The Master's Fellowship

TMF New England Highlight

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:20:57 +0000

The TMF leadership team in Massachusetts hosted the 2nd Annual Steadfast Men’s Retreat on March 20–21. This year’s theme, The Breath of God, focused on the sufficiency of Scripture.

Messages were given by members of the TMF Massachusetts leadership team: Pastor Jeremy Garber (First Baptist Church Weymouth) on 2 Peter 1:2–3, Pastor Mark Axelgard (Cape Cod Bible Church) on Psalm 19:7–11, and Pastor Hariton Deligiannides (Mendon Community Church) on 2 Timothy 3:16–17. One of Pastor Hariton’s men, Art Poisson, also shared on the sufficiency of Scripture and its implications for life.

Associate Pastor Joshua Garber faithfully led conference logistics and encouraged attendees with TMF’s mission and core commitments. David Rich led worship across all sessions, and each attendee received a gift bag with 31 Days of Praying Scripture.

This year, the retreat expanded to all of New England, with additional TMF pastors joining from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

The Inestimable Value of a Pastor's Fellowship

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 10:58:39 +0000

If you've been in ministry for almost any length of time, then like me, you've almost certainly had the experience of having someone show up at your church who seemed to really be on fire for the Lord. He signed up for every Bible study your church offered. He began to give generously. He asked good, penetrating questions about your sermons. He got really involved in service. You may have even begun to wonder if he would make a good elder at some point.

But then, within a year or two, you started to see a lot less of him. One by one, he dropped out of the small groups he was involved in. He stopped responding to your calls and text messages as he isolated himself more and more. Whenever you did get in touch with him, he said he was doing fine—he was just really busy at work and hoped to be back soon. But before you knew it, six months had passed since you last saw him. And eventually, you heard that he was having an affair and had left his wife, making shipwreck of his faith.

The Bible says, "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment" (Prov. 18:1). The surest sign that someone is in spiritual trouble is when they begin to isolate themselves. Sin breeds in isolation like bacteria in a petri dish.

It's easy enough to look around and find examples of people like that—men and women who were once deeply involved in our ministries, who isolated themselves, and who ended up making shipwreck of their faith. But I wonder how many pastors are in danger of doing the very same thing, conducting most of their ministry in isolation from other godly pastors who might otherwise be a tremendous help to them.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 speaks to this:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

The case for a pastor's fellowship is essentially twofold: it is inestimably valuable because of the greatness of our need and the greatness of the kingdom.

The Greatness of Our Need

Ecclesiastes 4:9 is straightforward: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil." Collaboration and ministry productivity are legitimate reasons why two are better than one. Two people can accomplish more than one person alone.

But notice where the weight of the remainder of the passage falls. Verses 10 through 12 aren’t about productivity. They’re about survival. When great need comes, two are able to support one another in ways that one alone simply cannot. The passage is less concerned with what we can accomplish together and more concerned with what happens to us when we are alone.

Hugh Black captures this well in his book, The Art of Being a Good Friend:

"To have a heart that we can trust, and into which we can pour our griefs, our doubts, and our fears, is already to take the edge from the grief, and the sting from doubt, and the shade from fear.… Joy also demands that its joy should be shared. A simple, generous friendship will thus add to the joy and divide the sorrow."_¹

Paul said it concisely: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). The immediate application of that exhortation is within the local church. But could there not be a broader application in the way pastors bear one another's burdens in the ministry? Just knowing that there are men who care for you, who are praying for you, who will take your call—that is a privilege of inestimable value.

The Greatness of the Kingdom

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13:31–33:

He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

The size of the mustard plant and the distribution of the leaven remind us that there is a lot more going on in the kingdom of God than what is happening in our small corner of the world. A pastor's fellowship is a means of celebrating the greatness of God's kingdom work. Maybe things aren't going so well for you right now, but if your friends in other churches are doing well, then you can join them in rejoicing in what God is doing with their churches in and in their lives.

It seems obvious from the pages of the New Testament that there was a mutual affection and even a level of interdependency within the early churches. Poor churches supported other poor churches that were even worse off than they were. The nature of that interdependency was far more relational than formal—it was their relationship with Paul that connected these churches with one another so deeply that they were willing to give from their very meager resources to support others.

