This is part of my weekly letter written this morning to Consumed’s Intercessors Team…

“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” – Paul in his second epistle to the church at Corinth

From the verses above we can see that Paul was obviously being attacked by some regarding his position within the global church. His response to such attacks was not to produce letters of recommendation, but to state the transformed lives of people he has ministered to and with is proof enough of his calling. I couldn’t help think of these verses this past Friday night when I sat in Pastor Gary’s home for the Normandale Christmas party. Now none of us that are ministering at Normandale are under attack, but as I looked around at the packed house of students I was humbled. I was humbled by the amazing opportunity God has given us to be agents of transformation in the lives of so many young adults. The wonderful aspect of the annual Christmas Party is that former students know about it and stop in during the night for a visit. This is my fourth academic year at Normandale so it was wonderful to touch base with past students from the last few years. But I received greater joy in seeing students from 1999 or 2000 that are still stopping by. Pastor Gary and Sharon (our faculty advisor) have compiled quite a stack of “letters” over the years. I was encouraged and challenged on Friday by these faithful ministers of Jesus to press on and continue serving. I pray for the sake of God’s wonderful Name (if He chooses to let me stay around long enough) that I am faithful enough to compile such a stack of letters. These are treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy.