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Key Bible Verse: But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24b).
Bonus Reading:Mark 2:1-5

I was chaplain for the Houston Oilers back in their heyday. The players often talked about wanting a "no-cut contract," guaranteeing that if they ever got hurt, they'd be retained on the team with pay.

Mike, my linebacker buddy, was a 6'3", 235 pound hunk. He was good—but not good enough. He got cut from the team. When he told me, Mike asked me, "Rod, now that I'm no longer playing with the Oilers, will we still be friends?"

I was floored. I said, "Sure, Mike. I like you, not because you play ball but because you're Mike." Man, was he ever relieved. You see, he was in an environment that said, "If you don't perform, you're out—both professionally and relationally."

Many men would like a no-cut contract—to know that even when they're not performing their best or are hurt, they're still on the team. But that's not how the world—and sad to say, at times the church—operates. Therefore many men, who think it's wrong to not at least appear to have it all together, especially spiritually, continue to play hurt and stay isolated from one another.

—Rodney L. Cooper in Shoulder to Shoulder

What keeps you from connecting with other guys? Pray about what God may be teaching you about how to interact with people.

He never was a friend who ceased to be so for a slight cause.

—Portuguese proverbAdapted from: Shoulder to Shoulder (Zondervan, 1997).

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Prayer for the Week

God, I need Your people to help me know You better. Give me courage to be honest and vulnerable.

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