluable in healing them from wounds from their past. In some cases after two or three sessions, they experience freedom! If you need deep-level healing prayer or know someone who could benefit from this, here is how to start the process. Send an email to mevans@wholeness.org or call 661-833-2920 to schedule an appointment. On our website, simply follow the instructions under Personal Ministry.