Key Bible Verse: Don't try to act important but enjoy the company of ordinary people (Romans 12:16). Bonus Reading: Romans 12:4-5, 9-10, 15-18

As I preached, I saw Dave standing, with arms folded skeptically, in the back of our Irvine church, wearing a wetsuit, his hair matted from surfing earlier. Our parking lot was full of Mercedes and BMWs. Most of our members were professionals. They were casual southern Californians, but their attire was on the nice end of casual. Dave clearly didn't come from Irvine.

When we met, I learned that he'd never been in a church before that day, and had grown up on the streets in a nearby beach town. His van was plastered with bumper stickers advertising Dos Equis and Corona. Its interior was green shag carpet, with surfboards stacked on one side and crushed beer cans scattered about. Dave was a total anomaly in our good, pleasant little Christian community.

But God wanted to make us better and more pleasant. In the months that followed, Dave was embraced by the church and soon became a Christian. He was with us for years, never dressed in anything more formal than sandals, gym shorts, and a T-shirt that advertised a beer, a raceway, or a surfboard manufacturer. But now he was carrying a Bible. I loved this guy. [continued on 10/25]

—Ben Patterson in He Has Made Me Glad

My Response: How could joy coexist with sorrow for me?

Thought to Apply: There are times when we discover that God has called us to be together as a source of life for each other.—Jean Vanier (founder of Homes for Impaired Persons)

Adapted from He Has Made Me Glad (InterVarsity, 2005) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Teach us, Lord, how to create bonds of cooperation and fellowship that invite others instead of erecting walls of self-preservation and competition that repel.

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