Is a dog really our best friend?
Is it because they just listen?
Is it because they don’t give us unsolicited advice?
Is it because they stand beside us in thick and thin?
Yet our four-footed friends still aren’t enough are they? They can’t explain our tears. They don’t understand our groans. A friend might though, don’t you think?
However, if I had one dollar for every time I heard someone say “I don’t have any friends” I would be very wealthy. Maybe I could afford a house on the beach!
At this point, I don’t own a house on the beach… But blokes and boys are welcome to join us at the beach next weekend for ‘Blokes Go Bacon’ (from 8am on Saturday the 4th of November).
Over breakfast we are going to have a short devotion/reflection from Les Moreman the pastor at Evans Head as he briefly invites us to explore the topic of friendship. It could strike a nerve or two, but it’s an important topic for us to consider. For all of us, not just blokes. Nonetheless, Aussie blokes are known to very much struggle with friendship and very sadly suicide also. [1]
But blokes, do come along and consider bringing a friend and makes sure your boys come too. We will have some bacon which is not much good for you! But we will also be fed from God’s word and be invited to consider a remedy to our loneliness, if you are willing to take a chance on Jesus.
I hope to see you at Evans Head – park in the car park near the kiosk on the river, as we’ll gather at the BBQs near there. The breakfast will conclude around 10am. I imagine many of the blokes or boys will be interested to say around, but fathers and carers will be responsible for any activities that boys participate in, after we finish at 10am.
So, what part of God’s word ought I to conclude with? I reckon Zacchaeus is hard to beat, as he meets a
bloke, who completely transforms his world and relationships:
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10
SP
[1] Research from the University of Newcastle in 2021 explored the risks to men, particular in rural communities.