I wonder what would happen if our relationships with one another today began to fulfill a similar purpose in our own ministries.

What Makes a Fellowship Work

Not every pastors' fellowship is worth investing in. In my experience, the best fellowships are built on two commonalities: common convictions and common affections.

Common convictions are the kinds of theological commitments that have an outsized influence on the way you conduct your ministry—and that you’re tired of fighting about. Issues like reformed theology, charismatic gifts, church government, etc.. It's not that we can’t have fellowship with men who disagree on these matters, but in practice there will always be a guardedness that keeps you from being fully at ease.

Common affections are the things that make your heart sing in ministry: expository preaching, biblical counseling, the primacy of the local church. These are the commitments that draw you to certain men and make you want to spend time with them.

The absence of these two distinctives is what makes so many pastors' fellowships more of a duty than a delight, and why so many pastors don't participate at all. If you have to be on your guard, you'd rather just stay in your office.

What It Costs

A successful pastors' fellowship is a pay-to-play ministry, but the currency isn’t money. It’s time. Pastors tend to be shockingly, disconcertingly busy men. Sometimes fitting in one more thing—even a good thing—feels impossible.

But every one of us has the exact same amount of time. It’s not about managing time. It’s about managing commitments. If it is truly an inestimable good that like-minded pastors gather together for fellowship, then we must have the courage to say no to other things—even very good things—so that we can say yes to this. J. I. Packer used to say that we should never let the good be the enemy of the best.

You can buy books online. You can take classes online. But you cannot buy fellowship online. There is no shortcut. If pastors were willing to come out of their hiding places for a meal and prayer with other like-minded men, I believe they would quickly begin to grasp the inestimable value of such gatherings. The cost is real. But so is the cost of going it alone—and that bill always comes due.

¹Hugh Black, The Art of Being a Good Friend (Manchester, NH: Heritage, 2019), 38–39.

Preaching as an Act of Worship

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:23:48 +0000

When considering how to preach, we often think about certain words: faithfully, exegetically, expositionally, passionately, clearly. I’d like to take this post to encourage you to preach doxologically. Preach in a way that drives you and your listeners to unbridled worship.

Consider the example of Scripture.

Paul, after discussing the faithfulness of God in using Israel’s hardening to extend salvation to the Gentiles and in preserving a remnant of Jewish people, breaks forth with words of praise:

Oh the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:33–36)

Paul ends the entire epistle, this epic treatise on the gospel, with another doxology:

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Rom 16:25–27)

Paul breaks out into doxological praise in teaching the Corinthians about God’s care for him in hardship (2 Cor 11:31). Many times he opens his epistles (his specific teaching to those local congregations) with doxologies (Rom 1:25; 2 Cor 1:3; Gal 1:4–5; Eph 1:3). He introduces his teaching to Timothy, a teaching directly addressing the form and function of the local church, with an explanation of the Lord’s work in salvation, which leads to lofty doxological praise: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen" (1 Tim 1:17).

He concludes both letters to Timothy—probably the most practical examples we have of one servant of Christ discipling another—with doxologies (1 Tim 6:15–16; 2 Tim 4:18). His conclusion to his epistle to the Philippians, expounds on the joys of the Christian walk: more doxology (Phil 4:20).

And Paul is not alone.

Peter’s epistles, which center on crucial church doctrine, suffering for Christ, and confronting false teachers, are also filled with doxological praise (1 Pet 1:3, 4:11, 5:11; 2 Pet 3:18). Jude, whose letter focuses on confronting heretical teaching, also devotes part of his epistle to doxology (Jude 24–25).

The writer of Hebrews, who powerfully expounds on the supremacy of the New Covenant to the Old, is driven to break forth in praise (Heb 13:20–21). The beloved apostle John, as he shares his eschatological vision with the church, begins with a doxology (Rev 1:5–6).

The pattern of Scripture shows that every topic in biblical truth, every theme that affects your life and the life of your church, should lead to praise. Preaching and teaching should lead to doxology.

So, let me ask, what about you? When you are preparing for a sermon—studying the original languages, diagramming the passage, wading through stacks of commentaries, developing your outline, polishing your homiletics, thinking and rethinking your delivery, praying for your people—do you ever just stop, and let your heart sing out in praise?

