Preston Mitchell's Blog

Facebook Deletes

Several years ago, I was Student Pastor at Fellowship. During that time I became Facebook "friends" with hundreds of students.  After I left the student ministry, I moved into a ministry that works with pastors.  I started to get a lot of "friend requests" from them.  One day I looked at my friend list and I didn't have any idea who 75% of these people were.  So I decided to do a little cleaning out of "Facebook friends."   Because there were so many students on my friend list, I decided to delete those who I haven't seen or talked to in years.  Am I really their "friend?"  No.  Did I get a Christmas card from any of them?  No. 

A few days later, I received an email from a parent and good friend who wasn't happy that I deleted his daughter off my list.  He took it personally.  I've heard other people express their anger about being deleted.  I have some thoughts that may be controversial to some of you.  

First of all, I have no idea if someone has deleted me or not.  I'm sure that I've been deleted, but I never knew it.  How do you know you've been deleted?  Secondly, I think some people take Facebook friendships way to seriously.  Facebook is not about a true relationship with someone.  If our Facebook friends reflected true friendships, I would have about 10 friends, not counting family.  My Facebook friends do not represent true community in the Biblical sense.  If someone deletes me,  I don't give it a second thought (unless it's my wife).  Especially if I haven't had any contact with that "friend."

Lastly, take your real friends more seriously than you do Facebook friends.  It may change some of your relationships for the better.  Don't let Facebook determine your self esteem. Facebook is fun to play with, but don't let it dictate how you perceive people and their feelings about you.  It will drive you crazy. 

If you disagree with these statements, you may delete me.  But I will still love you (if I know who you are). 

Man on a Mission

There was a great story in the Dallas Morning News (www.dallasnews.com) today about one of our own Fellowshippers!  For years, Brad Blauser was one of the most active volunteers at Fellowship Church.  Anything you asked of him, he would do it.  I had the opportunity to get to know Brad as we served together at our Kiosk in the Worship Center.  Brad always had a desire to work in the local church, but for whatever reason it never worked out.

Several years ago, Brad decided to take a defense job in Iraq.  I thought he was a little crazy for doing it, but he had no hesitation in going to the center of a war-torn country.  As is Brad's nature, he began to look around and see what he could do to help.  It didn't take long for Brad to notice that there were a lot of Iraqi children who were missing legs.  He watched as they drug themselves around by their arms.  God immediately put into Brad a new vision for helping the children of Iraq.  If they didn't have wheelchairs, he was going to provide them one.  With the help of many people, including the Army, Brad has helped distribute hundreds of wheelchairs to Iraqi children.  Today, his goal is to convince the Iraqi government to support their own children by providing $60 million.  They have turned Brad down twice but that won't stop him.  I believe that God will ultimately move in the hearts of the people of Iraq to support their children.  You can go to www.wheelchairsforIraqichildren.comto find out more about what he is doing.  He also has a FaceBook page at www.facebook.com/bradblauser! Brad's work has been selected by CNN as a top ten humanitarian organization in the world and is eligible for a $100,000 prize.  That will buy a lot of wheelchairs. You can vote for Brad and his organization to win the prize by going to www.cnn.com.

Isn't it cool how one guy can take on a project and grow in into a international cause.  Brad has managed to share the love of Christ to thousands of Iraqi families, the Iraqi government and American armed forces personnel who help Brad deliver the wheelchairs. You have to wonder what terrorists think about Brad.  How many of their children has Brad helped?

Brad will not come home until he feels like his mission is done.  He continues to live at Camp Victory in danger every day.  God took a single every day man and turned him into a superstar of Christianity.  Brad is a great example of what God can do if we just take one step with Him.

Pray for Brad and his mission!