You're listening to the Allender Center podcast with Dr. Dan Allender.

This week, Dan continues the conversation with his longtime friend, Dr. Tremper Longman.

Dan and Tremper share about how their friendship and collaboration have expanded the work that they each do individually, inviting

both of them to new opportunities and new encounters with the goodness of God. They invite us to

consider how our own friendships might lead us into deeper engagement with God's ongoing work in the

world. Well, I have the privilege of being with my best friend for a second podcast.

And where we left off is that question of how does the kingdom of God shape us into friendships

and friendships into the kingdom of God so that in some ways, friendships actually help us

move into the calling that God has for us. And just to start,

let me just speak to the fact that I'm so sad that many friendships don't end up doing that.

Many friendships are a way, and the best phrase I know, a way to kill to kill time you know you don't want to go to

the movies alone so you ask a friend you don't want to go eat alone you ask a friend as

couples you don't want to just be alone as a couple all the time so you invite another

couple that you get along with to go on a trip or so on and so forth. And again, nothing wrong,

nothing saying like, that's not right. But to say if that's all, if the only thing you do

is entertain each other and perhaps even have moderately good, honest discussions where you get

to know a little bit about one another and can sort

of sympathize that you lost this job or that, wow, it's fantastic, you got a new promotion.

Again, friendship at that level, I don't think comes up to the fullness of what friendships

are meant to be.

So as you think about, our friendship and other

friendships that you're in, you know, how have friendships called you into your calling?

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