Ichthus

"It's a conversation for those who know about it, and a conversation for those who don't"



Last week I went to a Waffle house with a good friend of mine. Ironically enough, my friend and I were just talking about working out more now that the weather was getting nicer, and this night we were doing the opposite of that! But there's something about Waffle house that attracts me like a moth hovering over a porch light. Maybe it's the coffee or the greasy food. Maybe it's the cheap prices. Or maybe it's because of getting to meet awesome waitresses like Rita.

When our waitress noticed my friend and I praying before we dug into the heart attack specials, she commented that "you don't see that nowadays", and I think it made her hopeful for the younger generation. When I was finished eating, Rita cashed me out, and we began talking about our home churches, and about God.

After a short pause, I asked her if she liked her job, and she said without hesitation that she did. She said that Waffle house was her mission field, and that she uses this opportunity to tell people the good news! Then she pointed to my check, and I noticed that she drew an ichthus fish on it. She said the above statement, "it's a conversation for those who know about it, and a conversation for those who don't." I was just blown away. It's so cool how a little fish symbol means so much! I can feel instantly connected with someone, just by looking at the back of their car, or in this case, a restaurant bill. I then told her to stand her post, and keep up the good work.

I was just so encouraged that Rita, my sister in Christ, is on the mission field at Waffle house on Route 18. Now whenever I eat there, I can feel a little bit more confident that these patrons are hearing some good news.

Phileo

Love Jesus, Love like Jesus


I was out recently with some friends who started this ministry group handing out sack lunches to some homeless folks in our community. We stopped at one of our last stops-across the street from this popular marketplace. Intermingled with hungry college kids, and health conscious young professionals is this joyful singing man on the street. We've been visiting this man for 2 years, and listened to his golden pipes and bold street preaching. I'm really not sure what his full story is, but I know that he loves Jesus.

When he was finished saying his goodbyes to our group of about 8, he spotted me (a shy guy who usually listens to him in the background-admiring from afar), and asked how I was doing. After a minute of catching up he said, "I love you brother." He said this with such sincerity. As I looked at him, a man who looked nothing like me, having a mouth full of absent teeth and scraggly hair, I was in awe that real love breaks barriers of race and socioeconomics. Real love unites brothers and sisters of Christ. We are all one body!

I've been saying "I love you" a lot recently. Not only to family members, but to close friends among others like our singing friend. I'm an instructor at a job training program, and I really feel this love for my students. Even though there are some days I get frustrated, dealing with disobedience, or chronic absenteeism, I feel this "phileo" love that the Bible talks about. It's almost this unconditional love; I'm not going to say that this love is perfect, because I still am trying to figure out the mystery of the perfect love of God. But it may be as close as perfect as things will get here on earth. And I wouldn't say I was like this a year or two ago.

God is so good. He has taught me so much recently. I just love everyone that God has surrounded me with, and just people in general. I hope we can all really dig into scripture and discover what real love looks like.

With love,

Eric