When you’re crafting your next oratory treatise on the rich truths of the gospel, do you find yourself bursting forth with shouts of glory and adoration to the Father, Son, and Spirit who brought those truths to bear in your life?

When you’re deciding how best to counter the latest heretical attack in order to protect the members of your congregation, do you find yourself overcome with the desire to praise the God of truth?

When you’re working diligently to help your people understand the finer points of the eschatological teachings of Scripture, do you feel a burning in your soul to praise the Savior who is coming again for His bride?

How often in your sermon—actually in the midst of your preaching—does your teaching drive you to simply, and vocally, offer up your own doxology? When we study for our sermons, when we pray for our sermons, when we prepare our sermons, when we deliver our sermons . . . we ought to be driven to praise the Lord.

To be clear, I’m not talking about something manufactured or artificial. Rather, I’m saying the attitude of your heart—the result of all your study, meditation, prayer, and preparation—ought first and foremost to be one of unbridled praise for our great God.

We ought to live doxologically. And we ought to preach doxologically!

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:20–21)

A Tired Family

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:13:59 +0000

Maintaining a healthy spiritual life and a vibrant family life requires diligent effort on your part—especially for moms who are on the front lines of ministry at home. The numerous responsibilities of life coupled with the extensive needs of your family, create a lot of work in the Christian home. Since we live in a fallen world, you can expect for this work to be a struggle, make you tired, and tempt you in unique ways. Your carnal desire for comfort will sometimes chafe at the restrictions imposed by the burdens of this ministry, but you must remember that God has imposed these burdens on you for your good and His glory.

As you deal with the realities of ministry in the local church and to your own children, you must remember that the rigors of service are instruments of grace designed by God to keep you humble and focused on Christ. In other words, taking care of your kids and serving the church is not easy because it is not supposed to be. As you engage in arduous kingdom work and tedious household chores, you must be careful to shepherd your heart to avoid ministry fatigue. If you are not careful, which is to say if you do not submit yourself to the truth, the burden of serving will have a hardening effect rather than a sanctifying effect in your life. If you don’t comprehensively submit your life to the calling of God and the circumstances in which you have been placed to fulfill that calling, you will experience burnout, which is a modern and sanitized way of saying you will become embittered toward the ministry you’ve received from God.

In order to avoid this danger you must employ two essentials strategies.

Guard your Heart from the Lies of the Flesh

First, in order to shepherd your heart through ministry fatigue you must guard your heart from the lies of the flesh. Your flesh desires gratification and comfort at all times. In contrast, serving your family requires humility and effort. Given these two realities, there is going to be an internal clash within your heart. Specifically, in the midst of strenuous, backbreaking, and thankless ministry there are some common lies you will be tempted to accept:

the lies of pride: “I am always the one serving.” “Why do I have to do everything?” “I deserve something better than this.”
the lies of divisiveness: “They never do anything.” “Why aren’t they serving?” “They don’t deserve someone like me.”
the lies of selfishness: “What about me, no one ever serves me?” “Why do I never get credit for my ministry?” “Why does this always happen to me?”
the lies of feelings: “It just feels like….” Train yourself to use Scripture to critically scrutinize any sentence that begins with these four words.

You can organize all of these carnal lies into the category of self-pity!

Protect your Heart with Reminders of Truth

When your mind is flooded with these thoughts train yourself to recognize that these are lies of the flesh not the leading of the Spirit and guard your heart. In addition to guarding your heart from the lies of the flesh, you also need to feed your heart with reminders of the truth. The best way to counter the lies of the flesh is with the truth of God. When you are tempted to think you deserve better, remember your place in God’s kingdom. You are an undeserving saint (Eph 1:11) and an unworthy servant (Luke 17:7-10). You’ve been sanctified for service!

Conclusion:

If you are feeling the burden of the rigors of ministry in your family life, make sure that you are shepherding your heart by guarding it against the lies of the flesh and feeding it with reminders of truth. This is an especially strong temptation for mothers, because their ministry comes with a unique burden and the little ones they minister to are not usually as thankful as they should be. In those times when you just want to quit, remind yourself that there is no greater honor than being totally spent in the service of our glorious Lord and Savior. The Lord sees every changed diaper, all the clean clothes, each carefully prepared meal, and every time you sacrifice a moment of solitude to minister to your child.

