This past Sunday all the campuses of Ginghamsburg Church came together for an all-campus worship event on the lawn. The evening before, a contingent of Christ-followers gathered at the Point to make a statement against the deadly drug heroin. It was an incredible weekend of community and worship.

As I reflect on the events and the people that I shared the weekend with, I came to a big realization: I’ve changed a lot. I’ve changed because of the amazing people that I’ve been doing life with and how I’ve seen God in them.

I’ve become more convinced that the call to follow Jesus is a requirement to change, that the relationships with the people we are closest to should put us out of our comfort zone. If someone I’m close with hadn’t challenged me to engage with the recovery community, I never would have seen the amazing worship that happened at the Point on Saturday night. If my wonderful wife Karen hadn’t challenged me to step into ministry, I would have completely missed the worship on the lawn experience. The list of change goes on and on, but at the epicenter of it all is relationship.

The struggle with doing life alone is that there is no one to make you uncomfortable, and without discomfort it becomes harder to grow. The most important relationships in our lives -- spouse, kids, accountability partners, and of course Jesus -- should change us at the core.

If those relationships haven’t rocked your world, then you aren’t really in a relationship; instead, what you are doing is simply running parallel lives.

Dig deep, do life together, and create change.

Who has helped you change?

Who is pouring into your life?

Who are you pouring into?