Monday Morning Manna: Friends New and Old

Beyond providing a ministry to churches in an interim time as they search for a new pastor, I enjoy serving as an interim pastor because of the new friends I make at each stop along the way. In fact, as I think back through recent interims, I can name friends in each with whom I still communicate. New friends are great friends. However, this past weekend, I spoke at the dedication of the new Baptist Student Center at the University of Texas. Following the dedication ceremony, I had lunch with twenty old friends – former students who were active in the Baptist Student ministry when they were UT students, four decades ago. I was their Baptist Student Minister. Old friends are great friends. Poet Joseph Parry wrote, “Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold.” My old friends help me grow old, while my new friends help me stay young. The writer of Proverbs said, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). I am sharper because of my friends – new and old. Give thanks for friendships today.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.