We all Need a Friend Like Terry Prisk
Yesterday had lunch with my friend Terry Prisk at our regular spot, Cracker Barrel (I know it’s not a very exciting place but it’s a convenient half way spot for us). Let me tell you a bit about Terry. He is the Senior and Founding Pastor of The River – http://www.therivercc.net/ in Hartland, MI, a very dynamic church making a positive impact in that community. Terry has also spent much of his life speaking to students and others and has spoken at SpringHill for at least 30 years. He is one of the most dynamic speakers I have ever heard and through his teaching and coaching has made an incredible impact on SpringHill and the students he has spoken too over the years.
It’s not a stretch to say that Terry has spoken to more people at SpringHill than anyone in its history. There is no one even close. Easily over 20,000 people, maybe even 30,000. But more importantly God has used him to transform the lives of 1000’s of these people. There are people all over the world who will tell you that one of the most significant times in their lives was listening to Terry speak at SpringHill. If you wear a SpringHill shirt on your next trip chances are someone will stop you and tell you they’ve been to SpringHill and more likely heard Terry speak. It’s quite a record, one that will probably stand for a long time at SpringHill.
But let me tell you why I really appreciate him, why I love him like a brother (for a brother he is), and why having a friend like him makes me (and if you can find one, makes you) a better person with each interaction. Here is my reasons I love Terry and thus why he is the measure of what a great friend should be.
1. He is always learning, never satisfied with his contributions to the Kingdom or his influence on the lives of people, thus he inspires the same out of me.
2. He is brutally honest without being judgemental. He tells you what you need to hear and does it in a way that makes you very thankful. I need that honesty.
3. He has a driven passion to help others know and grow in their relationship with Christ and is willing to take great risks to see that this happens and reminds me why I do what I do, keeping me focused.
4. He is a devoted husband and father and the proof is seeing his kids and meeting his wife, I hope and pray my kids turn out like his.
5. He’d run through walls for his friends and for just about anybody that needs a hole in a wall, reminding me of the kind of friend I need to be.
6. And finally, I love anyone who can stare down big game and come out with the victory (see one of his take downs below), makes me a more courageous person just being with him. By the way he loves to hunt and I love to fish, which are two versions of the same sport.
If you can find a friend like Terry keep him or her, if you haven’t got one, go and find one, do whatever it takes, it will enrich your life and make you grow and become more the person you were created to be. Terry has done that for me and I am forever thankful.
