Leadership Thought: Friends That Have Changed My Life.

Dear Friends,

A few months ago, before the days of Covid 19 and self-quarantining and toilet paper runs, (maybe "trips" would be a more appropriate word), I had breakfast with a young man from South Africa, who happened to be a world champion squash player. He had come to the Jersey Shore to help operate a sports facility which included a  racquet  club. He and his wife are members of another church in our area, but they lived near our church, and so one Sunday they decided to drop by and visit our church at New Monmouth.

I was intrigued by his South African accent, and his  interest in the sport of squash, which is certainly not one of the most popular games in our country, and so with these things in mind, I found, it offered me a perfect excuse to invite him to join me for breakfast. We spent much of our time talking about his life in South Africa, his interest in squash, and above all, his faith in Jesus and how that faith had impacted his life. 

Toward the close of our conversation, we found ourselves talking about books, and he asked me to share with him some of the books that had impacted my life.  By the way, looking for a good small group question why not ask someone to tell you the three favorite books they have read, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Books are my friends and I have a lot of those friends sitting around on my home and office bookshelves. Many of these friends have been hanging around  for a long period of time, but I have not yet gotten to  know them. But maybe someday, when circumstances are just right, and I find myself with some time on my hands, and I have few social distractions to consume me, I will sit down and get to  know one of these unmet friends.

Wow, it just hit me! Maybe now is just the time to make that new friend. I could use this time to pull a few “friends” off f my shelves and spend some time getting to know them.

Well, having just self-suggested one of the next possible activities for my day, let me take you back to my breakfast friend who asked me about books that had impacted my life. A few days later I sent him “Tom’s Top Ten” and for any of you who are still  interested, I offer the list to you in no particular order, with one exception. As a pastor, I would probably get a lot of negative e-mails if I didn’t place the bible at the top of my list, so here goes if you are still interested: “Tom’s Top Ten”  

1 The Bible. Of course, a given, and let me suggest you use this time to read it from beginning to end. If you do, I think it may just become your greatest friend

2 The Joy of Encouragement, David Jeremiah

3 The Complete 101 Leadership Collection, John Maxwell

4 The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren

5 The Effective Father, Gordon McDonald

6 Streams in the Desert, (Devotional) L.B.Cowman

7 The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn

8 You 'Gotta' Keep Dancing, Tim Hansel

9 Finishing Strong, by Steve Farrar

10 New and Old Testament Commentaries by John Courson

Well, now that I have suggested some friends you might like to meet during our Corona interlude, why not let me know about one or two of your favorite friends that you think I  might want to add to my own “Friend’s List? 

Yours in Faith and friendship,
Tom