You can find more more teaching on how to shepherd a tired family in The Christian Home: Biblical Principles for Managing and Maintaing a Godly Family by Paul Shirley.

TMF Canada | A Letter to Pastor John

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:37:12 +0000

Grace Community Church Statement

As an example of how Pastor John’s legacy continues to extend far and wide through the ministry of The Master’s Fellowship, below is a letter and a photo of TMF Canada represented at Shepherds Conference. Both were printed and framed for Pastor John. We hope this is a blessing to you.

March 21, 2025

Dear Pastor John,

On behalf of the membership of The Master’s Fellowship in Canada we want to express our deepest thanks to you for your example of faithfulness over more than five decades in service to our Lord. This picture, taken at this year’s Shepherds Conference, represents an ever increasing number of men north of the border who have been encouraged to greater love for Christ and Scripture because of your ministry.

More than a decade ago there was a desire expressed to see a greater number of Canadian pastors and leaders reached with the teaching and resources of all of the MacArthur ministries. At that time there was only a small group of conference attendees from Canada, and a larger number seemed unrealistic, especially with the spiritual trajectory of our nation.

Through major milestones like the Strange Fire conference, the Inerrancy Summit, and the stand of Grace Community Church under your leadership during Covid 19 lockdowns, men of the Word internationally have been trained to discern the times and to preach Christ “in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). Men who in many cases have been abandoned by their denominations and even friends have found camaraderie through The Master’s Fellowship with those standing for truth here at Grace Community Church and around the world.

We praise God for you and for every opportunity we now have to extend what we have learned during the conference across Canada and “to the ends of the earth.”

For His glory,
Michael Chalmers
TMF NATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR | CANADA

The God of all Comfort and The Master’s Fellowship

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:28:01 +0000

In 2 Corinthians 2:12-13, we find the apostle Paul, that great and towering apologist, in Troas unable to preach the gospel because of an anxious spirit. Though a door had been opened to him for ministry, he was unable to walk through it.

Why?

The text tells us, “because I did not find my brother Titus there.” Earlier, from Ephesus, Paul had sent a “severe letter” with Titus to Corinth to address the on-going issues of that fledgling congregation, and he was now waiting with restlessness for news of how they had responded to his rebukes and exhortations.

Paul then leaves Troas for Macedonia to look for Titus, and to his immense joy and relief, he finds his brother and hears of the Corinthian repentance. 2 Corinthians is his response to that heart-reviving report.

It's important to note the humanness of larger-than-life Paul, who was “burdened beyond his strength,” “despaired of life itself” (2 Cor. 1:8), and who was “perplexed and struck down” (2 Cor. 6:4-5). At times, he was quite literally a dead man walking (2 Cor. 1:9). This was certainly a result of experiencing much persecution and many ministry hardships (2 Cor. 11:23-27), but that was only half of the equation.

We tend to think of the Apostle as stoically enduring, but in 2 Corinthians 7:5 we learn that he also experienced internal battles. “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.

There it is: fear within.

Paul was like us. The external battles moved their way to internal questions, insecurities, and wrestlings, as they always do. We know that he had daily pressure on him because of his deep concern for the maturity of all the churches he had founded and supported (11:28), and it’s not a stretch to think that these godly concerns sometimes slipped into the category of sinful anxiety.

Through it all, though, a conviction was solidified in the heart of the Apostle, and He gives this conviction the most prominent and preeminent place at the start of his second letter to the Corinthians. God is the God of all comfort.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

2 Corinthians is chalk-full of the definitiveness of God as comforter, as well as the nature, target, extent, and purpose of His comfort. Paul bears firsthand witness (1:3, 7:6) and his letter leaves no doubt with the reader that God is in the comfort business.

God is, in fact, the ultimate source of every legitimate act or experience of comfort. He comes alongside to help, providing strength, courage, and boldness amid trials of many kinds. He galvanizes and stimulates. He arouses commitment, energy, and ability to fight, bear, and endure. But what forms does this comfort take? How does God comfort the depressed?

