When we started Fellows, Ashley told us that we were going to be rooted in John 15. The beginning of John 15 states: “1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” This scripture has continued to show up throughout this last two months in the program and I believe that it will continue to show up. Branches can’t bear fruit by themselves the same way that Fellows can’t be Fellows by themselves. We have gotten to walk through so many experiences together this month that include the NC State Fair, Glenwood South, a Zach Top Concert, Men’s Retreat, Cookouts, Halloween, and Ashley’s Birthday. These situations would not have bore fruit if we were alone. We were all pre chosen to be on this specific vine and I will continue to trust the gardener to tend to my vine!
John 15 came up again during one of the previous mentioned events from October. The guy Fellows had the privilege of joining in on the Apostles Raleigh Men’s Retreat! On this retreat we got to go down to Wilmington and hang out with 100+ men from our Church. While on this retreat we got to do a multitude of things including playing football, sharing meals, and hearing a message from Tee Gatewood. During his talks are when John 15 came back. Tee has all of John 15:1-17 completely memorized and it blew my mind getting to watch and listen to him teach straight from his memory. When Tee spoke of John 15 he spoke of a great friendship that we are to have with Jesus. Jesus says, “14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.” He spoke of how we are called to friendship with each other, specifically male friendships as we grow older. It is important to have male friendships but friendships get hard as things like jobs, marriage, and families come into the picture and that is why we must be intentional with finding these relationships. He spoke of how it is hard to believe that our all knowing God still wants to be friends with us and that we are no longer called to be servants. We follow a relational God and that is why we must be relationally driven and intentional with each other. We must tend to our vines and prune them so that they can be more fruitful and this is exactly what we need to do with our friendships. I really made a point to get out of my usual circles and talk to older and wiser guys while I was on this trip and I was met with nothing but new perspectives and open conversation. I am grateful for the opportunities that I am given like this and I look forward to the many more that are upcoming.
Being a Fellow has taught me that I have to prune my branches and remain in Him if I am going to be fruitful. I have had to work through time management and being fully present in many different areas of my life (as you can tell with this blog being so late), but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This past weekend was the start of a crazy couple of weeks for me and I can’t wait for the experiences that are coming up!
-Will Brown