Let’s take a brief look at a few means of God’s comfort from 2 Corinthians.

First, God’s comfort comes through, what we might call, the eschatology of the gospel.

No matter how bad the situation or dark the night, the gospel shines the spotlight of God’s favor upon us and provides the necessary balm of anticipated rest, unending benevolence, and ultimate security. Because Paul was a minister of grace, having received mercy himself (4:1), he did not lose heart. We see later in chapter 4 and early on in chapter 5 that his eyes were set on the finish line, and that he had an eager expectation for the day when the glory of Eternity would swallow up the difficulties of Time.

Safe in the cleft of Christ, he was of good courage and would have rather been home with the Lord (5:8). It is the eschatology of the gospel that provided hope and comfort. Indeed, there is no endurance without a conviction concerning the end, and Paul punctuates this in 1 Thes 4:18 where, after unpacking the details of the coming of the Lord, he tells the Thessalonians to comfort each other with these things. He prays in 2 Thes. 2:16-17:

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

It is the secure and eternal love of God found in the grace of the gospel that provides eternal comfort and good hope for all of life’s challenges. This unending grace and love, flowing from each person of the Trinity, is sufficient to bring all comfort (1:3) in all and any affliction (1:4).

What is your only comfort in life and death? asks the Heidelburg catechism. Answer: That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. So, comfort each other with these things.

Second, God’s comfort comes through the presence and the encouragements of the people of God, and specifically, in 2 Cor. 7:6, through the presence and encouragement of faithful ministry partners.

For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more (2 Cor. 7:6-7).

What was God’s solution to Paul’s depression? It was “the coming of Titus” (7:6). It was the very presence of Paul’s faithful ministry partner that brought relief and solace to his restless heart. It was Titus, whom Paul would refer to to as his “true child in a common faith” (Titus 1:4) and leave on the rebellious island of Crete to “set things in order and appoint elders in every city” (Titus 1:5), who was the agent God used to bring divine comfort.

Notice that this divine comfort comes from the younger to the older, from the disciple to the discipler, from the son to the father. Divine comfort doesn’t always come in the way or in the direction that we would expect. No matter how far along we are in our Christian or ministry lives, we remain in great need of faithful brothers bearing faithful news of God’s faithful ways.

We see that it was not only Titus’ presence that brought Paul comfort, but also the report he brought with him, a report of godly sorrow leading to true repentance, a report of reconciliation and mended relationship. Apparently, Titus was able to accomplish, in this circumstance, what Paul was unable to accomplish.

Titus proved to be the right tool in the Holy Spirit’s hand. No doubt Titus stood in the gap for Paul with the Corinthians, defended and vouched for the Apostle’s ministry and motives, and worked tirelessly to bring understanding and to challenge misperceptions and misconceptions. Titus was a loyal and committed gospel friend, the type of man the Apostle could trust in his dark hours and with his own beloved ministry investments.

For this reason, The Master’s Fellowship exists.

To develop these types of ministry relationships amongst like-minded church leaders, so that the shepherds of God’s church would be the very comfort of God to one another on the hard and wonderful road of pastoral life.

We all need partners who we can count on, gospel co-laborers who can celebrate successes with us and bear heartaches alongside us. We need men who will walk with us through thick and thin, and in whose faces we see the goodness of God and experience the comfort of God, and who faithfully point us to the good news that brings eternal joy.

‘And here in dust and dirt, O here, the lilies of His love appear’ (Vaughan).

Non-Negotiables of Christlike Friendship

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 09:53:17 +0000

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger, in all our trials born to be our Friend. He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

So rings the less-known second verse to O Holy Night. Christ – born to be our Friend! What a magnificent thought – the incarnate Lord descending from Heaven, not just to save rebels from the wrath that their sin earned, but to go beyond salvation and take those rebels into the embrace of friendship.

Friendship runs thematically throughout the entire Bible and finds its deepest expression in the gospel.

Abraham was called the “friend of God” (James 2:23). The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend (Ex. 33:11). Christ’s enemies sought to mock him with the wonderful title, “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 11:19). And in John 15:9-17, Jesus details all of the affection, intimacy, permanency, commitment, transparency, joy, sacrifice, and loyalty wrapped up in his befriending of us, and what that should mean for our relationships with one another. In verse 12 of that passage, we read, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” And again, in verse 17, “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Christ has befriended us, so we befriend each other. Christ has loved us, so we love each other. We have always aimed at and prayed for the development of deep, long-lasting, and satisfying friendships in the context of The Master’s Fellowship, understanding that from a biblical perspective, these relationships aren’t just something nice to have (i.e. a luxury), but something that is absolutely essential to the minister’s spiritual health and to the health of the churches they lead.

Drew Hunter, in his book Made for Friendship, quotes J.C. Ryle, “This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin. It is a dark place. It is a lonely place. It is a disappointing place. The brightest sunbeam in it is a friend. Friendship halves our troubles and doubles our joys.”

Pastors and ministry leaders who have their troubles halved and their joys doubled through friendship are in a much better position to lead the flocks that the Lord has entrusted to them. That’s our conviction.

But what does that sort of friendship look and feel like? What are the non-negotiables of Christlike friendship?

First, Christlike friends express loyal love, which, in some sense, covers the rest of the points to follow. Proverbs 18:24 reads, “There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother,” and Proverbs 17:17 adds, “A friend loves at all times.” The love of true friendship is not seasonal. It’s not fair-weather. It’s spring-loaded to defend and protect. To rush to aid. When our companions fall out of favor with others, when they’ve been beaten down by ministry difficulty, or are drenched by life’s varied waves, then, the Christlike friend stands closer than a brother. For, where would the Christian be had not his Lord stood by him in his darkest hours?

Second, Christlike friends are present. Proverbs 27:10 says, “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” There’s proximity and immediacy communicated here. There’s intimate knowledge of one another’s lives. Christlike friends are near, ready to respond. They’re committed to life together, eating together, praying together, weeping together, celebrating together, enjoying experiences together. We worship Emmanual – God with us, the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The nearness of God is, indeed, our good (Ps. 73:28), and there’s nowhere we can escape from His loving company (Ps. 139:7-12). These truths motivate us to be close and in-tune with our friends, to enter into their unique joys, needs, trials, triumphs, and fears.

Third, Christlike friends are truthful. Proverbs 27:6 coaches us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” Faithful friendships, like all things in the Christian life, are built upon the truth. These relationships consist of a steady diet of deep, gentle, gracious, under-the-surface, sometimes-in-your-kitchen conversations that stimulate, challenge, motivate and encourage (“iron sharpens iron” - Prov. 27:17). Sometimes these conversations are sweet (see Prov. 27:9). Often, they’re fun and lighthearted. Sometimes they’re difficult. Christlike friends are not eager to wound, but they are willing should love and truth demand it. Our incarnated Lord and heavenly friend was full of grace and truth, a loving and compassionate friend of sinners, yet ready to challenge sin in all forms and fashions.

Fourth, Christlike friends are safe. Proverbs 17:9 reads, “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends, and Proverbs 16:28 echoes, “a perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” Christlike friends cover all things like a roof. They don’t give unnecessary publicity to other’s faults and sins. They are able to be confided in. Their predisposition is to give people the benefit of the doubt. They’re known to be constructive, rather than destructive. There’s freedom in their presence to bear one’s whole soul without the fear of judgment. They know the Prince of Peace, with whom and in whom there is no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and so they bend that spirit out into all of their relationships and friendships.

These are the types of friendships we seek to foster through The Master’s Fellowship: loyal, present, truthful, and safe.

May this new year be full of God’s faithfulness through friendship as you take some time at the very beginning to focus your attention upon the Friend of all friends, Jesus Christ our Lord.

“He loved you before all worlds; long ere the day star flung his ray across the darkness, before the wing of the angel had flapped the unnavigated ether, before aught of creation had struggled from the womb of nothingness, God, even our God, had set his heart upon all his children. Since that time, has he once swerved, has he once turned aside, once changed? No; ye who have tasted of his love and know his grace, will bear me witness, that he has been a certain friend in uncertain circumstances. ‘He, near your side hath always stood. His loving-kindness, oh! how good!’” (C. H. Spurgeon)